The men’s cross-country team will have its work cut out for them this season with the loss of superstars David Cardona and Jose Lezama, an irreplaceable duo not often found at the community college level.

Last season, the team finished fifth in the state championships and third in the Southern California championships, repeating as the South Coast Conference champions. Cardona and Lezama were consistently at the front of the pack with Cardona winning the state title.

This season, top returning runners Anthony Lewis, who finished fourth in the South Coast Conference, Justin Caracoza, Alex Villaescusa and Jon Nakai, who were solid last season will have to give it their all to make up for the dynamic duo that has moved on.

“They were irreplaceable,” Dean Lofgren, coach, said. “All we can do is fill in around them the best we can.”

Freshman runners will also help to fill in the gaps of the tight knit group, including runner David Rosales from San Pedro who was a Marine League Champion and also placed second overall in Fridays Ventura Invite.

“He got out fast and got right to it,” Lofgren said.

Vallaescusa placed 12th and Carcaoza took 16th with freshman runners Drew Griffie and Dezhan Bland placing 23rd and 24th.

“They started back in 30th, got stuck on a tough trail and they worked hard to get up to the front of the pack,” Lofgren said. “They’re a personable, good group of guys and they’re good enough to contend for the conference title.”

Another leader for the cross-country team is Anthony Lewis from Torrance High School who will be expected to be a leader for the team.

Lewis wasn’t in the spotlight last season, but had some very impressive finishes finishing fourth at the  South Coast Conference Finals last season and is looking to take some of the spotlight this season.

Lewis’s first performance was a dull one after twisting an ankle which caused him to fall near the end of the group.

Another runner who will look to make an impact this season is former San Pedro High School runner David Rosales who made an immediate impact finishing in second-place at the season opening Ventura Invitational with a time of 21 minutes, 15 seconds.

A few players who also impressed are Alex Villascusa who placed 12th in 21:53 and sophomore Justin Caracoza who finished 16th in 22:02.

The runners, along with leader Anthony will be looking to improve when they compete in the UC Irvine Invite which take place on Saturday at the University of California Irvine starting at 8 a.m.

Last year the women’s team placed fifth in the South Coast Conference, but with a team comprised mostly of freshman this season, they hope to develop into good competition.

“The team is getting better by the day,” Lofgren said. “We’re still getting girls eligible and didn’t bring a full team to the torturous course in Ventura, but we did have a few girls run through it.”

Chloe Stager, new to distance running from Coastal Academy Home School, placed 45th in Ventura while Lauren Brown from Torrance High School and Julissa Ortiz, returning runner from Hawthorne High School, placed 49th and 58th.

“We told them to be conservative at the first meet and just try to work their way through it,” Lofgren said. “We just want to qualify for state.”

“The training over the summer was hard,” Rosales said. “I was training with people at my level and even faster then me. High school training and college training are really different and the summer training helped me in so many ways to get ready for the Ventura invite.”

“I have been working on my speed all summer,” Rosales said. “I also have to work on staying calm during the race.”