With some of its runners becoming victims to multiple injuries, the men’s cross country team dug deep to pull out an unbelievable finish.
Despite the fact that the team was not 100 percent healthy, they still found a way to finish in third place during Saturday’s Santa Barbara Invitational.
The Warriors placed third with 111 points in Saturday’s competitive 20-team field.
Riverside College won with 52 points in front of College of the Sequoias with 77 points in second place. Sophomore Steven Calise led EC with his second place effort in 22:21 over the slow sandy, grassy course.
Calise was comfortably in the lead at 2 « miles when he was led off course and spent the rest of the race making up for lost time. A tight pack of his teammates followed led by freshmen Rio Enomoto (23:06 in 21st), Joey Bianchi (23:11 in 25th), sophomore John Flores (23:17 in 27th) and sophomore Alex Gorney (23:26 in 36th), who was tripped-up twice in the first mile.
Coach Dean Lofgren was thrilled with the third place finish knowing it could have been a lot worse for them.
“We were pretty banged up,” Lofgren said. “We managed to pull it out and run one heck of a race.”
Lofgren pulled sophomore runner Aaron Brown out of the race due to a hamstring pull.
“(Brown) hurt himself there so he didn’t get to compete. It’s OK, because others stepped up,” Lofgren said.
It could have gone really ugly for the men, but they found a way to pull it together. Assistant coach Sean Sheil said because of the teamwork exemplified by the runners, EC was able to come out in third place.
“With Rio (Enomoto), Jon (Flores), and Joey (Bianchi) grouping so well, we were able to finish in third,” Sheil said.
The coaches said they believed that some of the runners felt a sense of urgency knowing that other runners were injured. Brown, Daniel Varone (leg cramps) and Noah Lopez (ankle sprain) are all suffering from injuries and should be back by the South Coast Conference championships Friday Oct. 31 in Torrance.
“I think some of the guys ran the best that they could, knowing that they had to step up,” Gorney said. “I’m really proud of them for the effort that they gave.”
Overall, the coaches said they were thrilled with the effort the runners gave. Despite the fact that they were hobbled with injuries and Gorney’s tripping incident, they were still able to put out a good race.
“As usual, (Calise) did his thing,” Sheil said. “Overall as a team, it could have gotten really ugly, but we found a way to pull it together.”
Although the group of runners who finished after Calise did pretty well, Sheil said he thinks that if the men would have been grouped up front, EC would have had the chance to finish second.
“We would have liked for the three (Enomoto, Flores and Bianchi) of them to finish a little closer to the front but we’ll take it,” Sheil said. “They did a fantastic job.”
Flores said he was happy with the team’s overall performance and said he thinks the team is headed in the right direction.
“It was a tough race because part of it was at the beach, but I think we did a great job,” Flores said. “(Calise) did his usual thing and (Enomoto), (Bianchi) and I did pretty well being close to the pack.”
Flores said he thinks that since they will have this weekend off, it will allow them to prepare for the conference and state championships.
“We can be a threat,” Flores said. “We have a deep team and once we get everyone healthy and on the same page, the sky is the limit.”
Lofgren will be training his team hard this week in preparation for the upcoming championships.
“Potentially, we can be really good.” Lofgren said. “There are a lot of great teams out there like Riverside and San Bernardino. But once we get everyone back, I think we are a top-tier team.”
Sheil said that despite the fact that Mt. SAC is the favorite to win this year, EC should not be counted out.
“We’re right up there,” Sheil said, “Once we get everyone back, healthy and ready to go, we are as good as any team out there. We can beat anybody.”
