For the fourth straight meet, the men’s cross-country team looked strong, with its two top runners finishing in the top 10 last Saturday at the Irvine Invitational.
Surprisingly, men’s sensation Jose Lezama did not finish 1st at this meet, but rather his equally talented counterpart, David Cardona did, with an overall time of 19:52 over the four-mile course.
Lezama finished in a solid 8th place at a time of 20:15. This was not one of Lezama’s better races, yet he still managed to fend off the majority of the 129 runners in the field.
“It was the best race we’ve ran all year,” coach Dean Lofgren said. “If Jose hadn’t been so concerned about his teammates behind him, we easily could have gone one-two.”
“David wasn’t concerned about Jose being up front,” Lofgren said.
Closing the gap behind them were freshman Jimi Duffin and Rio Enomoto finishing in 19th and 20th, with times of 20:50 and 21:02 respectively.
The men’s team’s effort was good enough for 2nd place overall in the competition, finishing with 81 points. San Bernardino Valley College finished with 46 points overall taking the competition.
“We would like to think that every week our pack will get tighter and move closer together,” Lofgren said. “They are improving, and that’s what we’re going to need, down the line.”
For the women, the season continues to be a learning experience, with only four women running, as Naomi Altamirano was diagnosed with low iron.
Among the small glimpses of promise for the team include Rebecca Caracoza who finished 13th with a time of 20:09 all while being ill.
“Early season meets are more developmental,” Lofgren said. “These meets are more for preparing, and developmental purposes, with some teams not even running until late in the season.”
Freshman runner, KayC Wharton, ran well for the team finishing at a personal best time of 23:07.
“Right now, we’re focusing on the preparation for the conference meet, where our season starts to actually keep score,” said Lofgren.
“With the conference championships in three weeks we have been progressing very well,” Lofgren said. “We look forward to having Naomi back, and with her and Rebecca [Caracoza], we’ll have two front runners.”
Friday, both teams prepare to take on a wide range of competition at the Southern California Preview, hosted by Mt. SAC.