Vaqueros stay together at Ventura Invitational

SBCC ran together in Friday's season opener at the Ventura Invitational men's cross country race with five runners placing between 40th and 70th at Arroyo Verde Park.

"This shows me the men can race as a tight pack," noted coach Scott Fickerson. "We used this race to gauge our progress in training and will improve a lot from here."

Michael Cohen, a sophomore from Santa Ynez High, led the Vaqueros by taking 40th in the 4-mile race in 26:22. Teammate Geronimo Hernandez was two seconds back in 41st place. Michael Tran placed 60th (27:41), Carlos Castillo took 67th (28:26) and Lukas Abatie was 70th (28:33).

Five of the six Vaqueros on the roster are from local high schools -- Santa Barbara, San Marcos and Santa Ynez.

Ricardo Torres of Oxnard topped 93 runners in 22:31, beating Riverside's Enrique Villa by less than four seconds. Riverside won the team title with 41 points. Oxnard was second with 57, West L.A. was third (89) and the Vaqueros placed 10th.

SBCC will take a few weeks off before competing in the Southern Cal Preview on Friday, Sept. 14 at Don Knabe Regional Park in Cerritos.