Four Vaqueros Take On Difficult Course at Mt. SAC Invitational
October 17, 2021
MT. SAN ANTONIO, Calif. – The Vaqueros traveled to the venerable Mt. SAC Cross Country course to once again run in hot and dry conditions. Temperatures were hovering in the low 80's at race time as the dry Santa Ana winds were beginning to gust, blowing dust all over the runners.
Women - 2.9 mile
Luzie Brings had her best race of the season running 25:11 for 52nd place out of 70 finishers. On the hilly course, she started conservatively and then moved forward steadily throughout, passing nearly 20 runners over the course of the 2.9 mile race.
After a couple weeks off due to illness, Linnea Sherman came back to place 32nd in 21:46. "Linnea's still a little rusty after a couple weeks suffering off and on illness," head coach Scott Fickerson said. "She has more to go to return back to her previous form."
Danielle Salcedo of Canyons won the overall title, running 18:26. Mt SAC took the team title with 31 points to edge out Hartnell College's 40 points.
Men - 4 mile
Rayce Walton finally opened his season at the toughest course the Vaqueros will face this year. Over the hilly 4-mile course, Rayce, an 800m specialist on the track, struggled a bit with a minor hamstring strain to finish 108th of 136 finishers. "His time of 28:10 did not show his true capabilities, but he will bounce back strong next week," Fickerson said.
Mark Hernandez covered the course in 29:50 to place 120th. "Sprinter Mark" as his coach likes to call him – as he's a 100-200m specialist on the track – gutted out a tough effort over the challenging course.
Elijah Ocegueda of Mt SAC took the overall title in 21:22, but his team, which ranks No. 1 in the state, was upset by the Northern CA No. 1 ranked Hartnell College 35 to 29.