October 3, 2017
Viking Cross Country Update
Two weeks ago the Vikings ran the Lou Vasquez Invitational in Golden Gate Park. Despite the tough competition and course difficulty, the Men's team finished 3rd overall behind Hartnell and American River Colleges, respectively. The men posted two runners in the top 14 (Orellana and Ramirez) and the women put one runner (Mendez) in the top 20. Sophomore Ben Schoffstall recorded a course PR with a time of 23:14.
This past week, the Viking's team set individual goals at the MJC (Modesto) Invitational. Most of the runners met or exceeded their goals and many posted personal bests. On the Women's side, Jessica Mendez posted a time of 20:57, Alyssa Clark 22:24 and Ariana Gonzalez 22:54 over the 5K course. The Men's team ran extremely well, taking 1st place overall and also posted 7 runners in the top 20. Kevin Orellana was 1st recording a 4-mile PR of 20:11. Luis Ramirez and Jordan Bandtell followed closely behind in 3rd and 6th place both recording season bests of 21:07 and 21:15. They were immediately followed by John (JJ) Perez in 8th, breaking 22 minutes with a time of 21:37. Ata Ozmen and Sayed Opeyany were next to finish at 11th and 12th place also recording PR's at 21:42 and 21:44. The Vikings were topped off by Parker Shields, Solen Tadesse, Ben Schoffstall and Edgar Salazar. Salazar marked over a 2-minute best time of 27:24. The Vikings showed great resilience by bouncing back from a tough race and the previous week and showed that hard work is paying. The Vikings look forward to their next race, the Toro Park Invitational this Friday in Salinas.
--Thomas Glascock | XC Sports Information Intern |
