Hartnell and San Diego Mesa defend NorCal and SoCal Cross Country Championships

(Courtesy Hartnell College Athletics)
(Courtesy Hartnell College Athletics)
November 6, 2022

Complete Results: NorCal l SoCal

FORTUNA/BAKERSFIELD - Hartnell College and San Diego Mesa College didn't let go of championships won a year ago as both raced to titles at the CCCAA Northern California and Southern California Men's Cross Country Championships this weekend. Hartnell claimed individual and team top honors at the NorCal race in Fortuna, scoring 49 points to edge rival American River College, which was a close second with 52 points, while San Diego Mesa had three of the top four individual finishers while tallying just 31 points to win the SoCal event in Bakersfield.

Mt. San Antonio was second at the SoCal Championships, scoring 74 points behind Jesse Alvarado, who posted a 22-second victory in 19:28.9. Juan Rosales (19:28.9) was San Diego Mesa's top placer, earning runner-up honors in 19:50.9 and lead three consecutive Olympians across the finish line just seven seconds apart. David Millan was third in 19:51.6 and Victor Rosas was fourth in 19:57.3. Bryce Kueker gave San Diego Mesa another top-10 finisher with his eight-place showing in 20:04.4 while Alan Jimenez closed the team's scoring by taking 14th in 20:16.1.

Mt. SAC took second in the team standings after scoring 74 points, just ahead of Riverside City which was third with 82. Bakersfield (128) and Glendale (162) completed the top five teams. Jacob Yagers and Francisco Felix from host Bakersfield were fifth and sixth, respectively.

Hartnell and American raced neck-and-neck for top honors at the NorCal Championships with each team placing its five scoring runners among the top 21 finishers. The top two, in fact, mirrored the team standings with Hartnell's Esteban Diaz finishing first in 21:43.0 and ARC's Lucas Reeves finishing second in 22:04. Hartnell added  top-11 placers with Moises Benito (4th, 22:07.0) and Jose Velasquez (11th, 22:42.0), while American River had a pair with Byron Chadwick (6th, 22:20.0) and Cristian Martinez (7th, 22:21.0).

Jesse Blanco (15th, 22:58.0) and Rick Diaz (18th, 20:25.0) rounded out Hartnell's winning formula.

American River was second in the team standings, well ahead of third-place De Anza, which was third with 133 points. Clovis (152) was fourth while College of the Sequoias (158) tied with Chabot (158) for fifth.

Advancing teams and individual runners will now turn their attention to the CCCAA Cross Country Championships, scheduled for Nov. 19 at Woodward Park in Fresno.