By John M. Sherrard
(WALNUT) The 2016 Men and Women Cross Country teams are off to a fast start to the 2016 season with both placing in the top five in the first four invitationals.
The women are ranked second and men fourth in the state CCCAA polls (September 25).
Highlighting the men's season is a first place finish in the Fresno Invitational, while the women have placed second in three of the four invitationals.
Both squads will travel north this weekend to run in the Stanford Invitational, being held at the Stanford Golf Course in Palo Alto.
"This (Stanford Invitational) is a great meet, which is out of our normal distance," said Men's Assistant Cross Country Coach Dan Ozan, who is in his second year at Mt. SAC. "It highlights the 8K distance, which is the normal distance for 4-year university competition."
Women's Cross Country Coach Doug Todd echoed Ozan about the Stanford meet – "The opponents are very, very talented and should be very good going against 4-year universities."
Todd, who is in his 22nd year as the women's coach, has guided his teams to four state titles, with the last coming in 2014. The women have eight state titles in program history.
"Coach Ozan and I are very pleased with where we are at this point of the season," said Head Men's Cross Country Coach Ron Kamaka, who is also head coach of the men's Track and Field team. "Training is going well. The men are determined, and with the talent on our squad they are capable of performing at a very high level."
Leading the men's team, which was the CCCAA state runner-up last season, is Manuel Fernandez, who finished third in the prestigious four-mile Fresno Invitational out of over 190 runners and second among all community college runners (12th overall) in the 8,000 meter run at the Mark Covert Classic at Carbon Canyon Regional Park.
Leading the women in the 5,000 meter run in the Covert Classic was freshman Teresa Castillo in 15th place out of 88 runners. Castillo also placed 15th in the 5K at the So Cal Preview Meet in Irvine two weeks ago to help the team to a second place finish and 14th at the Golden West Classic.
The men's top finisher in the Golden West Classic was freshman Trelani Waters in 10th place and sophomore Christian Duran was 15th.
In the So Cal Preview for the men, freshman Adam Preston finished 17th while Carlos Barrios was 20th.
Fernandez, a freshman, was just a click over 3 seconds out of a first-place in the Fresno run.
"Fernandez is performing extremely well," Kamaka said. "(He is) leading our team in most major events, establishing himself among the states' best."
The women placed four runners in the top 20 in the Fresno Invitational, with Castillo finishing in a Mountie best 11th place among 149 competitors. Sophomore Crystal Jardines placed 16th, along with Danielle Murrieta and freshman Hannah Batchelor in 18th and 19th respectively.
For more information contact Mt. SAC Sports Information at 909-274-4630.