Hartnell, Lead By Diego Leon, Win Lou Vasquez Invitational
The City by the Bay hosted the Lou Vasquez Invitational at Golden Gate Park on Thursday. The Hartnell College cross country found the weather and course to their liking taking both the men's and women's team titles decisively.
Sophomore Diego Leon won his second meet of the year outrunning second place by 14 seconds over the four mile course. Leon's time of 20:20 is the fourth best in school history and a 21 second improvement over his performance last year. The former Anzar Hawk is considered the top contender for the individual state title this fall. He was followed in third place by much improved Panther Justin Carrancho. Carrancho showed promise in high school at Watsonville and is now enjoying his best season of cross country. His time of 20:40 is the eighth best in school history. Joining Leon and Carrancho in the top fourteen were Rene Siqueiros in eleventh (21:30) and Luis Vargas in fourteenth (21:38). The Panthers bested a "B" squad from regionally top ranked American River College. Also running well were Andrews Gutierrez (21:49), Jesus Vazquez (22:09), and Fernando Corona (22:19)