Hartnell takes individual and team honors at NorCal Regional while San Diego Mesa wins at SoCal Regional
Complete results: SoCal l NorCal
ROCKLIN - Much like the Hartnell women's squad, the 2021 men that toed the line of this year's Northern California Championship were made up of holdovers from before the COVID competition suspension, freshman who were unable to compete for nearly a year, and new freshmen looking for take advantage of a full season of cross country competition. After winning every meet this season, the Panthers showed why this year's squad could be the best in program history. After winning hte Norcal Preview Meet on the same course at Sierra College back on September 10, the Panthers would lower their team score from 35 to 26 points. That score is the fifth lowest in championship history and the lowest ever for a Hartnell squad. The Panthers also established a new record with all seven runners earning top 14 All-Region honors.
After losing the Coast Conference title, sophomore Isaac Gensel wanted to a better individual effort for the overall title at the Norcal Championship. After Coast Conference champion Jacob Lawrence did not make his signature move just after halfway, Gensel sensed the title was up for grabs. Gensel won the Norcal Preview Meet with a strong last half mile on the twisting course at Sierra College. He would catch early leader Gulab Singh of American River College and hold Coast Conference foe Evan Franco for the win. Gensel stopped the clock in 21:37 with Franco four second back. Gensel becomes the ninth individual champion joining Danny Williams, Brian Wilkinson, Steve Moreno, Enrique Lopez, Daniel Tapia, Diego Leon, and Ricky Esqueda. Hartnell College has had the most individual champions since the small and large college merge in 1984. Freshman Esteban Deniz would work his way all the way up to third just before the finish but be caught by a fast charging Cristian Martinez of American River College. Deniz with his fourth place finish in 21:46 has the opportunity to win next year's title given he was only five seconds behind Franco. Like Gensel, Francisco Maciel competed on the 2019 team but only placed 42nd. This time around he would be sixth overall in 21:57. Fellow third year sophomore Daniel Correa, who did not run the 2019 championship, placed seventh also in 21:57. True freshmen Mario Avila (22:01) was ninth, Jose Velazquez (22:09) tenth, and Eli Ainsworth (22:10) eleventh.
The Panthers will head to Fresno and Woodward Park on Saturday, November 20th to compete in the CCCAA State Championship. There they will face Southern California champion and defending state champion San Diego Mesa College. In addition, the Panthers will also have to contend with previously top ranked Mt. SAC and fast closing regional third place finisher Riverside College.
(Hartnell College Athletics)
San Diego Mesa shows strong depth in capturing SoCal Regional Championship
FOUNTAIN VALLEY – The depth of the San Diego Mesa men’s cross country team was too much to overcome for the rest of the field as the Olympians scored a team-low 44 points to win the Southern California Regional championship on Friday at Mile Square Park.
With all seven runners on the Olympians’ squad finishing in the top 25, it was apparent who the top program was as Mesa earned a 13-point win over runner-up Mt. San Antonio (57) and an 18-point advantage over third-place Riverside City College (62), with the rest of the field trailing the lead pack by a wide margin. In fact, 14 of the first 20 runners to cross the finish line came from Mesa, Mt. SAC or RCC.
Mounties’ standout runner, Daniel Abdala, set the pace from the opening gun and conquered the 4-mile course with a winning time of 19 minutes, 12.34 seconds. Mesa’s Jonathan Kelly was close behind with a second-place time of 19:23.19, while Mt. SAC’s Jesse Alvarado took third at 19:43.23.
Mario Tavares (RCC, 19:54.84), Diego Lopez (Cuyamaca, 19:55.12), Abel Ramos (RCC, 19:59.75), Jesus Villarreal (Mesa, 20:00.62), Brandon Pizano-Pintor (Saddleback, 20:01.25), Aldo Trujillo (Santa Ana, 20:02.38) and Devin Provence (Mesa, 20:03.79) round out the top-10.
Glendale finished fourth overall with 194 points, followed by Orange Coast (208), Bakersfield (209), Moorpark (215), Saddleback (223), Cuyamaca (252) and Ventura (269).
The CCCAA State Championship Meet will take place on Saturday, Nov. 20 at Fresno’s Woodward Park.
(Tony Altobelli, Orange Coast College)