All but one runner, ran their personal bests on
Saturday morning at the Bell-Jeff Invitational, solidifying the
varsity team in the nick of time for the approaching league
season. The Mustangs will try to set the tone for this
year's league season on Wednesday by performing well on the
flat, fast, 3.2 mile road run at the Rose Bowl.
On Saturday, Christian, or "Lisa" finally ran
according to his ability. He shaved nearly 40 seconds off
his time from last year's invitational. Lisa ran a 17:42.
Running with Lisa and finishing seconds slower was Ivan.
He improved by 45 seconds. Yet, the surprise of the meet
was Eric Castanon. Finally, living up to his potential.
By virtue of his time of 17:56, Eric has cemented his spot on
the varsity squad. Though hampered by an ankle and hip
injury, Daniel Verdin, ran as projected, running the Bell-Jeff
course in 18:14. Coaches expect Daniel to be one of the
pack runners on Wednesday.
Senior Freddy Robles paced the Mustangs with a
time of 16:56. Though his time is 36 seconds slower than
his PR, Freddy is primed to make a run for the Sante Fe League
Individual title.
For the first time this season, Carlos will run
with the Mustangs on Wednesday. Last week, he dazzled
teammates and coaches with his tempo run. Though he has
run sparingly, Carlos might be the surprise of Wednesday's race.
He has a personal best of 17:11 on the Bell-Jeff course. The
seventh runner for Wednesday's race will be junior Adan Garcia.
Finishing Saturday with a time of 18:20, Adan improved nearly 40
seconds from last year. Edwin will probably replace Adan
by League Finals where Edwin has run as fast as 17:09 on the
Bell-Jeff course. .
Junior Paul Cornejo finished 12th in the junior
varsity race on Saturday. His time of 18:36 led all non
varsity runners. Paul cut 1:24 off his time from last
year's performance. Oddly enough, sophomore Daniel Garcia
also improved by 1:24. He completed the Bell-Jeff course in
18:44. Finishing with the same time, sophomore Abraham
Santa Cruz continues to run well, shattering his PR by 2:24.
