Pete Moye’
Sports Button
Daniel Herrera, freshman cross country runner for Cerritos College, continued his dominance this season as he finished in first place overall for the men’s team at the Southern California Championships on Saturday.
The men’s cross country team finished in ninth place with 196 team points.
Assistant Coach Christian Cruz felt that the team as a whole had a good day.
“It went really well. All of our men had personal records. They all got their best marks of the year.”
The Southern California Championships were held at Guasta Park in Ontario, which is where the SoCal Preview Meet was held earlier this season, which Herrera also won.
Herrera outperformed his previous performance at Guasta Park of 20:08.97 with a time of 19:58.60. The win was his fifth victory of the season.
Herrera spoke about the difference between the SoCal preview meet and the Southern California Championships.
“Both races were at Guasta Park, but the conditions were completely opposite. At the SoCal [preview] it was hot, and in the SoCal Championships it was raining and windy.”
The Falcons’ ninth place finish was one place higher than the previous meet at the same location where the Falcons finished in eighth place.
Sophomore Luis Calderon was an alternate for the meet and did not race, but commented on the team’s performance, saying, “Even though it was raining, the team preformed flawless. Everyone was able to run personal bests.”
Cerritos College runner Munar Kahssay finished the day with a 17th-place finish with a time of 20:50.55.
After Kahssay’s 17th-place finish, the Falcons did not have another runner cross the finish line until freshman Brandon Taylor finished in 48th place. Taylor finished the day with a time of 21:21.97.
Freshman Thomas Poston ended the day in 60th place. His final time was 21:34.33.
Sophomore Joey Moreno crossed the finish line with a time of 21:41.17. He finished in 74th place.
The Falcons’ next meet will be in Fresno where they will compete in the state championships on Nov. 19.
Last year the Falcons placed fifth out of 28 other schools.
