The Santa Rosa Junior College men’s and women’s cross country teams raced against five other schools at the Kyle Robinson Invitational Sept. 27 at Bailey Field.
The men’s team placed second in the 5k behind Hartnell, with Chabot placing in third, Lake Tahoe placing in fourth, Diablo Valley placing in fifth, and San Joaquin Delta placing in sixth. The women’s team placed second in the 3k behind Diablo Valley, with San Joaquin Delta placing in third, Hartnell placing in fourth, Chabot placing in fifth, and Lake Tahoe placing in sixth.
The women’s team started off the evening with a positive outlook. Everyone was prepared and ready to take on the competition, according to head coach David Wellman.
Alexandra Van Holt placed second, Kristi Smith placing seventh, Jennifer Orozco placing ninth, Siena Deadman placing 11th, Gabi Tonelli placing 12th, Isabella Barriga placing 14th and Zoe Thompson placing 15th out of 17 competitors.
Van Holt, who placed second overall, finished with a strong time of 18:48, performed well despite less than ideal preparation.
“I felt really good about my performance today, but I wish I didn’t eat as much before my race,” Van Holt said.
Wellman was impressed with the performance by the women’s team.
“It’s a rebuilding year, and we’re a young group, but they’re all coming along really well, and as far as competing wise, we’re just trying to get better and to improve each day,” Wellman said.
After the women’s race, the men’s team followed with lots of confidence. Everyone was prepared to compete.
Luke Baird placed fourth, Jared Hayes 13th, Isaac Feleay 15th, Johnny Ando 17th, Adrian Estrada 18th, Lium Williams 33rd, Bryce Ward 36th, Ted Broome 42nd and Val Castro placed 48th out of 49 competitors.
Baird, who finished with a strong time of 16:23, was pleased with his performance.
“Yeah, I’m really happy with my time, but I feel like I could’ve run a better race,” Baird said. “Maybe I could’ve just stayed with my teammates a little closer, but overall, I’m pretty happy with my performance.”
Wellman had high praise for the men’s team.
“We’ve got a really solid team, and out of the teams we’ve had in the past 13 years, this is probably in like the top three of the better teams that I’ve had,” Wellman said. “It’s all about making sure they stay healthy, that’s most important.”
A priority for Wellman is improvement and preparation for track and field season.
“I think it was a really good experience overall, like we had this meet on the track so they’d get like a mid cross country season track time, just to kind of see where they are,” Wellman said. “When we get to the track season, we try to compare and see that they’ve improved.”
The next home cross country meet for both the men’s and women’s teams will be the Pat Ryan Invitational 2 p.m. Oct. 18 at Spring Lake Park.
