MT. SAC::

"So-So" at Mt. SAC
Braves "Fall" to 8th in Tough Field

The Braves arrival at Mt. San Antonio College for the 56th annual Mt. SAC Invitational went smoothly. They arrived early enough to take a spot on the infield, and with enough time to go through all of their pre-race rituals. The overall personality of this Braves team is calm and collected, one could sense though that as race time approached their game faces were put on and they were ready to go. Knowing the team sweepstakes would be the toughest race of their season to date the team was prepared to get out strong and steadily pick up their tempo throughout the talent laden race. It seemed like a fool proof plan, but this is cross country, a sport where anything can and will happen within the span of a runners race. The slow opening pace was the first obstacle that the Braves had to hurdle. From the start of the gun the team was buried a little and had to make their way around the swarming field of runners. Although it stunted their race from the on set they all overcame it and moved up respectably if not aggressively. Unfortunately for a pair of Braves the slow opening pace wasn't the worst of their problems. The Braves #4 man, junior Luis Perez, fell to the ground in the first 45 seconds of the race when teammate, junior, Kevin Urak inadvertently clipped his legs out from under him. That altercation, coupled with what could have been a more aggressive race for the Braves pushed the team back into 8th place. Their team time of 80:11 was 2 seconds off last years team who finished 1st in the less crowded individual sweepstakes.

Once again leading the team was junior Randy Skillens. Randy ran a smart race and steadily moved himself into contention. Earning himself a medal after finishing in 12th place overall, Skillens' race was successful enough to also earn him the school junior class record. Racing just behind Skillens for more then three-fourths of the race was senior Luis Uribe. Uribe was hanging on to Skillens smoothly and looked like he was going to have a breakthrough race. He fell back after being unable to navigate up the final "reservoir hills" as strong as his team mate. He ended up in 29th place, but still managed a PR while finishing in 15:48. Senior, Ephraim Barrios ran as the teams third man. Despite running to a course PR, Barrios race seemed slightly non-aggressive for the 2nd time in as many outings. His talent will have to shine through come competition time as his team will depend on his leadership and ability to push through the pain. Stepping up as the teams #4 man was senior Jon Sandoval. Racing with what seemed to be a renewed passion for running, Sandoval realized his number four and five teammates were off and took on the role valiantly. Racing to a 46 second course PR (the best improvement of all varsity members) Sandoval finished strong in a time of 16:25. Despite the initial set backs of Urak and Perez they rebounded respectably to both set course PR's. Urak, set back by the knowledge that he had caused his teammate to fall, ran less aggressive but still managed to finish in a good time of 16:28. Perez who was in last place for much of the first mile rebounded nicely and shook off his initial limping to finish in 16:36. Rounding out the top seven for the Braves was senior Mahesh Gandhi.

In the Freshman race Victor Bonilla led his team to a 4th place finish. Their race was cut down to two miles because the air quality diminished as a result of the fires that were burning in nearby Rancho Cucamonga. It was for the same reason that meet management decided to cancel the remaining 15 races of the day, thus preventing the sophomores, juniors and seniors on the team from racing.