Toro Park Invitational turns back Mother Nature heatwave with strong showings
SALINAS - Despite a regional heatwave in the Monterey Bay area, the Toro Park Invitational in Salinas produced several noteworthy performances on Friday. Race time temperatures hovered in the mid-90s but did not deter the fifteen teams in attendance from competing well. Teams traveled from near the Oregon border with College of the Redwoods in attendance and from all the way on the other end of the state with Cuyamaca College coming up from San Diego.
In the women's race, Hartnell's Andrea Villegas remained undefeated during her sophomore year. She covered the 3-mile course in 18:46, a comfortable 1:19 ahead of second place. Teammate Roselyn Olivo (20:05) upset Julia Martinez (20:14) of Clovis Community College for runner-up honors. Martinez had placed second at the Norcal Preview Meet two weeks ago. Clovis used their strong grouping led by Martinez in fourth and Rhiannon Walker in fifth to win the team title with 36 points. Host Hartnell was second with 62 points. Socal #10 Cuyamaca College was third with 90 points led by freshman Daycia Fieldon in seventh overall.
De Anza's top runner Antoine Moret took the individual victory in the men's race in 21:01 to move on to the top 75 all-time Toro Park performance list. Hartnell's Moises Benito was third in 21:17. Clovis Community College, meawhile, maintained its hold over the top spot in Northern California with another team victory over regional foes. The Crush scored 69 points to just beat out De Anza College who was second at 74 points. De Anza College was able to hold off host Hartnell College in the men's race by five points in a battle of conference rivals. The two teams are ranked in a tie for fourth in Norcal heading into October. Clovis was led by Aron Teffra in eighth at 21:52 and was aided by a 51-second top-five runner spread.
(Chris Zepeda, Hartnell College Athletics)