The men's cross country team competed at the Big 8 Conference Championships last weekend at Hidden Valley Park in Martinez, CA. Leading from the front, freshman standout Johnny Vargas once again made easy work of the field to bring home the individual title and MVP of the conference. Biding his time through the first two miles in fifth place, Vargas made his move around the baseball field leading up towards the third mile of the race. When he emerged from the bridge at mile two and a half he was already five seconds ahead of the trailing American River runner. Over the next mile and a half, Vargas extended that lead to a comfortable 18 seconds.
Making smart moves himself, Patrick Lynch improved his position throughout the race to just miss out on All-Conference honors in 8th place. However, Lynch's tactical awareness allowed him to score some valuable points for his team.
The Bear Cubs finished conference in 4th place overall, only 3 points out of second place behind Modesto and Diablo Valley. Heading into NorCal Championships the Bear Cubs will need to finish in the top seven in Redding in order to qualify for the State Meet. Currently the Bear Cubs are ranked 9th in northern California; however, 6th and 7th place are held by Modesto and Diablo Valley.
Complete Results: https://www.directathletics.com/results/xc/14022.html
Men Team Results
- 1st - American River - 36
- 2nd - Modesto - 77
- 3rd - Diablo Valley - 78
- 4th - Santa Rosa - 80
- 5th - Delta - 140
- 6th - Merritt - 151
- 7th - Sacramento - 177
SRJC Top Finishers (4.19 mile)
- 1st - Johnny Vargas - 22:49
- 8th - Patrick Lynch - 23:31
- 26th - Taylor Ingram - 25:16
- 29th - Johnathan Chi - 25:40
- 32nd - Andrew Magdaleno - 25:57
- 35th - Brian Padilla - 26:23
- 40th - Adel Araya - 26:54