Panther Men Take Victory at Beat the Heat

The Hartnell College cross country kicked off the Beat the Heat meet hosted by the College of the Redwoods in Eureka, CA. A long trip from Salinas along Highway 101, the trip also served as the team's annual training camp. In addition to the meet, the Panthers were able to tour Humboldt State University and run along some of the amazing redwoods trails in the state and national parks in Humboldt County.

For the Panther men, they dominated a field of approximately 90 runners. Lead by new freshman Ricky Esqueda in 2nd place he was followed by sophomore all-conference runner Christian Aldape. The Panthers took four of the top five spots and placed nine runnners in the top 15. Sergio Coronel crossed the line fourth along with Afredo Mejia, Jr. in fifth. The final scoring Panther was freshman Jaime Martinez of Greenfield High School.

The Panther will have two weeks to prepare for their first challenge of the 2017 season the Fresno Invitational. This meet will serve as the early season State Championship Preview. In 2016, the Panther men enjoyed their highest finish placing second overall to eventual state championship third place team Mt. SAC.