Panthers Victorious at Home Meet

The Hartnell College men won their third meet of the year that started with the Crystal Springs Early Bird Invitational and the Norcal Preview Meet. The Panthers will look to add the Coast Conference title to their season resume but first showed they are moving toward their best team races when it matters most. Hartnell won the Toro Park Invitational placing four in the top five and five in the top 10 to score a near perfect 19 points. Clovis Community College was second and College of San Mateo third. 

Esteban Deniz won his first race as a Panther running his best race to date. He stopped the clock with a seven second advantage of high school teammate Ricky Diaz III. Deniz was time in 20:43 which moves him to ninth best in Hartnell College. Diaz was timed in 20:50 which loves him to eleventh best all-time for all Panthers. Freshman Moises Benito was third in 20:51, one of the best true freshman marks at Toro Park. Sophomore Jose Velaquez battled a runner from 9:09 3200 runner from Clovis Community College over the final mile but came up just a second short of the upset. His 21:05 mark does move him into the top 25 all-time at Toro Park. Freshman Jesse Blanco stepped up as the fifth runner in Daniel Pantoja's absence. Blanco debuted over the four mile version in 22:11. Sophomore Joshua Riley was timed in 22:30 twelfth overall. Emiliano Ramirez got the chance to finish as the seventh Panther in 23:10. 

The Panthers will look to defend their Coast Conference title on Wednesday, October 26 at Crystal Springs.