Panther Women Dominate Chabot Invite
Despite nearly missing the race due to South Bay traffic, the Panther women were able to show resilience in the faith of adversity and dominate the Chabot Invitational held on the campus of Las Positas College in Livermore. The course that starts and finishes on the track and loops in nearby agricutlural fields, will play host to the Coast Conference Championship in late October. Facing a course record of 19:43 for the 5km layout, both sophomores Daniela Salazar and Isabelle Torres bettered the old mark in placing first and third overall. Salazar did much of the leading for the first half of the race before a strong challenge was put forth by defending Northern California champion Julia Gonzalez of Diablo Valley College. Gonzalez would hold the lead until nearly the finish line with Salazar calling on her middle distance speed to pass Gonzalez over the final 150 meters. Salazar would finish in 19:15 to lower the course record by 28 seconds and was followed by Gonzalez in 19:18. Isabelle Torres ran close to the top two for nearly the entire race and finished a comfortable third also under the old record in 19:38. Freshman Valeria Gomez-Lozano was fourth in 19:47 followed by Shantal Martinez in fifth at 19:55, with the two trading team positions from the Fresno Invitational. Freshman Mariah Changco (20:23) was seventh earning the final top finisher award and complete the team scoring. Nerina Campos was ninth (20:51) followed by freshman Joanna Macias (21:01) in eleventh. There were only two scored teams but the Panthers tallied just 15 points for a perfect team score.
The Panthers will travel to the valley on Friday, September 27 for the Modesto Junior College Pirate Invitational.
