Panther Men Take Early Season Victory

The Hartnell College men's cross country is the defending Coast Conference and Northern California Regional Champions and with five sophomores in the top seven at the Crystal Springs Early Bird Invitational, the team has an outstanding shot at repeating both titles in 2022. The Panthers used this early season tour of the shortened version of the historic Crystal Springs course in Belmont, CA to help the new freshmen runners get a preview of the course for the conference championship in October. With five runners in the top eight overall, the Panthers were able to take the victory over host DeAnza College 25-32. 

Sophomore Esteban Deniz lead a tight group of four Panthers across the line with his second place finish in 15:41. He was followed in fourth by high school teammate Ricky Diaz III (15:48), sophomore Daniel Pantoja (15:49) and newcomer Moises Benito (15:50). Jose Velazquez (16:15) closed well after a slow opening start to the race to finish eighth and secure the win the for the Panthers. Joshua Riley (16:45) and freshman Jesse Blanco (16:55) rounded out the top seven. Elliot Daniels of DeAnza College was the overall winner in 15:23 and will need to overcome to re-establish a streak of conference champions for Hartnell. The Panthers have had fifteen out of the last seventeen overall champions. 

The Hartnell men will face their first serious test of the 2022 season on Saturday, September 17 at the Norcal Preview Meet in Fortuna, CA. They will face rival American River College over the course at Rohner Park in preparation for this fall's Northern California Championship.