Men Win Second Consecutive Conference Title
The Hartnell College men's team have held a dominance over the Coast Conference like no other program. Despite a rare loss in 2019, the Panthers have won nearly every title in the last 20 years. In the 2022 edition, the men put seven runners in the top 10 to secure a second consecutive team title and make it seventeen of the last 20 conference titles. The team tallied 23 points to easily outdistance second place DeAnza College. The Panthers are also the defending Northern California Champions and will look to repeat their title next week in Fortuna.
In the individual battle, sophomores Esteban Deniz and Ricky Diaz III challenged 14:39 5k performer Muhammed Ahmed of Chabot College with Deniz lasting the longest. Ahmed would win in 21:31 with Deniz second in 21:41 nad Diaz in third at 21:49. Those three were the only sub 22 performers over the 4.195 mile course. Freshman Moises Benito was fifth overall (22:28) with Jose Velazquez (22:40) earning his second all-conference honors. Right behind Velazquez was fast-improving freshman Jesse Blanco in seventh (22:40). Sophomore Daniel Pantoja was a late addition after sitting out the last two races recuperating from an injury. He too repeated an all-conference honor placing eighth (22:55). Josh Riley was tenth (23:01) to earn his second all-conference honors. The next highest placing Panther was freshman Emiliano Ramirez (23:51) for eighteenth as a part of a crew that will look to extend the streak to three team titles in a row next year.
Heading into next weeks' Northern California Championship, the Panthers will send all-region runners Esteban Deniz and Jose Velazquez to the line along with Ricky Diaz III, Josh Riley, Daniel Pantoja, Moises Benito, and Jesse Blanco who will compete in their first ever regional champinship. The Panthers will look to become just the second program ever to win double digit regional titles. Hartnell currently has won the regional meet nine times trailing American River College with twelve. The 2022 Northern California Championship will be held on Saturday, November 5 at Rohner Park in Fortuna, CA.