Five Panthers Earn All-Conference Honors

The Hartnell College men's cross country team will have to wait another year to get back on top of the Coast Conference but with six freshman in the top 17, the panth should be less challenging in 2025. The Panthers placed a close second to winner De Anza 27 to 33. A consolation to not winning the team title was the comfortable individual victory by sophomore Jesse Blanco. This was the sixth meet Blanco has lead the Panthers.

Blanco lead the entire race as a chase pack of nearly twelve followed him up to the first big hill at Crystal Springs. By the time he came through the two mile mark he had extended his lead to 15 seconds. Giving chase were two runners from De Anza, two from MPC and nine of his teammates. At the finish line, the Salinas High School grad had extended his advantage to nearly half a minute. He crossed the line of the 4.195 mile course in 21:32. That time now makes Blanco the fifteenth best performer at Crystal Springs. Having placed second at the Norcal Preview Meet, Blanco will attempt to become Hartnell's third regional champion in the last four years. Following behind was the future of the program in freshmen Giancarlo Mendo in fourth (22:35) and Alvaro Ruelas in fifth (22:42). Sophomore Eljah Melchor was hampered by an ankle injury but managed a tenth place finish in 23:07. Sophomore Galen Okamoto (23:31) and Aaron Eldredge (23:32) picked up top 14 all-conference honors for their performnances. Gabriel Clemente-Alamirano (23:42) and Leyder Hernandez (23:44) rounded out the top 7. 

The Panthers will compete next at the 2024 Northern California Championship on Friday, November 8th at Toro Park. The women's race will start at 10:00am with the men's following at 11:00am. The Panther men enter the race as the fourth ranked team and will look to improve upon that ranking on their home course. 

Hartnell Men's Results

21:32 Jesse Blanco
22:35 Giancarlo Mendo
22:42 Alvaro Ruelas
23:07 Elijah Melchor
23:31 Galen Okamoto
23:32 Aaron Eldredge
23:42 Gabriel Clemente-Altamirano
23:44 Leyder Hernandez
23:47 Ivan Martinez-Galindo
23:48 Juan Gonzalez
24:10 Jacob Duff
24:44 Nathan Emerson
24:49 Jason Garcia
24:55 Carlos Rangel
25:23 Marcus Serrano
25:42 Omar Quiroz
26:06 Christopher Rincon
26:11 Alejandro Hernandez
26:15 Adrian Hernandez
26:22 Kevin Ramirez
28:15 Ernesto Ramirez-Luna
28:34 Edgar Javier Soto
29:07 Francisco Vargas
30:17 Joel Sousa