Grover and Lady Panthers Repeat as Conference Champs

Grover and Lady Panthers Repeat as Conference Champs
November 1, 2015
The Hartnell College cross country teams swept all the available titles Friday at the Coast Conference Championship at Crystal Springs in Belmont, CA. The Panthers repeated as team champions for men and women as well as had the first overall individual male and female. It was the sixth consecutive men's title establishing the longest continuous streak in school history. For the ladies, it was third in a row but they will need an additional two more to tie the longest streak from 2002-

Sophomore Malena Grover was able to run relaxed as the heavy favorite and despite unusually warm temperatures was able to run a lifetime best 18:24 for the historic Crystal Springs cross country course.The temperature at race time rose ten degrees and peaked at an unexpected 85 degrees. Despite the heat, Grover repeated her title from 2014 easily.  In addition, her time was the fourth best in school history. Her closest competition was teammate Rachel Shimabukuro back in 2nd at 19:25. The Lady Panthers were able to place an amazing ten women in the top fourteen with all earning all-conference honors. Sophomore Lizette Garcia moved from tenth last year to fourth this year in 19:49. Freshmen Yvette Felix (20:07) and Adriana Jimenez (20:08) placed sixth and seventh respectively to complete the team score of 19 points. Also earning all-conference honors were Maria Rodriguez (20:14) in eighth, Nancy Rodriguez (20:15) in ninth, Yessika Mayo (20:41) in eleventh, Cynthia Tovar (20:57) in twelfth, and Beatriz Duarte (21:06) in fourteenth. The ten all-conference runners established a program record with the previous best being eight women in the top fourteen.

Hartnell College will host the 2015 CCCAA Northern California Regional Cross Country Championship on Friday, November 6 at Toro Park. The women's championship 3 mile race will start at 2:00pm followed by the men's championship 4 mile race at 3:00pm. The top fourteeen finishers in each race will receive all-region honors.