Hartnell Men Improve at Monterey Bay Invitational

Moises Benito (center) leads the Panthers at the Monterey Bay Invitational. Benito would place fourth overall in his return.
Moises Benito (center) leads the Panthers at the Monterey Bay Invitational. Benito would place fourth overall in his return.
Photos Results
September 17, 2023

The Hartnell men received an important dose of confidence as a team with the return of All-Norcal runner Moises Benito on Saturday at the Monterey Bay Invitational. Wtih Benito in the line-up, the Panthers inched closer to conference foe De Anza College who score 29 points to the Hartnell's 37 in a near dual meet on the Palo Corona Cross Country Course. The two teams will face off the 2023 Coast Conference title on Wednesday, October 25th. De Anza College is the only program to defeat the Panthers as a team in the last 13 years. 

Despite not having raced yet this season and with limited running over the last month, Benito ran much of the four mile layout with 5CTCA Runner of the Week Antoine Moret, a recent 24:56 8k performer. Moret would pull away just before 3 miles to finish as the top community college athlete in 20:41. Benito would finish as top Panther in 21:04 and in fourth overall. Soledad High School graduate and freshman Elijah Melchor made a strong move in the second half of the race to run a season best 21:18. Mario Avila was tenth (21:48) joining Benito and Melchor as sub 22 minute performers on the course in their first attempt. De Anza would pack their remaining five runners before the next Panther would cross the line. Freshman Gael Godinez (22:33) has shown tremendous promise in just his first two race. Godinez was sixteenth and just five seconds behind the seventh De Anza runner. Emiliano Ramirez is finding his way back with a seventeenth place finish despite running nearly the whole race by himself. He was timed in 22:47. Maximo Puga (22:58) found himself under 23 minutes for the first time in his career in eighteenth place. Juan Gonzalez enjoyed a much better race at 23:03 and was steadily moving up through the field. 

The Panthers will compete next at the George Brooks Memorial Invitational which will serve host as the Norcal Preview Meet. Diablo Valley College will host the 2023 Northern California Championship on Friday, November 3rd at Hidden Valley Park in Martinez, CA. 

Hartnell Men's Results (3.97 miles)

4. Moises Benito 21:04
5. Elijah Melchor 21:18
10. Mario Avila 21:48
16. Gael Godinez 22:33
17. Emiliano Ramirez 22:47
18. Maximo Puga 22:58
20. Juan Gonzalez 23:02
22. Leonardo Diaz 23:19
23. Ryan Willson 23:20
24. Kaimana Cantere 23:20
25. Jacob Dizon 23:22
27. Irineo Navarro 23:30
28. Axel Sanchez 23:33
29. Carlos Hernandez 23:33
30. Carlos Rangel 23:38
33. Diego Villegas 23:50
38. Carlos Espinoza 24:35
39. Josue Macias 24:58
40. Imanol De Jesus 25:08
41. Marcus Serrano 25:14
42. Hugo Jimenez 25:37
43. Malachi Cruz 25:42
47. Galen Okamoto 26:47
48. Noe Torres 26:54
49. Bernabe Munoz 27:05
50. Richard Cimientos 27:10
51. Omar Quiroz 27:52