With 103 degrees bearing down on her and the rest of the field, Bakersfield College runner Blanca Perez came in first at the Bakersfield College Cross Country Invitational on Sept. 23.

Perez’s time of 21:21.00 helped lead BC to a second-place team finish behind College of the Canyons.

“The last mileage, it really pushed me hearing the girls cheering me on,” said Perez.

“I knew then that I couldn’t let the team down. That really pushed me to the finish line.”

BC’s men’s cross-country team came within a point of College of the Canyons in overall scoring. Robert Baker of the Renegades finished second behind Canyons’ Alex Ruther.

Baker said that he was pleased with how he competed, but was disappointed with his team’s overall finish.

However, he doesn’t blame them for the failure to beat Canyons.

“We had a couple of guys that could’ve done better, just one spot better, but there’s no way I’m disappointed in my team,” Baker said. “If I were to win the race, we might’ve won.”

Of the top 25 runners who receive medals at the end of the day, the women’s team had 11 runners place, and the men’s team had eight.

Desiree Martinez finished 25th in the women’s 5k run, securing her medal.

Martinez credits the heat to her finish time of 26:31.00, and credits her teammates for fighting through it.

“I think they all pushed it really well despite the weather conditions,” she said. “My teammates are really tough.

“The heat really gets to you mentally, but you just have to try to surpass and keep going.”

According to Martinez, the team had practiced the course throughout the week, and that, “being located in Bakersfield, we’re kind of used to running in this heat.”

The men’s head coach Dave Frickel was excited to see the way both teams competed and expects this to be a start of good things to come.

“Having a showing like that is good,” said Frickel. “I think from here it’s a building block … and with each run we are moving up the ladder a little bit.”

Going forward, the team has a Western State Conference Preview Meet at Ledbetter Beach on Oct. 7, followed by the Mount San Antonio College Invitational.

Baker is expecting his team to be just as competitive in the future.

“By putting more mileage in, training harder, and putting a little more intensity in our workouts, we shouldn’t miss a beat,” Baker said.