The Bakersfield College cross country team opened its 2012 season at the Ventura Invitational on Aug. 31 in Ventura College. There were a total of eight teams competing for the men in the four-mile run, and nine teams for the women in the 5,000 run.
El Camino College finished in the top spot for the men’s four mile run, with a total time of 1:55:35, an avg. time of 23:07, and a score of 28. Freshman Reo Miranda-Lavertu of El Camino took first place with a time of 22:34.87, and an avg. mile of 5:38.
On the women’s side in the 5,000 run, De Anza College took the top spot with a total time of 1:44:57, an avg. time of 20:59, and a score of 46. Soph. Katie Castro of De Anza finished first with a time of 19:31.77, and an avg. mile time of 6:17.
Overall team score had the BC men finishing in the sixth spot, with a total time of 2:08:09, an average time of 25:37, and a score of 158. The BC women also finished in the sixth spot, with a total time of 1:54:43, an average time of 22:56, and a score of 139.
In the four-mile run, the top performer for BC was freshman Misael Herrera, who finished 28th in 24:49, and an avg. mile time of 6:12. For the women in the 5k run, the top BC athlete was Freshman Moriah Millwee, as she finished 17th in 21:50:00, and an avg. mile time of 7:01.
BC assistant coach Dave Frickel was pleased with the overall results and efforts by both squads, saying, “Each team, both men and women finished sixth, which I thought was pretty good. The girls I thought had a little bit better performance as a team.
“Both teams have to bridge the gap between the numbers one to five, but a lot of the boys we have are kind of new to cross-country, so they’re going to learn. I think more of the girls are well versed in cross-country compared to the guys I have.
“This is a real hard course too, it’s kind of a challenge, the men’s course is harder than the women’s, it’s a bit challenging for the opening race of the year. I think overall, both did really well as a team, so with that, I think we can build on it to get better each week.”