The Bakersfield College men’s and women’s cross country teams placed first at the Bakersfield Invitational held at the Kern Soccer Field on Sept. 26.
On a mild weather and slightly breezy day, the Bakersfield College runners brought home the top four individual places in each race.
Four schools total participated in both races. The BC women’s team also finished first last year, whereas the men’s team was fourth out of five teams last year but finished first this year.
In the men’s race, BC was first, Ventura second and Antelope Valley third.
Juan Calderon, the winner of the men’s race, was excited to have beat his time from last year.
“I improved,” he said. “I took two seconds off my last time from last year’s home meet. For some people it may not sound like a lot, but that little of a difference made it possible for me to dominate.”
Calderon finished first with a time of 21:59.00 in the men’s 4-mile race. As he finished, he ran into the finish line with the obvious sense of accomplishment, along with a huge grin.
“I hope to make my family proud, my coach and my team,” Calderon said. “It’s a blessing to finish first. I hope to carry through the rest of the season, doing a good job to represent BC.”
A few seconds behind Calderon came teammate Tyler Moore with the second-place time of 22:16.00. The women’s team, spectators, and BC coaches cheered the men on as third place winner Richard Timmermans finished. Timmermans would finish with the time of 22:17.00, and was neck and neck with Moore.
Christopher Moreno would finish fourth with a time of 22:32.00, and teammate Keylan Meneses placed seventh place with the time of 23:19.00.
Jonathan Salinas came in 15th place with the time of 24:58.00 and Marcos Padron came in 16th place with the time of 25:03.00.
Out of 30 participants, the BC men’s team would end up with 13 men placing.
The women’s team, usually led by Jessica Campbell, had to run without her.
“It’s hard to not be out there competing, but the women have made me really proud,” Campbell said. “We have such a large group of outstanding athletes. It was definitely a pleasure to be able to be here to support the team.”
Campbell is out with a strain in her hamstring and is anxious to return to running.
“I hope to compete in the next meet but may wait to ensure I heal properly,” she said.
Leah Theroux, who has finished strong in every race this season, led BC by finishing first in the race. The men’s team, spectators and coaches cheered Theroux in, also.
As Theroux finished, numerous friends and family members that were excited to see her do such a good job greeted her. It is quite an improvement from the 11th place finish Theroux took home last year.
This year the women’s team participated in the 5k race, with four teams in total, competing in the race.
Emily Freeman would be right behind Theroux in second place that that may have not seemed likely earlier this season.
“I didn’t do such a great job,” Freeman said of one of her first run’s with BC, while on the track and field team. Definitely showing a stride of improvements, she is running toward her goal she set in the spring season to “improve my run and be a competitor that can stand up for BC.”
Freeman would finish the 5k race with the time a 20:12.00.
Yareli Ocampo and Kelly Hartfield would be at each other’s heels for their third and fourth place wins, respectively. Ocampo finished the race in third with the time of 20:44.00. Hartfield was a second later for fourth place with the time of 20:45.00.
Hartfield was extremely happy to have placed in such a favorable place.
“It’s hard with so many talented women to shine, but I am happy with my performance, and even happier with the team,” she said.
Paola Silvestre came in sixth place and a second behind her was Monet Portillo. Silvestre ran the race in the time of 21:02.00 and Portillo ran for seventh place with the time of 21:03.00. Ambar Cruz placed 13th in 21:41.
On Oct. 3, BC traveled for a meet at West Los Angeles in Culver City.
The men’s team finished seventh out of 12 participating teams and the women placed third of the 10 teams participating. The meet was the Western Conference Preview meet, which is important to see where the schools stand in regard to the other teams of the conference.
In the men’s four-mile run, Calderon had an impressive time of 5:08 minutes averaged per mile. With the overall time of 20:35, Calderon placed 15th.
The women had 10 runners, out of 94 participants, that placed. There were seven BC women in the top 50 of the women’s 5k race.
Freeman would be the fastest of the BC women, with the overall time of 20:12. She placed 15th for the women with the average of 6:30 minutes averaged per mile.
Ocampo would come in 17th place, with the overall time of 20:21.
The BC teams travel to the Santa Barbara Invitational on Oct. 10 at Santa Barbara City College. The teams will then travel to Ventura for the Western State Conference meet. The WSC meet will be held the at 3 p.m. Oct. 24 in Ventura. The Southern California Finals follow on Nov. 7 at Woodley Park in Van Nuys, and the State Championships are scheduled at Woodward Park in Fresno on Nov. 22.