The cross country team led the way Sept. 23 at the Bakersfield Invitational. Although not one the more competitive meets the team has competed in this year, the boys and girls still showed up ready to race.

The meet was held at Bakersfield, Hart Park on a clear and sunny afternoon. The runners start a 5k in the middle of the soccer fields, head out around CALM, run over a few bumpy hills, and then return with a solid sprint to the finish line. The only collegiate teams competing that day were Bakersfield College and Allen Hancock College.

Pam Kelly, the BC cross country coach was very proud of the work her team has put in this season. “Male wise, we’re a young team. Female wise we have a little more experience but I think they’ve done very well” she said after watching her girls finish the course.

Of the girl’s team, Alyssa Morales finished first in this meet with Sydney Roman following in second. “It felt pretty good, I knew a bit of the course and there weren’t a lot of girls to pace myself off of so I just ran what I felt” said Morales after the meet “I pretty much give my all every race.”

On the boy’s team, it was Patrick Alvardo who took first place. “I felt good, my body’s kind of tight from the last few weeks of practice so I just took it easy, tried to pace myself and be smart.” BC was the only team competing for the boy’s race. Many felt this took pressure away from going too hard on this course.

“We’ve had a lot of tough meets with a lot of tough travel which means they’re out at 5 in the morning and back at 8 at night. You don’t get the best performances out of them so even though this was small, it gives us a chance to run something where were not on a bus, they get to go against a team that we can compete against, and it makes it a little more fun” Kelly said.

The cross country team is more than half way through their season and is returning on Sept. 30^th to compete on the same course in the WSC Preview Meet. “We started this about nine years ago, maybe ten years ago when Coach Dave Frickel first came to us. It started with just two high school teams and now it’s grown into something much bigger that also gives high school runners a chance to test themselves on a 5k course” said Kelly.