XC Men Makes Fall Academic Honors List

Five members of the men's cross country team were named to either the Fall President's List or Dean's List for their academic achievements during the cross country season. Sophomores Cristian Soratos, Kevin Roa, and freshmen Rigo Fernandez and Guillermo Cuevas were named to the President's List for earning a 3.5+ GPA for the fall semester. Freshman Eddie Guzman was named to the Dean's List for earning a 3.0+ GPA.

Gallegos All-American

Sophomore Miguel Gallegos has gotten a late start on his conditioning for the fall cross country season every year since high school. Despite another late start going into his sophomore season at Hartnell, the former North Monterey County High School standout produced his best end of season outcome of his career. After placing 37th at last year's state championship, Gallegos had demonstrated a new level of fitness after running personal bests at this year's Coast Conference and Norcal Championships repeating with honors at both competitions. The new level of fitness produced the Castroville native's first All-American honor at this year's state championship in Fresno. Gallegos placed 11th overall, with All-American honors designated to the top 14 finishers, with a lifetime best of 20:30 at Woodward Park. His time makes him the second best all-time performer on the course only to fellow Condor and state champion Daniel Tapia. He was followed by Cristian Soratos (20:54) in 29th and Kevin Roa (21:16) in 49th. Rounding out the scoring five were Guillermo Cuevas (22:49) and Eddie Guzman (22:52). As a team, the Panthers repeated last year's 13th place finish and were the second highest placing Northern California team in the 28 team field. Northern California champion American River College was the overall team winner.

Men Repeat as Runner-Up at Regional

Heading into this year's Northern California Cross Country Championship at Crystal Springs, the Hartnell College men's cross country team was expecting no less than second place trophy. The Hartnell men had only been bested by top ranked American River College against regional competition. With three All-Norcal recipients for the men, both the men's team left the championship with the expected outcome.

Sophomores Cristian Soratos, Miguel Gallegos, and Kevin Roa knew they would be leading their fellow Panthers up against a Goliath of a challenge in top ranked American River College on the challenging 4.195 mile course. The trio gave the top team all they could handle as the Panthers were the most represented team in the top 20 other than the Beavers from American River College. American River College were impressive placing five runners in the top 10 besting the Panthers with a score of 17 to 84. Soratos jumped from nineteenth in 2010 to fifth in 2011 with a time of 21:38, making him the most improved individual in the region. Gallegos capped one of the most successful individual careers in Hartnell history with his sixth place finish in a personal best 21:41. Gallegos was seventh in 2010 giving him two consecutive All-Norcal honors. Kevin Roa was eighth in 2010 and eleventh in this edition at 22:05, also making him a two time All-Norcal recipient. Freshman Eddie Guzman placed 17th just narrowly missing the cutoff for regional honors. His time of 22:26 was a season best of 36 seconds. Fellow freshman Steven Hernandez was the final scorer in 47th at 23:38. Also competing for the Panthers were Izzy Parra (23:51) and Guillermo Cuevas (25:29). Soratos, Gallegos, and Roa complete their Hartnell career with two Coast Conference team titles and two Northern California regional runner-up trophies. In the last six years, the Hartnell men have been as equally impressive winning two regional titles and placing second twice.

Hartnell College was the only program to place both men's and women's teams in the top three making them the best combined program in the region. Both teams qualified as one of the top 10 teams in the region to compete at the State Championships in Fresno against the top 18 programs from Southern California.

Panthers Repeat As Coast Champions

Sophomore Cristian Soratos continued his dream season with his first Coast Conference cross country individual title. Soratos sped away from the field early to secure his fifth individual win of the season. His time of 20:26 was 12 seconds in front of teammate Miguel Gallegos (20:38) as the Panthers took the first three spots with Kevin Roa a solid third (20:50). Two freshmen, Guillermo Cuevas (21:30) and Eddie Guzman (21:32), helped the Panthers secure the victory placing ninth and tenth overall. Soratos, Gallegos, Roa, Cuevas, and Guzman earned All-Coast Conference honors for their performances. Hartnell outdistanced Las Positas College 25 points to 45 points in the team battle. Host City College of San Francisco was third followed by De Anza College, San Jose, and San Mateo. Also running for the Panthers were Steven Hernandez (22:19), Rigo Fernandez (22:59), Izzy Parra (23:32), Omar Pelayo (23:54), Abel Mendez (24:51), Miguel Luna Sanchez (25:16), and Alexis Aleman (25:22).

The men's will compete for Northern California regional trophy on Saturday, November 5th at the Crystal Springs cross country course in Belmont, CA. Men's race will begin at 12:45pm.

Soratos Breaks Toro Course Record

Sophomore Cristian Soratos felt the pressure heading into this year's Toro Park Invitational. The former Salinas High School standout had won three invitationals this season, placed no lower than third in two others, and produced several of the best times in school history on several courses. The Toro Park Invitaitonal provided Soratos with just one shot at the school record of 20:34 set by Jose Garcia in 2005 for the four mile course. Running the entire distance by himself, Soratos bettered the mark by 4 seconds earning his first school record on any course this season. Following Soratos, the Panthers enjoyed a sweep of the next three spots with Miguel Gallegos (21:03), Kevin Roa (21:05), and Eddie Guzman (21:44) enjoying solid races. Guillermo Cuevas (22:18) placed seventh to complete the team scoring. Hartnell bested the second place team Diablo Valley 17 to 39. Also running for the Panthers were Izzy Parra (23:01), Steven Hernandez (23:27), Rigo Fernandez (23:59), Omar Pelayo (25:14), Able Mendez (25:16), Miguel Luna-Sanchez (25:47), and Alexis Aleman (26:38).

The Panthers return to action on Wednesday when they compete at the 2011 Coast Conference Championships held at Golden Gate Park and hosted by City College of San Francisco. The men will look to extend a streak of team championships to two as they were victorious in 2010. The men will face regionally ranked #3 Las Positas College along with Coast rival DeAnza College. The top 14 placing individuals will earn All-Conference honors.

Second Win for Soratos at Crystal Springs

Sophomore Cristian Soratos continues to enjoy his dream season winning his third invitational of the season at the College of San Mateo Crystal Springs Invitational. The meet served as the unofficial regional preview with a majority of the Northern California teams in attendance plus teams from Cuesta College and Ventura College representing the sourthern region. Soratos easily pulled away from the field prior to the two mile mark of the 4.195 mile course at Crystal Springs. As his lead grew, the question became how fast would the former Salinas High School standout run in comparison to his early season time of 21:28 on the same course. At the line, Soratos stopped the clock at 21:16 making him the eighth best performer in school history at Crystal Springs. Only three Hartnell runners have dipped under the elusive 21:00 barrier in the 31 years the Panthers have competed on the course. Soratos will have one more chance at the Northern California Championship on November 5th. Behind Soratos, fellow sophomores Miguel Gallegos and Kevin Roa were putting together their best individual performances of the season. Within meters of the finish the pair had worked themselves into third and fourth overall only have Roa slip one spot to fifth at the finish line. Gallegos (22:09) and Roa (22:14) posted season best times on the course and are rounding into the shape that saw them earn All-Norcal honors as freshmen last year. Eddie Guzman (23:02) in 18th and Steven Hernandez (23:23) at 30th completed the scoring for the Panthers. The Panthers would tie at 56 points through five runners with the team from Cuesta College. In cross country, a tie is broken by the placing of the sixth runner. Cuesta would take the team win as their sixth runner placed 26th overall. As a consolation, the Hartnell men moved closer to being a team that can potentially contend for a regional title on this same course. Also competing were Izzy Parra (23:56), Guillermo Cuevas (24:11), Rigo Fernandez (25:13), Abel Mendez (26:37), Omar Pelayo (27:10), Alexis Aleman (28:19), and Miguel Luna-Sanchez (28:25).

The Panthers will take a three week break from competing and focus on preparing for their one home contest. Hartnell College will host the annual Toro Park Invitational on Friday, October 21st. The women's three mile race will be contested at 3:30pm followed by the men's four mile race at 4:15pm.

Soratos Jumps to #2 All-Time at Golden Gate

Competing at the historic Lou Vasquez Invitational held at San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, the Hartnell College men's cross country team walked away with some confidence boosting performances. With ideal bay area weather, the times were fast and the competition deep as all but one Northern California programs were in attendance providing for a preview of the regional championship in early November.

Sophomore Cristian Soratos is slowly learning that only two men stand in his way of becoming Hartnell's next Northern California Champion. American River College's Wyatt Landrum and Garrett Seawell are the only two to defeat the former Salinas High School standout this season. Despite becoming Hartnell's second best performer at Golden Gate Park at 20:06 for the four mile course, the two ARC runners maintained their advantage here placing 1-2 just yards in front of Soratos. In consolation, Soratos found himself much closer to the duo later in this race then their previous meeting. The three will not face each other again until the regional meet in November making for a dramatic finish to the season. As a team, the Panthers showed they are hitting their mid-season stride as they placed second only to top ranked American River College. Miguel Gallegos was ninth (20:56), Eddie Guzman fifteenth (21:09), Kevin Roa seventeenth (21:13), and Steven Hernandez 37th (21:49). All five put their names on the school's all-time list. Also competing Izzy Parra (22:31), Guillermo Cuevas (22:50), Rigo Fernandez (23:56), Abel Mendez (25:13), Omar Pelayo (25:14), Alexis Aleman (26:02), and Miguel Luna-Sanchez (29:36).

The Panthers head to the course at Crystal Springs for the CSM Invitational next Friday. CSM Invitational will be provide second run this season up and down the hills that serve as the layout for the regional championship.