San Diego Mesa Showcases State’s Best at Annual Manny Bautista XC Invitational; Castleberry Claims Men’s Four-Mile Title

San Diego Mesa College once again welcomed some of the state's top cross country programs to the annual Manny Bautista XC Invitational, held this past weekend at Liberty Station's historic Naval Training Center.

With more than 23 programs competing, the invitational has established itself as one of California's premier community college cross country meets, bringing together many of the state's top-ranked teams and individual runners.

The event honors legendary Mesa coach Manny Bautista, whose contributions to California community college athletics continue to be felt today. During his 14 seasons at Mesa, Bautista guided his teams to four state championships, including the 1994 women's cross country title, the first state championship in school history. His 1998 women's track and field team also captured a state title, a distinction that remains unmatched in program history. Bautista's men's cross country teams earned No. 1 national rankings in both 2000 and 2001. A four-time California Community College Coach of the Year, he remains actively involved in the running community.

The women's 5K featured a field that included six of the state's top eight ranked teams.

Individually, the race came down to a battle between Mt. San Antonio College's Jocelyn Alba and unattached runner Elena Mendez. Alba controlled the pace for much of the race, but Mendez made her move in the closing stretch, passing Alba to capture the individual title in 18:17.2. Alba finished just three seconds behind in 18:20.

The Olympians Suhey Arce was Mesa's top finisher, placing 11th, with a time of 19:11.8. Isabel Lara finished 13th with a 19:22.4. Galia Salazar crossed with a time of 20:03.2, in 21st place. 

In the team standings, defending state champion Mt. San Antonio College showed why they are still one of the top teams this season. 

The Mounties placed four runners among the top eight finishers to claim the team title with 29 points.

Mesa College finished in second with 80 points and West Los Angeles College round out the top three with 162 points. 

Women's 5K Top Finishers

1 Elena Mendez (Unattached) – 18:17

2 Jocelyn Alba (Mt. SAC) – 18:20

3 Kylie Unterkolfer (Mt. SAC) – 18:28

4 Luella Berg (Riverside City) – 18:35

5 AJ Dorris (Mt. SAC) – 18:38

6 Angeles Feliciano (West LA) – 18:38

7 Savannah Flores (San Bernardino Valley) – 18:43

8 Jocelyn Izarraraz-Rodriguez (Mt. SAC) – 18:50

9 Esther Gonzalez (Cerritos) – 18:55

The men's four-mile race provided one of the most exciting finishes of the afternoon, with both the individual and team championships decided by the narrowest of margins. 

A tightly packed group of 12 runners stayed together through the first three miles before Riverside City College's Ian Crocker and Alex Wesolowski began to separate themselves from the field with a mile remaining.

But Mesa freshman Cooper Castleberry wasn't about to let them get away.

Staying within striking distance, Castleberry made his move over the final 150 meters, sprinting past both Riverside runners to capture the individual title in 19:59.

Crocker crossed the line just one second later in 20:00, followed by Wesolowski in 20:02. Mesa's Parker McDevitt grabbed a fourth-place finish in 20:09, giving the Olympians two runners among the top four.

Castleberry remains unbeaten against 3C2A competition this season, continuing his impressive freshman campaign.

Riverside City College edged Mesa by a single point, 44–45, to claim the team championship. Riverside placed four runners among the top nine, while Mesa countered with three finishers in the top eight.

Riverside posted a combined team time of 1:42:17, averaging 20:27 per runner, while Mesa finished just eight seconds behind at 1:42:25, averaging 20:29.

Those marks represent the two fastest team performances recorded on the course, which has hosted the Southern California Regional Championships and some of the state's top collegiate runners and teams over the past six years.

Men's Four-Mile Top 10 Finishers

1 Cooper Castleberry (San Diego Mesa) – 19:59

2 Ian Crocker (Riverside City) – 20:00

3 Alex Wesolowski (Riverside City) – 20:02

4 Parker McDevitt (San Diego Mesa) – 20:09

5 Antonio Alcantar (Mt. SAC) – 20:24

6 Damian Nava (Cerritos) – 20:28.3

7 Anthony Silva (Riverside City) – 20:28.4

8 Amadeuos Lozano (San Diego Mesa) – 20:29

9 Luis Mier (Riverside City) – 20:31

10 Isaac Roldan (Orange Coast) – 20:34

(San Diego Mesa College Athletics)