5CTCA announces runners of the week for fifth week of cross country season

SALINAS - It was a clean sweep for the Diablo Valley College Vikings for 5CTCA Runner of the Week honors in the north. A pair of sophomores put up impressive performances in their final home invitational at the George Brooks Memorial meet held at Hidden Valley Park. Alan Solari, last year's sixth-place NorCal finisher, crossed the line in second place in 22:09. He was the top NorCal finisher and bested ROTW recipient Jesse Blanco of Hartnell by 22 seconds. The pair will face off again on Oct. 4th at the Norcal Preview Meet in Salinas. Alana Sevier, an all-region performer in 2023, placed fourth overall and over 30 seconds faster than her performance last November to help spearhead the team victory for the Vikings on their home course. Her performance pushed the #3 Vikings ahead of #2 Hartnell College.

 

In the South, Ivan Guzman of Cuyamaca College impressed with an aggressive race at the Golden West Central Park Classic in Huntington Beach. Guzman, a freshman, placed second overall trailing only ROTW Jacob Perez of Bakersfield College. His time was 20:49 over the four-mile course. Maya Natarajan of Moorpark College tested herself against the fast course at UC Riverside and came away with an excellent 18:38. Natarajan is also a freshman and will see how she stacks up in the region Oct. 4 at the rescheduled Socal Preview Meet.