By Justin Hsieh, Staff Writer
This morning, the boys’ cross country team competed in the Brea Cross Country Invitational at Carbon Canyon Park in Brea. The five-kilometer course, which included a long dirt stretch and a tough hill, proved a challenge for the boys.
The Barons first compete in the frosh/soph boys division, who ran in a series of races from 8:05 a.m. to 9:25 a.m. Leading runners included sophomore Michael Mockus, sophomore Dezi Hernandez and freshman Abraham Morales, at 18:31, 19:29 and 19:39, respectively.
“It was okay for the first half, but once you got to the hill it went downhill – literally,” said Mockus.
From 9:45 a.m. to 11:25 a.m., the Barons’ varsity and junior varsity runners competed together, with standout performances from seniors Yuki Watanabe and Nicholas Mockus in varsity and junior Uy Tran in JV. Watanabe and Mockus both medaled, placing in the top 10 in their races.
“Today’s race actually felt pretty good. None of us were really supposed to race this – we were about to skip this race, none of us were really feeling up to par today and all of us felt really tired during the week, so I’m really surprised with the strong performances today,” said Watanabe.
Not all the boys shared Watanabe’s optimistic judgement, however. In the final race of the meet, varsity sophomores Jaden Nguyen and Hunter Augustus both fell prey to the brutal hill climb under the burning midday sun.
“We definitely have not had enough hill training,” said Nguyen.
Although Nguyen’s comment reflected the opinions of many of the other runners, who felt that the difficult ascent had defeated them, the team was overall unshaken by the tough day.
“I think it was a great experience for the boys,” said Coach Steve Knowles. “It’s their first time on a course with a big hill in it, and the tough race was great preparation for our later races and Sunset League Finals.”
