By Jonathan Tran
On Friday, Nov. 11, the Barons boys’ varsity cross country team competed in the CIF-SS preliminaries race at the Mt. Sac Cross Country Course in Walnut, California.
The Mt. Sac Cross Country Course, held on the Mt. San Antonio Community College campus, is a daunting and demanding three-mile run, consisting of many winding paths and steep hills, running mainly on compacted soil and pavement.
The CIF-SS preliminaries were divided into four sections or heats, consisting of 13 high schools and around 91 runners. The Barons boys’ varsity team was slated to race in the third heat with top state-ranked teams such as Crescenta Valley and Loyola HS. However, this did not deter them.
“I am feeling good today,” senior Andrew Hernandez said. “I have high hopes for the team.”
Despite the fierce competition, the Barons prevailed, placing fourth overall in their heat and qualifying themselves to advance to the CIF-SS finals. They only fell short behind first-place Crescenta Valley, second Santiago-Corona and third Loyola HS.
The Barons varsity runners’ individual times and placements in the three-mile race included:
- Senior Benjamin Prado (third): 15 minutes and 18 seconds
- Junior Diego Alonso (sixth): 15 minutes and 30 seconds
- Senior Luke Dias (12th): 15 minutes and 59 seconds
- Sophomore Ethan Kwong (28th): 16 minutes and 46 seconds
- Junior Andrew Hsieh (69th) 18 minutes and 16 seconds
- Senior Andrew Hernandez (80th): 18 minutes and 44 seconds
- Senior Zachary Smilor (87th): 19 minutes and 26 seconds
The team’s average three-mile time across the top five runners was 16 minutes and 23 seconds, averaging 5:28 per mile.
However, the race would be run with a few hiccups. Passing through the first mile, the Barons sat in fifth on the team standings and dropped down to eighth through the second mile. However, in the last mile, the Barons ran like their life was on the line and pulled through, finishing in fourth and qualifying for finals.
Notable performances included senior Benjamin Prado and junior Diego Alonso, who both led the race from the front and qualified individually for the CIF-SS finals. Sophomore Ethan Kwong also displayed tremendous grit, passing multiple runners from opposing high schools coming down the home stretch.
“I was feeling good, so I was confident in myself that I would make it to finals,” Prado said. “One mile left in the race, I still had my teammate Diego with me, and then I was positive that we would both make it individually, which was a great feeling.”
Once the results came in and the Barons realized that they had qualified for the CIF-SS finals, they celebrated with lots of cheers and hugs.
“Hearing that our team just qualified was exciting,” Prado said. “I am glad that we qualified for finals and I get to race with the team again.”
“The boys are tough as nails,” Cross Country Coach Steven Knowles said. “They qualified for CIF Finals despite all the illnesses and injuries that they have faced this season. I think that if they can overcome all the illnesses and injuries by finals, they have a good shot at making state.”
The Barons look forward to competing in the CIF-SS finals at the Mt. Sac Cross Country Course in Walnut, California again on Saturday, Nov. 19, and potentially even making it to state.
