Daniel Gonia Wins State Title, Team Second at State Championships
Daniel Gonia leads second place finisher Alfredo Coronado from Canyons before pulling away for a 21 second victory.
With Daniel Gonia leading the way, the men’s cross country team stormed to a second place finish at the state championships. The team finished with 102 points, just behind the 90 points of San Bernadino Valley as they defended their state title. Gonia’s time of 19:59 was the second fastest of all-time on the 4 Mile course at Woodward Park in Fresno. Also garnering all-state honors (2nd Team) was Dave Edwards with his 13th place finish in a time of 20:58. After the top two came all of the Mesa College freshman. Third man on the day was Muluken Beressa, running by far his best race of the season, with a 24th place finish in 21:09. Beressa was followed by Bernardo Bahena (36th, 21:22), Mike Denman (39th, 21:26), and Barrett Tilley (46th, 21:31). Lance Blaskowski, nursing a sore foot, braved his way to the finish line as Mesa’s seventh runner. The team had it’s best performance at the state championships since Manny Bautista’s teams won back to back championships in 2000-2001.
Full results can be found at: www.gocollegetrack.com
Men Capture Pacific Coast Conference Title while finishing Second at So Cal Championships
Mike Denman ran a strong race to help Mesa win the Pacific Coast Conference title and finish 2nd in the So Cal Championships.
The men’s cross country team finishing second at the Southern California Championships held on Mt. SAC’s 4 mile course. Because of the recent wildfires, the Pacific Coast Conference Championships were postponed and the Conference title was determined from the So Cal results. Also because of the fires, the championship was moved from Irvine Regional Park to the Mt. SAC venue.
Led by the winning performance of Daniel Gonia in 20:36, the Mesa men scored 83 points, finishing second to San Bernadino Valley. Dave Edwards (21:28) and Bernardo Bahena (21:29) also garnered all-So Cal honors with their 9th and 10th place finishes. Coming through in a big way was Lance Blaskowski, whose 30th place finish in 22:04 was his best performance of the year. Mike Denman (33rd, 22:07), Barrett Tilley (40th, 22:17), and Muluken Beressa (68th, 22:48) all contributed to Mesa easily qualifying for the state championships.
The Pacific Coast Conference was the second in a row for the Mesa men. The results were pulled from the So Cal meet to determine the conference results. All seven Mesa runners earned All-Conference honors. The team won with the almost perfect score of 17 points.
Full results can be found at: www.gocollegetrack.com
Harriers Finish Third at Cal Poly
Lance Blaskowski runs his best race of the season at the Cal Poly SLO Invitational.
The men’s cross country team again came through with a strong performance at the Cal Poly SLO Invitational with a third place finish behind UC Riverside and Cal Poly SLO. The team finished ahead of three other NCAA D1 teams. Leading the way once again was standout Daniel Gonia. Gonia battled for the lead all day before finishing fourth over the challenging Cal Poly course. Also running a strong race was Dave Edwards, running his way to a thirteenth place finish in a time of 27:02. The surprise of the meet was Lance Blaskowski, who moved up to fourth man on the team with a fine 32nd place finish. Coach Thom Hunt was especially pleased with Blaskowski’s performance because “with Lance really pulling through for the team it not only was the key to our third place finish but it really adds some depth to the team heading into the championships�. Next up for the team is the Pacific Coast Conference Championships. The Mesa men will defend their championship on Friday, October 26 at Morley Field. The races begin with the women running at 2:30 and the men following at 3:15 p.m.
Split Squad Performs Well At Stanford Invitational
Dave Edwards sprints toward a fine showing at the Stanford Invitational.
The men's cross country split their squad between the 8k and 4k races at the Stanford Invitational on Saturday, September 29. Both squads competed well showing continued improvement as the team heads toward the championship season.
First up was the 8k race. Daniel Gonia again led the way for the Olympians with a 21st place finish in a fine time of 24:41. With the race being led by many nationally ranked NCAA teams including first place Stanford, this was indeed, a fine race. The next Mesa competitor was freshman Bernardo Bahena, showing tremendous improvement with his 131st place finish in a time of 26:37. Overall, the team finished in 26th place with 682 points.
The second race was the 4k. Dave Edwards was on the heels of the lead pack the whole way, finishing 11th in a time of 12:50. The shorter race distance worked perfectly for the middle distance specialist. Following not far behind was freshman Mike Denman. His 23rd place finish with a time of 13:07 was a great result as Denman continues to gain experience against top notch competition.
Next up for the men’s squad is the Cal Poly Invitational, run in San Luis Obispo on Saturday, October 13.