Palomar cross country gears up for the 2016 season

Palomar and other community college cross country teams met at Guajome Park for the Palomar Invitational recently.

Sept. 9 was the mark of the 2016 Palomar Invitational cross country meet. The event saw teams from all over southern California, including San Diego, Riverside, Orange, and Los Angeles counties meeting at Guajome Park in Oceanside.

Although the first race didn’t begin until 10:15 a.m., some of the teams had arrived as early as two hours before the event to begin preparing for the four-mile run.

For runners like Kiana Alvarez, 18, this would be only her second competition for Palomar.

Alvarez, along with other members of the team, have high expectations this season, “The team as a whole, I think we’ll do well. We’ve been working really hard.”

The women ran first around course that looped around the park and up a dirt hill.

By the races end, it was Saddleback College that edged past Riverside City College and L.A. Harbor College to claim first place in the women’s event.

While the women were still racing, much of the men’s team stayed stretching and running warm up laps in preparation. The conclusion of the women’s race meant the beginning of the men’s.

Just like the women, Palomar’s men’s team had high confidence with high expectations to match.

Second year runner Edgar Romero, 22, said he believes all of the hard work could pay off for Palomar this season. “I saw many faces of my teammates during the summer training, so I’m definitely excited to run with these guys,” said Romero. “I feel that we have state material here.”

By 10:55 a.m., Palomar and the rest of the men’s runners were already lined up prepared for their race. At 11 a.m. sharp, the men began the same course in the dirt paths that the women had just ran.

After 20 minutes, the men began to come around the corner for the last few feet to the finish line.

The third runner to cross the finish line wore a Palomar vest with the number 606 on his chest. Palomar Freshman Mark Ybarra, 18, finished third overall, finishing behind two sophomores.

Ybarra earned a medal for finishing first ahead of every other freshman with a time of 20 minutes and 50 seconds.

Ybarra says he plans on further improving this season, “This is the beginning, and I will be improving a lot more. My ultimate goal is to break that time by 30 seconds,” Ybarra said. “I think it is possible that I could maybe place top 10 in the state.”

Palomar’s men’s team placed seventh overall, Riverside City College would finish first.

Palomar’s next meet will be Friday Sept. 16, at Irvine Park.