An era came to an end today on Westmont’s Peg Lovik Field. Westmont Cross Country has hosted the Westmont Invitational for thirty-two years, but today was the last one.
“Thirty-two years is a good run,” said Westmont head coach Russell Smelley who started the event in 1979, which was also his first year as coach. “It is part of an era gone bye when teams get together, run a race, score it, hang out with folks and have some fellowship afterwards. Everything has gone toward getting ranked and having road race courses to get fast times. It makes the Westmont Invitational an anachronism.”
The men’s race was held first today, with the course reduced from 8.000 to 6,000 meters. Alex Forbess of La Verne claimed first place with a time of 20:30 while Matthew Day of Westmont finished second in a time of 20:50.
“We did not run our top three men,” said Smelley. “Matthew Day had a very nice race and was very competitive. The rest of the guys were not strong overall. I wasn’t particularly impressed with their performances today.”
La Verne won the men’s race with 19 points while Westmont finished second with 44. San Diego Christian took third place with 83 points.
In the women’s 5,000 meter race, La Verne came in first with a score of 26 with Westmont finishing second with 34 points. San Diego Christian finished third with 83 points.
Lenore Moreno of La Verne claimed first place in a time of 18:44 while Melissa Skiba of California Lutheran took second place. Westmont’s Ceci Adams came in third place in a time of 20:43 followed by teammate Heidi Nicholls in fourth (20:46).
“This was a harder course than last year,” noted Smelley. “We didn’t run our top six with the intention of letting people who needed to develop have a chance to shine, be at the front of the team and be scorers.
“It was good to see Heidi competing well after a short summer of training. Ceci Adams is a reticent soul. She showed she had something. When she finished she looked more like an 800 runner. Ali Johnson (seventh place, 21:04) competed okay. I was pleased to see her staying in close contact.
Next weekend the Warriors will travel to Santa Clarita to participate in The Master’s Invitational beginning at 8:00 a.m.
