Alex Heuchert took 15th and Ryan Sorenson was 34th out of 201 runners on Friday, helping SBCC to a 10th-place finish in the prestigious Southern Cal Preview men’s cross country race at Woodley Park in Van Nuys.
Mt. San Antonio won the title with 53 points, edging Canyons by two points. American River, the three-time defending state champion, was third with 68. The Vaqueros took 10th out of 29 teams with 307 points.
“We went in with a conservative race plan and came away with many good early season performances,” said coach Scott Fickerson. “The goal was to get out controlled and move forward through the pack and we had a nearly 90% success rate.”
Heuchert was timed in 20:47 while Sorenson ran 21:11.
“Alex got out and mixed it up with the leaders. He faded a bit in the last mile, but this shows me that he is a legitimate contender for top honors at the end of the season.
“By placing top 10 today, the men showed they are on track toward their goal of placing top-10 in the state. We can walk away from this race feeling good about our progress and continue with the work.”
Adam Grimmit was 75th for the Vaqueros in 21:50.5, edging his teammate Michael Bowlds, who was two-tenths of a second behind in 77th (21:50.7).
Southern Cal Preview
At Woodley Park, Van Nuys
Team (29 schools) – 1, Mt. SAC 53. 2, Canyons 55. 3, American River 68. 10, SBCC 307.
Individual (4 miles, 201 runners) – 1, Rodrigo Ornelas, Canyons, 20:11.
SBCC results – 15, Alex Heuchert 20:47. 34, Ryan Sorenson 21:11. 75, Adam Grimmit 21:50.5. 77, Michael Bowlds 21:50.7. 106, Nikita Obukhov 22:13.5. 107, Bradley Apodaca 22:13.6. 118, Martin Montes 22:29.
B Race
Team (10 schools) – 1, Glendale 48. 2, Orange Coast 81. 3, Cuesta 87. 4, SBCC 96. 5, Citrus 112.
Individual – 1, Jose Lopez, Mt. SAC, 21:29.
SBCC results – 7, Gustavo Vello 22:44. 8, Matt Wells 22:48. 17, Patrick Lownes-Santos 23:04. 38, Sebastian Ramirez 23:49. 37, Lennart Nelson 24:23.
