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Freshman Tracee Van Der Wyk was the first Lancer to kick through the finish line, securing a top-15 finish and crossing the line in 19:14 at the Mt. SAC cross country invitational on Friday in Walnut.Forty teams were slotted for competition at Mt. SAC’s famous course women running the three-mile, and men running the four-mile.

The invite also served as the Southern California preview meet.

The women placed 15th among 32 scoring teams. Their combined time was 1:48:13, and they scored 407 points.

The men finished 23rd out of 33 competing teams. Their collective time was 2:04:57, while they racked up 628 points for the team.

Second in was freshman Abbey Read, placing 67th, with a 21:06 runtime.

Distantly following was sophomore Ashley Hernandez who placed 113th with a 22:00. Marissa Morales and Rebecca Nunez were also among the Lancer’s top five runners.

The Lancer’s coaching staff knew that with two of their male runners injured and one female runner sick, they would be handicapped for the event. But they remained hopeful.

“I think individually we’ll do well, team-wise we may be a little behind,” Head Coach Armand Crespo said before the race.

The women started off the competition, toeing up to the line at 10 a.m. “We’re going to dominate. We hope,” freshman Rebecca Munez said, accompanied by laughter.

Next off was the men’s heat at 10:45 a.m. The Lancers burst off the line with intensity as sophomore Ernesto Rodriguez led the way.

Half-way through the course, the Lancers couldn’t be seen anywhere near the front of the herd. Rodriguez led the men with a 23:39 run time, crossing the line in 75th place for the Lancers. Freshman Antero Barrantes was next to run in at 24:42 for 142nd place.

Close behind was freshman Kevin Cano at 24:58 for 157th place. Herminio Flores and Ros DeGuzman also ran for the Lancers.

“Our number-two and number-three [runners] are out. It’s been tough. Lots of losses, lots of injuries, but we did alright.” Rodriguez said after the race.

He said he was disappointed with his performance, but would do better at conference.

The Lancers next event will be the South Coast Conference championship on Oct. 31. The meet will be held at Legg Lake, El Monte.

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