With a few exceptions, the Santa Monica College Men’s Cross Country team took advantage of the fast course to post strong times at the Golden West Invitational.  Daniel Redick was jumping around with enthusiasm before the gun went off, and he carried that into race with a 3-mile personal best (as well as a 4-mile personal best) to lead the Corsairs.  Jason Derks, who typically runs step for step with Daniel, got bunched up with other runners in the first mile and could not keep pace with Daniel.  Still, Jason broke 22:30 for the first time.  Fernando Alvarado blazed through the first 800 meters, then reality set in, but he picked it up again in the last mile to finish close to Jason.  When all systems are go, good things happen, and so went the day for John Santiago.  Finally racing without suffering from intestinal cramps, John broke 6:00 pace for the first time this season.  Also shining this day was Oswald DeJesus, a first-time scorer for the team.  Daniel Ortiz continues to show promise as his fitness improves with each race.  Benito Rios and Zachary Stiegler both had sub-par days (Zach’s explained by a bout of food poisoning), but if you have to have a bad day, this was a good meet for it.  And if you have a good day, you run like Hector Cruz who put up his second best career time over four miles.  Finally, Billy Bowen enjoyed the flat course and cooler temperatures from the prior weekend.

The most revealing thing at this meet was the men’s depth.  Even with one traditional top five runner missing the meet because of classes, and one impeded by illness, the men put in a solid performance (8^th out of 15 teams).  The second most revealing thing was the two-point deficit the men suffered behind L.A. Valley, a conference team whom the men did not race last week.  The next race is the conference preview meet, and there, the men can make a statement by beating L.A. Valley by a wide margin.