On Saturday, October 26th the DVCC Boys Varsity and JV runners traveled to Southern California to race in the 72nd annual Mt. SAC Invitational at San Antonio College, just outside of Los Angeles.
The Mt. SAC meet included teams from all over the West Region, with teams ranging from Texas to Alaska. This was the second trip to Mt. SAC for the Thunder Varsity, who raced in the top-billed Division 1 Team Sweepstakes Race. The Thunder also brought its JV squad this year and they competed in the Division 1 JV National Championship Race. Due to the continued construction of a new track and field stadium at the College, the course length this year was once again only 2.93 miles long, but the three monstrous hills for which it is famous were still present.
Some thoughts from Coach Hanson, "What started off as a cool California morning got warm by the time the Varsity raced. Mt. Sac has by far the most difficult terrain of all the courses we race on and possibly the U.S. The total distance is 2.93 and will remain that way as a feature of its rich heritage."
In the D1 JV National Championship Race, DVCC JV scored 119 points and placed 5th out of 15 teams, just missing 4th place by a mere 5 points. The Thunder were led by sophomore Ryan Holt (16:33) in 18th place. He was followed by junior Christopher Broze (16:44) in 23rd, senior Noah Werbelow (16:51) in 29th, junior Jacob Cardon (16:56) in 35th, and sophomore Zaire Blevins (17:04) in 46th. Also competing were senior Co-Captain Nicolo Perciballi (17:07) in 47th and freshman Stevie Saurini (18:22) in 104th.
In the D1 Team Sweepstakes Race, the Thunder Varsity scored 366 points and placed 18th out of 21 teams. Senior Demetris Love was the first DVCC runner to cross the line, placing 35th with a time of 15:37. Fellow senior Sammy Van Alstine was close behind in 40th with a time of 15:44. Sophomore Ethan Bukowski posted a time of 16:08 for 71st place. Fellow sophomore Johnathan Estrada was 103rd with a time of 16:32, and junior Connor Donihi completed the scoring with a 117th-place finish in 16:56. Also competing was senior Vincent Larente (17:14) in 131st place.
Another big Thank You to the coaches and staff who made this exciting meet possible. Join the Thunder on Friday, November 8th as they race in the Sectional meet at Crossroads Park in Gilbert.