On Saturday, the boys’ and girls’ cross country teams traveled to the University of Santa Barbara to compete in the UCSB Gaucho Invitational. Athletes competed in either a short race of 1.43 miles or a longer 3 mile race for the more seasoned competitor.

The first race of the day featured a group of 5 Fillmore girls running the longer 3 mile course. The Flashes were led by Vanessa Avila in 15th place in a time of 20:08.32. She was followed by Angelica Herrera in 57th place in 22:18.72, Giselle Perez 73rd in 22:59.4, Isabella De La Cruz 77th in 23:01.88, and Eva Vieyra 110th in 24:50.10. In the team competition the Flashes finished in 8th place. Vanessa was the lone medal winner in this race.

The second race of the day for the Flashes was also contested over the long course. Top runner in this race was Senior Davis Flores 38th in 17:13.5. He was followed by Erick Gutierrez 42nd in 17:20.7, Jesse De La Cruz 44th in 17:24.4, Camilo Torres 45th in 17:26.3, Alex Manzo 47th in 17:31.5, Juan Carlos Laureano 51st. In 17:38.8, Dave Bustos 61st in 18:03.8, and Matthew Munoz 74th in 18:21.4. In the team competition, Fillmore’s top runners finished in 7th place.

The next group of Fillmore female athletes ran over the short course and were led by newcomer Aliana Tapia. Aliana covered the 1.43 mile course in 9:51.7 and finished in 7th place. She was followed by Jasmine Vega 23rd in 10:34.4, Isabel De La Cruz 62nd in 12:08.4, and Emma Ortiz 64th in 12:18.9. Both Aliana and Jasmine were medal recipients.

The final race of the day was also run over the short course. Leading the Fillmore Harriers was another newcomer Luis Castaneda who placed 10th in a time of 8:14.41. Luis was also a medal winner for the Flashes. He was followed by James Flores 12th in 8:20.23, Andres Gonzalez 25th in 8:47.37, Eneyin Ortega 32nd in 8:55.27, Nathan Hurtado 33rd in 8:55.99, Brian Sanchez 69th in 9:45.24, Theodore Ebell 82nd in 10:07.85, Anthony Estrella 88th in 10:12.6, Isaac Mercado 90th in 10:21.28, Luke Hernandez 91st in 10:22.25, and Nicholas Hurtado 98th in 10:51.22. Luis, James and Andres were medal winners for the Flashes.

The teams had a great start to their young season. On the day, the Flashes brought home 6 individual medals. The Flashes will next compete in the Cool Breeze Invitational at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on 9/6 at 3 P.M. Hope to see you there.