ORANGE, Calif. - Giovanni Barajas pulled away from the pack to win his third straight race with a time of 20:29.0 at the 2019 Brubaker Invitational on Friday morning.
The elements were definitely a factor as strong winds made the rugged course even more challenging. But the sophomore from Garden Grove managed to post one of his best times of the year to defeat some elite runners in the meet.
Santa Ana men's cross country took 10th out of 17 teams behind Barajas' dominant performance and solid races from Corben Pagnotta (21:43.7/27th), Francisco Avila (23:32.6/100th), Eder Diaz (24:01.7/117th) and Andres Ramirez (24:45.8/135th).
The lady Dons were led by Maria Marroquin, who medaled with a 13th place finish at a time of 20:26.7.
She was tailed by Daisy Tellez (23:06.1/60th), Paula Alvarez (23:41.9/68th), Irlanda Hernandez (23:47.9/ 69th) and Giselle Arenas (25:24.6/85th), who held up their end to help Santa Ana take 8th place as a team.
NEXT UP: Santa Ana will test themselves when they take on several universities at the Highlander Invitational (hosted by UC Riverside) on Saturday, October 26th at 8:00 a.m.
