ELAC men’s cross country SoCal results sends one to State Finals
CERRITOS, Calif. — East Los Angeles College’s Southern California Championships results included a quite rare finish with five Huskies achieving personal records today the at Don Knabe Regional Park.
ELAC head coach Kathryn Kelly could not be reached for comment.
This was the 9th straight year ELAC advanced a men’s team to the SoCal finals, and 15th time in the last 17 seasons (updated from last week’s information).
ELAC also kept its state finals streak alive sending at least one Husky to the CCCAA Men’s Cross Country State Championships for the 15th straight year.
Freshman Daniel Morales (Bravo Medical Magnet School), an English major, placed 47th today and moves on to state. It is the highest finish at SoCal for a Husky since 2014 when the sophomore Andres De La Cruz placed 10th. De La Cruz was a two-time All-SoCal Second-Team recipient. For the second straight meet Morales eclipsed his personal record. In a side-by-side sprint the final 100-meters, Morales edged heavily favored Victor Valley College freshman Heldrish Martinez by 1.6 seconds.
ELAC sophomore Allen Au Yeung (San Gabriel HS), a kinesiology major, crossed the finish line next for the Huskies with his second fastest time of the season. In a dragged-out sprint 200-meters to the end, Yeung pumped his legs and arms and finished by 1.9 seconds over San Diego City College freshman Sebastian Luna.
Fire technology major Justin Frias (Arroyo HS) came in next for ELAC and ended his amazing climb this season finishing as one of the top Husky runners. He ends his freshman season with a personal record. Freshman Isaac Alegandrealbizures (Vail HS), a Journalism major, ran the race of his life with his best finish ever, a personal record three minutes faster than he ran last week on this same course.
Rounding out the scoring for ELAC was Arturo Fernandez who edged teammate freshman Jairo Espinoza (Synergy Quantum Academy). Both men have come a long way since their initial meets. Espinoza finished the year with his third straight personal record. Joshua Cardenas, a Business Administration major, finished as the most improved sophomore improving his time by more than six minutes, also a rare feat in this sport.
UP NEXT
Morales will compete in the State Finals in two weeks, Saturday, Nov. 17 in at Woodward Park, 7775 North Friant Road, Fresno, CA 93720. If you’re going on this ROAD TRIP to support ELAC, just look for the ELAC tent and you’ll find the Husky fans.
Follow ELAC Athletics at http://athletics.elac.edu/landing/index or on Facebook at ELAC Huskies Athletics (@elachuskiesathletics).
submitted by Tadzio Garcia