Photo by Micaela Castillo
Story by Billy Lopez, Sports Information Graduate Assistant
REDLANDS, CA — The University of La Verne's women's cross country team made their return to the course last weekend opening up the 2021 season at the Redlands Invitational.
The squad was led by Janelle Baeskens who took 4th individually in the race. The senior Wartburg College transfer made an immediate impact for the Leopards, clocking in at 17:42. Andrea Camacho and Rebecca Lee finished in the top 20. Camacho crossed the finish line in 18th place with a time of 19:38.3 and Lee ended in 20th at 20:15.6.
Junior Alexia Alvarez finished with a time of 21:37.5. Jannet Olivares and Sydne Ruiz ended with times of 23:48.8 and 25:24.3 respectively.
"Janelle Baeskens led the charge with a strong race in fourth place," said first-year La Verne cross country head coach Jamie Norton. "Captain Alexia Alvarez probably had the performance of the day with a one-minute personal best time compared to this race two years ago. I was pleased with how the women executed their races, coming off of not competing for almost two years. Like the men, their training will continue to propel improvement looking towards the end of the year, we expect to continue to build up and get stronger each week."
The men's squad was led by Michael Sahagun who placed third with a time of 19:20.6. Four more Leopard runners finished in the top-20. Edward Carillo took 11th place clocking in at 20:14.4. He was followed closely by Jose Reyes who took 13th at 20:20.8.
"It was a really strong team effort. Our guys stayed connected throughout the race and ran well together, beating a Redlands team that finished third in the conference in 2019 and was ranked seventh in the region going into the weekend," said Norton.
"We have a lot of room for improvement though, as our training progresses throughout the year and we work on race execution. Efren Martin was the surprise of the day running a lot farther up than he has been in practice. Jose Reyes passed a Redlands athlete in the last 50m to make the difference in the race. It's a great start to the season but only the beginning of where this team can get to, we're excited to get back to work in training this week and stay focused on our goals at the end of the fall."
TK Berhe finished in 15th (20:23.2), and Efren Martin followed right behind in 16th place with a time of 20:24.3. Santiago Herrerra (20:59.7) and Marcelo Martinez (21:00.2) took 22nd and 23rd respectively.
The Leopards finished with a team score of 45, edging second-place Redlands by three points. The Redlands Invitational was the first collegiate race for everyone on the men's squad.
"Both teams have been training really hard and came into the meet on pretty tired legs," said Norton. "They didn't let that deter them from putting out their best effort and gaining valuable experience that we will carry with us and use to build momentum throughout the season."
Next Up
Leopards are back racing on September 17th at the University of San Diego invite at Mission Bay Park.
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