“The team performed well. Today we had our best performance.” -Sophomore Jacob Unger
Cross Country’s junior Jacob Unger came in first for the Brahmas and 79th overall at the Mt. San Antonio College Invitational on Saturday. The seventh ranked boys placed 17th while the fifth ranked girls placed seventh, competing against 18 other Division 1 high schools from as far away as San Diego.
Sophomore Jacob Unger came in first for the Brahmas and 79th overall with a time of 17:48, and following him was senior captain Zachary Unger at 18:04 placing 86th. Sophomore Ryan Alvarado finished 99th with an 18:29, and Hamilton Lin clocked in at 18:59 soon after placing 107th. Next was junior Jordan Harvey at 19:14. Finishing for DBHS were sophomore Harrison Lin and freshman Jason Cho at 19:43 and 20:40, respectively.
“The team performed well. Today we had our best performance at Mt. SAC out of the whole season,” Zachary Unger said.
Harvey, one of the alternates who substituted broke his personal record. “The alternates did very well and the rest of the boys came in strong,” coach Lisa Cortez stated. “The switch backs were the most difficult, because you use all your energy to push up the hill making the rest of the race harder,” Jacob Unger said.
The Mt. SAC course, known for its difficulty among high school runners, consists of the standard three miles with alternating slopes that test the runners’ strength and endurance. The cool breeze and overcast sky made for good weather conditions for the Brahmas at the arduous Mt. SAC course.
Starting a half hour later, the first Lady Brahma to complete the course and coming in 30th overall was sophomore Ariana Infante with a time of 20:14. Following close behind was senior Kelly Kuo placing 37th with a 20:36. Freshman Annabelle Cheng came in 41st with a 20:44, followed by senior Casey Lam and sophomore Jeannie Huang placing 63rd and 64th. Next was senior Annemarie Branks with a 21:24 coming in at 66th, while senior Michelle Chang took 76th with a time of 21:46.
“We were closely knit together out there. That helped us perform well today and will help us perform well in the future,” Kuo commented.
Leading the Brahmas, Infante admitted, “The hills were tough, but mentally getting through all the ups and downs was tougher.” With the coaches cheering on both the boys and the girls at every mile the runners all stayed motivated to keep pushing.
“Our greatest strength is having the top guys pick up the lower ones. Each teammate pushes each other to do better,” Cortez shared.
The Hacienda League Finals will once again be held at Mt. SAC on Nov. 1.