Men's Cross Country

Justin Arnold led the team with a 60th place at the state championships in Fresno.

The season came to a conclusion with a 19th place finish at the state championships. The race, held at Woodward Park in Fresno, was a bit of a disappointment after a successful season for the Mesa cross country team. Part of that disappointment came from the fact that the top athlete from the SoCal Championships, Ryan McMonigle, came up with the flu the night before the event and was unable to participate. The other team member all put forth a tremendous effort to pick up the team, however the end result was still a bit short of the team’s goal of a top ten finish.

Picking up the lead for Mesa was Justin Arnold, the fourth different athlete from the squad to be the team’s top finisher at an event this season. His 60th place finish in a time of 21:22 was an outstanding effort that got the team off to a good start in the scoring. Connor Betancourt had started the first half of the four mile course well within the top 50, however he faded during the second half to finish in 21:41 in 87th place. Running by far his best race of the season was Eric Brown. Not only was he just a tick away from breaking 22 minutes with his 22:00 time but he did it while running the final half of the race with just one shoe. He had lost his shoe when his foot got stepped on, made the decision to run without the shoe rather than put it back on and continued to pass athletes and improve his place until the finish. Running with Eric throughout the race and finishing steps behind him was the consistent Chris Burnham. Burnham finished in 22:02. Deng Akuien (22:20) and Mason Westphal (22:29) both had difficult trips over the second half of the race and Robin Gilson ran 23:23 filling in for the sick McMonigle.

Coach Hunt put the season in perspective when he stated “While the state meet was a bit of a disappointment it shouldn’t take away the success this team had throughout the season. The team’s hard work this season paid off to win the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference and finish ninth in the SoCal Championships. Overall, the team competed well and was successful beyond our early expectations.”

Justin Arnold’s strong race was a key component in San Diego Mesa’s 9th place finish in the SoCal Championships which qualified them for the state championships.

Again using their depth to their advantage, the San Diego Mesa men’s cross country team finished 9th at the Southern California Regional Championships to qualify for the state championships to be held in two weeks in Fresno. The Mesa men scored 289 points on the 4 mile course at Mt. SAC. Leading the front pack for the team was Ryan McMonigle who finished in 37th place in 21:53. Justin Arnold and Connor Betancourt were close behind with finishes 43rd and 45th places in times of 22:00 and 22:01. Coach Thom Hunt stated that “It was a total team effort that put us into the top ten and qualified us for the state championships, but if one person were to be singled out as coming through it was Chris Burnham. Chris passed an incredible number of runners in the second half of the race to really cement our finish position.” Burnham finished in 73rd place with a time of 22:31. Mason Westphal worked with Burnham throughout the race and was able to complete Mesa’s scoring with his 96th place finish in 22:48. Deng Akuien struggled over the hilly Mt. SAC course and finished in 158th place with a time of 24:00 and Eric Brown was close behind in 167th place with a time of 24:14. According to Coach Hunt, Akuien had “one of those days when everything goes wrong, I expect he’ll put this behind him and bounce back with a strong performance at state”. The Mesa men, who have finished as the state runner’s up the past two seasons, may not be at that level this year but are looking forward to challenging for a top ten team finish again in Fresno on November 21st.

The middle pack of SD Mesa men came up big to bring the team another PCAC championship. Mason Westphal, Felix Martinez and Chris Burnham (l-r) with Eric Brown and Robin Gilson trailing all came through with strong performances.

Facing a tough challenge from both Cuyamaca and Southwestern the men’s cross country team defended their Pacific Coast Athletic Conference championships at Morley Field on Friday, October 30. Southwestern, led by outstanding freshman Dahir Mohamed, captured the top two spots in the race and Cuyamaca followed with finishers 3-4. Despite this scoring deficit the Mesa men came through with six finishers between 6th and 13th place to take the title with 45 points. Cuyamaca ended up second with 51 points and Southwestern was third with 57 points. The team was led by Deng Akuien who finished 6th in a time of 22:28. Not far behind was Justin Arnold, who passed a large number of competitors in the second half of the 4 mile race to finish 7th in 22:35. Ryan McMonigle was next across the line, just two seconds behind Arnold while finishing in 9th place. Amazingly, the team’s 1-5 finishers finished with a time spread of only 18 seconds. This depth is what brought home the title for Mesa. Connor Betancourt (11th, 22:43 ), Mason Westphal (12th, 22:45) and Eric Brown (13th, 23:06) came through the line right on each other’s heels to clinch the victory and all made the PCAC All-Conference team for their efforts. In particular, both Westphal and Brown passed a large number of competitors in the second half of the race to move Mesa into position for the win. To emphasize the point both Chris Burnham (16th, 23:12) and Felix Martinez (18th, 23:21) finished ahead of any other team’s fifth scoring runner. Coach Thom Hunt was very pleased because “This was a total team victory, with every member of the team playing a major role in winning this year’s championship”.

Next up for the SD Mesa men’s harriers is the Southern California Regional Championships at Mt. SAC on Friday, November 6. From there, the men look to qualify for the State Championships to be held in Fresno two weeks later.

Ryan McMonigle races toward his best performance of the year at the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational

The San Diego Mesa College men’s cross country team took on NCAA level competition at the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational on Saturday, October 17. The men held their own finishing 14th in the 15 team competition with 372 points. The men were paced by Ryan McMonigle, running his best race of the season, with his 25:51 performance over the 8k course netting him 66th place. Deng Akiuen and Connor Betancourt also ran fast times on the flat, fast Baylands Park course with finishes in 91st and 93rd place in times of 26:18 and 26:20. Justin Arnold stuck near his teammates for most of the race, finishing in a strong 26:40 to garner 107th place. Chris Burnham (129th, 27:12) and Mason Westphal (133rd, 27:26) worked together throughout the race and strongly supported their team.

The team’s performance was a great indicator that the team is ready to head into the championship part of the season. Next up is the Pacific Coast Conference championships at Morley Field on Friday, October 30. The three-time defending conference champions will have their hands full to defend their title this year, but the Santa Clara Invitational performances indicate that the team is ready to take on the challenge.

Connor Betancourt lead the Mesa College men’s cross country team to a solid 4th place finish at the Foothill Invitational held at Legg Lake in El Monte.

Connor Betancourt’s 11th place finish in a fast time of 20:05 was a step forward in his continued improvement as Mesa’s lead runner. Deng Ameng (24th, 20:36) and Ryan McMonigle (26th, 20:42) worked together throughout the race and trailed closely after Betancourt. With solid scoring performances from Justin Arnold (44th, 21:10) and Mason Westphal (49th, 21:15) Mesa finished only behind three teams ranked in the top four in the latest SoCal rankings. Mason Westphal was particularly impressive with his best performance to date. Chris Burnham (59th, 21:32) and Felix Martinez (66th, 21:41) gives Mesa some needed depth that should help them immensely in the championship races coming up soon.

The Mesa men will travel to Santa Clara for the Santa Clara Invitational on Saturday, October 16. There they will meet many NCAA level schools and some of the top community colleges in Northern California.

Ryan McMonigle, Connor Betancourt and Deng Ameng (l-r) form a strong lead pack for the men's cross country team during the early miles of the Aztec Invitational.

The Mesa College men's cross country team opened their season Saturday at the 65th Annual Aztec Invitational. Fresh off of back to back runner-up finishes at the state championships, this year's edition is rebuilding after losing its' top six athletes from last season. The young team might be a little low on experience, however their strong work ethic served them well as they opened the season with a 6th place team effort out of the 10 teams entered in San Diego State University's annual meet held in Balboa Park. Mesa was the only community college entered in the competition.

Leading the way for the Mesa men was Connor Betancourt, the lone returning member from last year's state championship squad. He finished the 8k course in 27th place with a time of 27:20. Also forming the lead pack for Mesa and finishing close behind were Deng Akeng, a freshman from San Diego High School and Ryan McMonigle, returning from last year's squad. They finished in 34th and 36th places with times of 27:42 and 27:46.

Also finishing in under 30:00 minutes were team members Mason Westfall (52nd, 29:24), Felix Martinez (57th, 29:37) and Chris Burnham (58th, 29:55).

The Mesa men will compete again in two weeks at the Foothill Invitational against community college competition lead by host and defending state champion San Bernadino Valley College.