The San Diego Mesa College men’s and women’s cross country team officially started their 2018 campaign by competing in the Fresno Invitational in Fresno, California.  “It was a great opener for us,” states head coach Sean Ricketts. "Our main goal was to preview the state meet course (Woodward Park) and also get an opportunity to see what our new runners bring to the table.”

The best performance of the day was from freshman sensation Isaiah Labra. In addition to leading the men’s team to a fourth place finish, Labra also ran a 21:09 (personal best) which placed him second individually. 

Freshman Nickoli Melovidov (Mt. Carmel HS) finished 21st (21:56 time). Sophomore Jose Garcia finished 28th (22:09). Freshman Ian Ibarra (Sab Diego HS) finished 33rd (22:20) and rounding out the team was freshman Bobby Brana (Scripps Ranch HS) finishing 36th (22:23).

On the women’s team, sophomore Jasmine Perez finished strong placing 44th (21:58) and sophomore Beth Horton placed 79th (24:37).

 “In addition to seeing our new runners in competition, we also wanted to create a game plan and see how well we can execute,” adds Ricketts. “Overall we had a successful meet. I believe we accomplished what we wanted this early in the season.”

The Olympians will travel on September 14 to the Don Knabe Regional Park in Cerritos, California to compete in the Southern California Preview. The women’s race is scheduled to start at 10:00 a.m. and the men’s at 11:00 a.m.