Hartnell Men Rise to the Occasion with Major Upset at Toro Park

At the first-ever Pink in the Park Invitational at Toro Park, the Hartnell College men's cross country team delivered an exceptional performance against sixteen other two year programs. The pink-themed event, formerly known as the Toro Park Invitational, was created to raise awareness for breast cancer among community college student-athletes and featured both spirited displays of support and the Panthers' outstanding efforts on their home course.

The men's race was just as exciting as the women's race, but in this one, the Hartnell men produced one of the biggest single day upsets of the 2025 season. Ranked only #5 in Northern California and #10 statewide, the Panthers stole the show taking down #1 San Diego Mesa College by 19 points and Norcal #1 Clovis Community College by 14 points. These upsets were powered by Julian Vargas second race this season placing fourth overall in 20:48. Sophomore Alvaro Ruelas (21:20), freshman Giovanni Ochoa (21:22) and sophomore Giancarlo Mendo (21:27) all cracked the top 14 medal spots placing ninth, eleventh and fourteenth. What made the Hartnell men extremely difficult to beat on this day was the additional high places by sophomores Gabriel Clemente Altamirano (21:39) in nineteenth, Ivan Martinez-Galindo (21:41) in twentieth, and Ledyer Hernandez (21:49) placing twenty fourth overall. Hartnell put seven men across the finish line before Clovis and San Diego Mesa saw their fifth scoring running cross the line. The men tallied 57 points to beat Clovis with 71 and San Diego Mesa with 76.