Panther Women Start Season With Win

With a solid mix of sophomores with experience from last fall's third place Northern California Championship team and a handful of talented freshmen, the Hartnell College women's cross country team is looking to move up the finishing places this fall. On Friday, six women toed the line at the Tour de Cuesta in San Luis Obispo and took the team victory over six schools. The Panthers kept five women out of the competition in preparation for the State Preview in two weeks at Woodward Park.

Freshman Gabriela Cardenas, a Rancho San Juan graduate, was the early leader but made a wrong turn before the mile mark. The redirection sent her from the lead to nearly last in the field. Despite the incident, Cardenas ran the next two miles like a veteran and patiently moved up through the field. She got as high as third entering the final half mile before succumbing to the extra distance and would place fifth in 22:41. Alexa Flores would finish close behind in eighth overall after also taking the wrong way in the ealry part of the course. She was timed in 23:02. Karen Perez was sixteenth (24:05), Jenna Partida in eigteenth (24:30) and Janai Orozco nineteenth (25:17). Deisy Gracida-Gabriel made her freshman debut in 26:00. 

As a team, the women scored 26 points to Saddleback Collegfe's 30 points for the team win. The two colleges were the only field a full scoring team of five or more runners. The Panther will have two weeks to prep for the Clovis Crush Invitational held on the same course at Woodward Park which will be run for the 2025 Northern California Championship and 3C2A State Championship.