Before the start of the Brubaker Invitational, Long Beach City College sophomore Omar Torres (Warren HS) told men's cross country head coach Julio Jimenez he wasn't feeling it today.
But something must have clicked once he hit the course as Torres used a fast start to take a commanding early lead and never looked back on his way to a first-place finish for the Vikings on Friday.
Torres secured the first Viking win in over 15 years with his season-best time of 20:29.0 over the four-mile course at Irvine Regional Park in Orange.
Normally known for his steady start to races, Torres surprised Jimenez with his early surge to the front of the pack.
"He definitely got aggressive in this race," said Jimenez. "I haven't seen him race like this since I started coaching him. He's always been pretty conservative. Once he knew he had a chance to win it, he went all in."
As a squad, Long Beach totaled 161 points on its way to a sixth-place finish out of 15 teams. Sophomore Justin Weaver (East Side HS) ran 21:47.2 for 22nd place, followed by freshman Brandon Iraheta (Warren HS) in 26th place at 21:58.9.
Other times for the Vikings included:
Christian Jezina, 56th, 22:52.3
Tylor Wallace, 67th, 23:07.0
Daniel Lewis, 83rd, 23:45.2
Ivan Salladay, 126th, 25:46.5
Martin Reveles, 149th, 32.45.9
Gustavo Chacon, 150th, 32.58.8
Long Beach returns to action next Friday (Oct. 17) when it will compete at the Mt. SAC Invitational.