At a different pace this week, the Vikings men's cross country team opened the day's competition with a 7:30 a.m. race start time at Central Park in Santa Clarita. The men looped multiple times to compete at a higher distance this week of 8k (5 miles) among a field of mostly four-year institutions at the Master's Cross Country Invitational. The Vikings were led by sophomore Riki Moscoso, who finished with a time of 26:43, an impressive average of 5:22.4 per mile. Moscoso was followed by freshman standout Joshua Jung, who averaged 5:27.7 per mile, with a race time of 27:09.1.
2021 team MVP Leonardo Acevedo was 3rd in for the Vikings as he continues to improve his fitness and maintain his mile average of 5:45.3, and had an overall race time of 28:36.8. Nico Nance (29.24.1) and Louis Mazariegos (30:34.4) round out the top five for a 22nd overall finish in the team scores.
The Vikings women's cross country team was also positively challenged this week with an extra 1k added to their normal racing distance competing alongside multiple four-year institutions. The team of sophomores looked impressive as Lorena Galaviz led the pack with a 6k race time of 26:18.1, averaging 7:03.2 per mile. Katlyn Moratoya was the runner-up for the ladies with a race time of 27:01.8 (7:14.9 average mile) while Frida Hernandez (27:11.6) and Mel Moreno (32:15.0) also worked down their mile averages in the race.
The Viking cross country teams will travel up to Northern California next Friday, Oct. 6 to compete at the Toro Invitational in Salinas hosted by Hartnell College.