Hernandez Wins, Moorpark Third

COSTA MESA — Two things seem obvious about the Moorpark College men’s cross-country team that ran Saturday in the Golden Coast Invitational at Fairview Park.

First, sophomore Eleazar Hernandez should contend for the individual title when the State championships are held at Fresno’s Woodward Park on Nov. 23.

Second, the Raiders must improve to have a legitimate chance at the team title.

Hernandez, runner-up in the State championships last year, clocked 19 minutes 52 seconds over the four-mile course to defeat Julio Guevara of L.A. Trade Tech by 14 seconds, but Moorpark finished third behind Pasadena City and El Camino.

Pasadena, paced by the third-place clocking (20:11) of former Crescenta Valley High standout Phil Gonzalez, totaled 50 points. El Camino had 83 points, with Moorpark at 92 and defending state champion Glendale eighth with 218.

Moorpark was without No. 2 runner Francisco Sandoval, who was attending the funeral of a former Channel Islands High teammate. But even had Sandoval run well, the Raiders still would have placed second to Pasadena.

“We had a couple of guys who didn’t go out fast enough and we had another who went out too fast,” Coach Manny Trevino said.

“You have to get out well if you’re trying to win a meet like this.”

Hernandez trailed Guevara for the first two miles before surging into the lead over a series of small, but rhythm-killing moguls.

T.W. Burchmore (20:55) and Danny Oliva (20:58), two of the slow starters Trevino spoke about, finished 17th and 20th for Moorpark.

Julio Serratos finished 21st in 20:59 for freshman-laden Glendale in the men’s race and the Vaqueros’ Maria Hernandez placed 14th in the women’s race with a time of 20:36 over the 5,000-meter course.