Photo Courtesy of Abe Photography
Fast Company—Cross-country standout Jeffrey Salinas leads the men’s squad in what has been a promising rebuilding year. An influx of freshman are making their coach optimistic about a return for the championships.
By Zeke Watson
Southwestern College’s Cross-Country program punches above its weight. It has a history of championships—12 by women, 15 by men. It also has the best graduation rate on campus and has sent scores of runners to elite universities.
Head Coach Lynette Zeckua said this year’s team is strong.
“Getting better, getting better, getting better,” she said. “Visualize the goal you want to reach and then work for that goal because it’s not going to come easy.”
SC women and men place placed fourth at the San Diego XC Kickoff, and the women grabbed third in the Coach Downey XC Classic Women’s 5k, scoring 92 points in a total time of 2:07:48.
Rasilia Thomas led the way and placed 21st in 24:37.5. Sofia Fajardo was 23rd in 24:56.4.
Jeffrey Salinas clocked in a 23:23.1, taking sixth overall among men.
“One thing I’ve gained from racing so much is I’ve learned to put 100 percent of my effort into a race,” Salinas said. “We all run the same course. I try to pretend I am not that tired so when teammates see me, they can believe ‘he’s just like me, I can do it too.’”
Second-year runners set an example for the new runners in the program, said Thomas, a first-year athlete. They also provide knowledge of courses.
“The sophomores help us when it comes to races they had done last year,” said Thomas. “What to look out for, what to be prepared for, what to train for and what to stretch for.”
The 2022 Cross-Country team had only seven athletes, with just three returning for 2023. Zeckua said she is optimistic about the program’s future now that she has 14 new runners.
“This is a new team,” she said. “There are only three sophomores. Everybody else is a freshman. This is the first year. In our second year we are going to see more fruit.”
Nov. 3 will start the postseason, which begins with the SoCal Regionals.
