The Cerritos College men's cross country team opened their 2013 season with a first place finish at the Palomar Invitational in Friday. The Falcons had six of the top 14 runners over the four-mile course and finished with 28 team points to easily defeat their closest competition. Cuyamaca College came in second place out of eight schools with 52 team points. They will now run in the SoCal Preview Meet next Friday at Central Park in Santa Clarita.

Freshman Anthony Lozano (La Serna HS) posted a first place time of 21:23 over the four-mile course and edged second place finisher Robert Lopez of Riverside City College by four seconds. Earning a third place finish in the heat on the day was sophomore Jonathan Bazinet (California HS), whose time of 21:48 tied him with Daniel Gomez of Cuyamaca College.

Also part of the lead group was freshman Omar Torres (Warrren HS), who crossed the finish line in 21:51 to come in fifth place, with sophomore Elvis Salinas (Norwalk HS) the fourth Cerritos runner to finish, as he recorded a time of 22:13. Rounding out the top five that comprised the team score was freshman Chris Martinez, who came in 13th place in 22:23.

Freshman Francisco Ortiz (Katella HS) was right behind Martinez, as he finished in 14th place overall at 22:33. Five other Falcon runners competed on the day.