In one of their toughest tests early in the season, the Cerritos College men's cross country team came in sixth place on Friday at the Fresno Invitational. The Falcons, who compiled 186 team points, saw American River College win the meet, while South Coast Conference rival Mt. San Antonio College finished in second place. The team will travel to San Diego next weekend for the Southern California Preview Meet.

Competing on the CCCAA State Championship course, freshman Faustino Diaz (Warren HS) led the way with a 29th place time of 21:55.3, while the next two Cerritos runners cross the finish line 11 seconds apart. Freshman Anthony Lopez (Downey HS) saw his time of 22:01.7 put him in 37th place overall, with freshman Carlos Mendoza (Highland HS) finishing the four-mile course in 22:12.8, good for 44th place.

The top five runners comprise the team score, with the fourth and fifth runners working for position in a  large pack to record the best time possible. Freshman Isaiah Marshall (Carson HS) came in 56th place in 22:33.0, while freshman Joshua Reinis (Kennedy HS) coming in 75th place with his time of 22:57.3.

Cerritos entered 12 runners total on the day, with Ricardo Cano (Schurr HS; 23:07.5), Sergio Hernandez (Canyon HS; 23:16.3), Diego Del Carmen (Huntington Park HS; 23:49.1), Daniel Garcia (Whittier HS; 23:59.9), Aleksie Dominguez (St. Paul HS; 23:55.7), Diego Munoz (Paramount HS; 24:02.2) and Alfonso Jimenez(Paramount HS; 24:28.0) also competing.