Posted: Oct 08, 2022

Yotuel Garcia Leads Men's XC to Third Place Finish at Manny Bautista Invite

Saturday, October 8, 2022 - 12:40 pm | Dylan Kessler

San Diego, Calif. - The Thunderbirds men's cross country team was led by a runner-up performance from Yotuel Garcia as they finished third in the Manny Bautista Invite.

The meet was hosted by San Diego Mesa College at NTC Park in Liberty Station and the men raced on a four-mile course around the park.

195 athletes from 18 teams competed in the men's race, including top-ranked teams SDMC and Mt. SAC out of the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA).

Garcia finished runner-up to an unattached runner, making him the first collegiate runner to cross the finish line. Garcia ran a personal-best time of 20:09.3 for four miles.

Javier Garcia (17th - 21:06.7 PB), Yael Caballero Ferro (22nd - 21:17.5 PB), Joshua Lumpkin (31st - 21:31 PB), and Hayden Gelder (32nd - 21:31.7 PB) also scored for the T-Birds.

SDMC won the team title with 42 points. Central Arizona was second with 83 points. Mesa and Mt. SAC actually scored the same exact points (95), but the T-Birds won the tiebreaker because their sixth runner (Greyson Akers (34th - 21:36.1 PB)) finished ahead of the Mountie's sixth runner.

"Tremendous effort and a great result for the men's group," said Head Coach Dan Pescador. "Coming in, knowing the competition we were expecting, we were hoping for a top-four finish. To finish third in front of the #2 ranked CCCAA team in Mt. SAC speaks volumes to the team. I was very proud of how the men really grouped up and competed together. Yotuel had another great run, placing second and besting all the collegians in the field, but Hayden had an amazing race to help move our group. That was a big boost that helped the men finish third."

The T-Birds will head out to California again next week as they will compete at the UCR Highlander Invitational in Riverside on Saturday the 15th.

Click HERE to view the complete results of the Manny Bautista Invite.

T-Birds men's finishers at the Manny Bautista Invite (4 miles):

Yotuel Garcia (2nd - 20:09.3 PB)

Javier Garcia (17th - 21:06.7 PB)

Yael Caballero Ferro (22nd - 21:17.5 PB)

Joshua Lumpkin (31st - 21:31 PB)

Hayden Gelder (32nd - 21:31.7 PB)

Greyson Akers (34th - 21:36.1 PB)

Samuel Van Alstine (59th - 22:17.4 PB)

Masen Hofmann (73rd - 22:36.5 PB)

Wyatt Williams (74th - 22:39.2 PB)