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San Diego Mesa Showcases State’s Best at Annual Manny Bautista XC Invitational; Castleberry Claims Men’s Four-Mile Title

Manny Bautista XC Invitational, held this past weekend at Liberty Station's historic Naval Training Center.

With more than 23 programs competing, the invitational has established itself as one of California's premier community college cross country meets, bringing together many of the state's top-ranked teams and individual runners.

The event honors legendary Mesa coach Manny Bautista, whose contributions to California community college athletics continue to be felt today. During his 14 seasons at Mesa, Bautista guided his teams to four state championships, including the 1994 women's cross country title, the first state championship in school history. His 1998 women's track and field team also captured a state title, a distinction that remains unmatched in program history. Bautista's men's cross country teams earned No. 1 national rankings in both 2000 and 2001. A four-time California Community College Coach of the Year, he remains actively involved in the running community.

The women's 5K featured a field that included six of the state's top eight ranked teams.

Individually, the race came down to a battle between Mt. San Antonio College's Jocelyn Alba and unattached runner Elena Mendez. Alba controlled the pace for much of the race, but Mendez made her move in the closing stretch, passing Alba to capture the individual title in 18:17.2. Alba finished just three seconds behind in 18:20.

The Olympians Suhey Arce was Mesa’s top finisher, placing 11th, with a time of 19:11.8. Isabel Lara finished 13th with a 19:22.4. Galia Salazar crossed with a time of 20:03.2, in 21st place.

In the team standings, defending state champion Mt. San Antonio College showed why they are still one of the top teams this season.

The Mounties placed four runners among the top eight finishers to claim the team title with 29 points.

Mesa College finished in second with 80 points and West Los Angeles College round out the top three with 162 points.

Continue:
www.GOSDMesa.com

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2 in 1 post. 6 days between these races, each a great learning experience. 1st one was in Spokane, Washington as my first 8k. The Frank Knott invite our team was stacked against NCAA D1 and D3 schools and we were able to place 7th. Personally I didn’t do too hot, but was able to run a final 400m in around 67 seconds. The next one was the Manny Bautista Invite we were against our best competition for the 3C2A. I had very even splits with the last mile being the fastest. We lost by one point but thats just more motivation to do better by the state championship. Pretty successful week and way more to come.

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#masterofnone

📸- @max_depo

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It's still early in the 2026 season, but for the San Diego Mesa College men's and women's cross country programs, this part of the schedule is about finding out where they stand and identifying the work that needs to be done as the season progresses.

This past weekend, the Olympians competed at the Clovis Crush Invitational at Woodward Park in Fresno, California, and both teams came away with encouraging performances.

Over the years, Mesa's coaching staff has done an excellent job preparing its runners to peak when it matters most. This year's group, however, may be a little different. Head coach Sean Ricketts believes this is one of the most impressive classes he has had, and the early results suggest the Olympians could be in position for a strong season from start to finish.

In the women's 5K, Mesa placed third with 143 points and a combined time of 1:40:40. Isabel Lara led the Olympians, finishing 13th overall in 19:16.2. Suhey Arce was close behind, placing 16th with a time of 19:30.1.

The men made an even bigger statement, winning the team title with 70 points and a combined time of 1:43:34.

Highly touted freshman Cooper Castleberry wasted little time introducing himself at the collegiate level. The Poway High School product won the men's four mile race with a time of 20:08.9.

Fellow freshman Parker McDevitt gave Mesa another top five finish, placing fourth in 20:31.6. Amadeous Lozana added another strong freshman performance, finishing 16th overall in 21:04.4.

With a talented group of freshmen joining an already strong program, the coaching staff has plenty of pieces to work with this season.

The next challenges for the Olympians will be the Whitworth Frank Knott Invitational in Spokane, Washington, followed by the Cougar Challenge at Cal State San Marcos on Saturday, October 3.

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It's still early in the 2026 season, but for the San Diego Mesa College men's and women's cross country programs, this part of the schedule is about finding out where they stand and identifying the work that needs to be done as the season progresses.

This past weekend, the Olympians competed at the Clovis Crush Invitational at Woodward Park in Fresno, California, and both teams came away with encouraging performances.

Over the years, Mesa's coaching staff has done an excellent job preparing its runners to peak when it matters most. This year's group, however, may be a little different. Head coach Sean Ricketts believes this is one of the most impressive classes he has had, and the early results suggest the Olympians could be in position for a strong season from start to finish.

In the women's 5K, Mesa placed third with 143 points and a combined time of 1:40:40. Isabel Lara led the Olympians, finishing 13th overall in 19:16.2. Suhey Arce was close behind, placing 16th with a time of 19:30.1.

To continue:
www.GOSDMesa.com

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The Socal Runners of the Week come reverse of the North with a seasoned returner for the females leading and a newcomer serves notice of his intention to chase the state title in his first year.

Jocelyn Alba of Mt. SAC made her Mountie debut as the top 3C2A finisher at the Clovis Crush Invitational in 18:29. This was 40 seconds faster than her state preview race last fall while at Orange Coast College but just off her 18:09 performance at the 3C2A State Championship. Alba could give the Mountie a contender for the overall title and should she drop 60 seconds like last year it could be close with Clovis's Macias 17:28 best on the course.

Cooper Castleberry flirted early with sub 20:00 at Woodward Park with might have been the fastest September debut on the course. The San Diego Mesa freshman is a 14:59 performer on the 5k course there which points to sub 20 potential come November. Add in his track bests of 4:07 for 1600 and 8:58 3200 and he will be hard to beat from coming from behind.

##PromoteJCxctf

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Clovis Crush State Preview 2026-First college race with San Diego Mesa. Went out good and was able to keep up in the front. For a good bit we were running 1-2 until I couldn’t keep it as well the last mile. Team came home with a first place finish for Juco in one of the fastest and deepest fields this invite has ever had. Still one of the more fun races I’ve had for cross country and hungry for more this season. Thank you to Coach Pinto for all the photos!

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Crush Invite State Preview (9/5/26)

The racing plan was well executed this Saturday. I got a great feel for the course and closed in a 5:08 mile. I’m so grateful to be healthy and to feel the payoff of training and consistency. The goal is to be back here again this season!

Onto the next training block; the emphasis is on preparation and intentionality.

(Photo credit to @max_depo and @sdmesatfxc )

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Clovis Crush 2026 - Individual and team champs to open up the season

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The San Diego Mesa College men’s and women’s cross country teams are back in action this fall, and both programs enter the season with plenty of optimism of making another strong run at the 3C2A State Championships.

Last season presented different challenges for both programs. The men battled injuries throughout the year, and as the season went on, the setbacks created a lack of depth on the roster. The women, meanwhile, put together another outstanding season, finishing third at the 3C2A State Championships in Fresno and continuing what has become an impressive run for the program.

This year brings a new challenge for both teams, as several of Mesa’s top runners have moved on to four-year universities.

On the women’s side, team captain Jazzlyn Islas transferred to Arizona State after a standout career that included a cross country state runner-up finish and state championships in the 1,500 and 800 meters. Natalie Allen, who placed third at the state championships and captured a state title in the 10K, transferred to Alaska Anchorage.

The men also lost several key contributors. Team captain and 1,500-meter All-American Lucci Roberts transferred to the University of Portland, All-American Jordan Myers moved on to Fort Lewis, and team captain Aundrey Calvert transferred to San Diego State.

Despite losing that much talent and experience, head coach Sean Ricketts believes this year’s group has the ability to keep both programs competing among the best in the state.

On the men’s side, Ricketts is excited about the players coming in. “This year’s group is, in my opinion, the most talented and largest recruiting class our program has had,” Ricketts said.

Leading the incoming class is Poway High School product Cooper Castleberry, who earned CIF Cross Country All-State honors with a time of 14:59 and finished seventh in the 1,600 meters at the CIF State Championships. He arrives at Mesa with personal bests of 4:07 in the 1,600 and 8:58 in the 3,200.

Continue:
wwwGoSDMesa.com

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5th Annual Olympian Olympics at #SDMesaCollege #studentathletes #GoMesa #WeAreMesa

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