After four solid weeks of training, the Bear Cubs took the drive up to Redding, CA to compete at the Northern California Championship Preview meet at Shasta College. Continuing their good form, the men improved their position in the north with a 7th place finish.
Johnny Vargas and Patrick Lynch led the Bear Cubs through the first mile as places three through forty crossed the first mile marker at 5:20. The pack of Andrew Magdaleno, Johnathan Chi, Brian Padilla, Taylor Ingram, and Adel Araya followed close by at 5:30. As the race progressed, the extra large chase pack caught the top two runners at mile three as the men headed into the final two half mile loops. At this point Vargas took the lead climbing the second of three roller coaster style hills and never looked back. Vargas would go on to win the race with a time of 20:30.9 over four miles (5:07 mile pace). Lynch worked hard to maintain his top 20 position to finish with a time of 21:20 (5:20 mile pace). Over the last two miles, the trailing pack of four including Magdelano, Chi, Padilla, and Ingram nearly flipped their positions to end with Ingram at 22:48, Chi at 22:55, Magdaleno at 23:13 and Padilla at 23:29. This was good enough for a team finish in 7th place overall.
The Bear Cubs will host the Pat Ryan invitational at Spring Lake Park, in Santa Rosa, on October 13th.
Dyestat interview with Johnny Vargas: http://www.dyestat.com/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=44531&do=videos&video_id=253739