Hart’s Runners Reach 1st Goal in Foothill Meet

One down, one to go.

That’s what senior Paul De La Cerda and his fellow members of the Hart High boys’ cross-country team were thinking Thursday after winning the first of three Foothill League meets this season.

Showing their cohesiveness on the three-mile course at College of the Canyons, the Indians placed seven runners in the top 10 and ran away with the meet, which was scored as a series of dual meets. They could have been more dominant because they ran easily to conserve energy for Saturday’s Stanford invitational.

Hart, the top-ranked team in the nation and the defending Stanford invitational champion, is expected to meet fifth-ranked Concord (Calif.) De La Salle, 13th-ranked Madera (Calif.), and 19th-ranked Bend (Ore.) on Saturday.

“Our No. 1 goal today was to run as a group and win as easily as possible,” De La Cerda said. “This was about an 80-85% effort. It was a good workout for today, but Saturday is when we’ll go all out.”

Paced by De La Cerda, who timed 16 minutes 35 seconds, Hart defeated Saugus, 21-40; Canyon, 19-44; Burbank, 15-50; and Burroughs, 15-50.

Saugus defeated Canyon, the third-ranked team in the Southern Section Division II, in a minor upset. The Centurions tied the Cowboys, 28-28, but won on the tiebreaker, which goes to the team with the faster sixth runner.

De La Cerda, senior teammate Keith Grossman and Canyon junior John Bischop ran together for most of the race until De La Cerda broke away in the final 500 yards by tapping into some of the speed that has propelled him to a 1:55.16 clocking in the 800 meters.

“I think Paul just decided he didn’t want to get beat today,” Hart Coach Gene Blankenship said.

The girls’ meet was supposed to be much closer than the boys’, but Hart won handily, paced by junior Jessica De La Cerda (Paul’s sister), who placed first with a time of 20:34 over the three-mile course.

Hart, the ninth-ranked team in Division I, defeated Saugus, 18-41; Canyon, 19-41; Burbank, 19-43; and Burroughs, 15-50.

The Indians had five of the top eight finishers.