Sinderson Discovers He Can Race With Big Guys

He came. He saw. He hung in there.

That summed up the performance of Mark Sinderson of Antelope Valley College in Saturday’s Johnie O cross-country invitational at Moorpark College.

Sinderson entered the meet--named after the late Yuba College Coach John Orognen--eager to test himself against the top runners from Southern California. He left as one of the best after finishing fifth with a time of 20 minutes 49.6 seconds over the four-mile course.

“I just wanted to go out and see what it was like to run with the big boys,” Sinderson said. “This was the first time I’ve (run against) Riverside and Cuyamaca this season. . . . I just wanted to get out in front, hang with them and see how it felt. And it felt good.”

Although Sinderson was in 10th place at the mile mark (4:49), he moved to seventh at two miles (10:06) before surging into fifth with three-quarters of a mile left.

“It’s like I’ve said before, the guy can really hang with people,” Antelope Valley Coach Mark Covert said. “He is extremely tough.”

Cuyamaca, led by Brazilians Edgar Olivera (fourth) and Daniel Das Neves (eighth), finished first with 56 points, followed by Riverside (59), Mt. San Antonio (114), Glendale (163) and El Camino (184). Antelope Valley finished ninth with 278 points in the 29-team field.

Glendale, paced by Auria Roberto’s ninth-place finish, also placed fourth in the women’s race, totaling 182 points.

Irvine Valley, the runner-up in last year’s state championships, placed first with 106 points, followed by San Diego Mesa (139), Mt. SAC (146), Glendale and Orange Coast (193).

Glendale displayed its typically tight grouping in the men’s race as there was only a 40-second gap between the Vaqueros’ first and fifth runners (Nacho Delgado in 19th place, Gilbert Roca in 45th).

“Our guys are peaking at the right time,” Glendale Coach Eddie Lopez said. “We’re getting better as the season goes on.”

The top eight teams in each of the men’s and women’s races automatically qualified for the state championships in Fresno on Nov. 20.