Hartnell cross country

 There is a bigger prize the Panthers are chasing.

The first stride, however, towards a state championship was taken Friday for the state ranked and defending Coast Conference men's champions.
Anchored by defending conference champion Edgar Bonilla, the Panthers won their seventh straight conference team title, easily beating runner-up Los Positas at Crystal Springs in Belmont.
"I see these guys practice all the time,’’ Hartnell coach Chris Zepeda said. "They’re interchangeable parts. When it comes to racing and you put the bullets in the chamber, things change.’’
Unless you’re Bonilla, who successfully defended his conference title, taking teammate Jorge Sanchez with him for a one-two Panther finish.
For Bonilla, a King City High graduate, it was his fourth straight win.
Bonilla, who was ninth in the state last year as a freshman, covered the 4.195 course in 21:44, with Sanchez getting credit for the same exact time.
"Neither had the lead for the first two miles of the race,’’ Zepeda said. "But they reeled in the leader and took command of the race, pushing each other.’’
While only five score, the Panthers had six runners in the top 10 and eight in the top 14, including Soledad High grad Andrew Martinez, who was a surprise fourth.
"If we’re going to beat the juggernaut that is American River at Nor Cal’s, we have to have all seven runners at their best if we’re going to pull this off,’’ Zepeda said.
Earlier this year Hartnell became the first team in Northern California to beat American River College in a meet in eight years.
American River has beaten Hartnell twice in invitationals and is the top seed in Northern California, with the Panthers No. 2.
"We’re going to need all seven guys to throw those punches to make a run,’’ Zepeda said.
Which is what Zepeda got at the conference finals. Oscar Mora placed fifth with Mario Perez taking seventh and Angel Mejia eighth.
"It was a good day,’’ Zepeda said.
The same can be said for the Panthers womens’ team, who won their fourth straight conference crown with virtually a brand new group of runners.
The only returning runner among the top eight last year for Hartnell -- which finished second in the state in 2015 -- was Yvette Felix, who won the conference title in 19:06 over 2.95 miles.
"There was a lot of pressure on Yvette to fulfill those expectations,’’ Zepeda said. "
Felix was actually trailing hallway through the race. In fact, the Panthers team was sitting in second behind De Anza with roughly a mile left.
"It was great to see them respond,’’ Zepeda said. "I thought Leslie (Oseguera) spearheaded the charge and they got the job down, winning by 10 points.’’
Felix blistered the final mile in winning the title with teammate Beatriz Duarte finishing second in 19:45.
"Yvette had to think about how do I respond when the one runner went out and took the lead,’’ Zepeda said.
Yvette Tavarez finished eighth for Hartnell with Tanya Campos placing ninth, Alyssa Sanchez 10th, Jocelyn Cervantes 12th and Oseguera 13th.
"This freshmen group has tremendous potential for next year,’’ Zepeda said. "To have all these freshmen evolve and win a conference title is nice."
The defending Northern California champions, the Panthers will go into next week’s Northern California championships at Sierra College seeded No. 2.
"Our runners have some challenging backgrounds,’’ Zepeda said. "But all of them run with a lot of heart.’’