Swedish runner Cecilia Instebo placed second out of 107 in the women’s 5k, leading the Vaqueros to a 4th place overall finish in the Santa Barbara City College Invitational Friday afternoon at Shoreline Park.
260 runners showed up to compete on a unique course that includes a 1,000-meter stretch of sand running. Instebo finished with a time of 20:26 and freshman Ian Roberts led the men, crossing the finish line in 22:44 for the men’s 4-mile run. The men finished 7th overall.
“They do not run on the sand in any other course, so it makes our course pretty unique and gives the runners a challenge,” said cross-country coach Scott Fickerson.
Instebo who usually runs the 5k in an average of 19:49 ran the invitational 30 seconds slower than that time while Grace Graham-Zamudi from Glendale College finished first at 19:54.
This is Instebo’s third consecutive second-place finish in a row this season.
“I really just wanted to do better than I did last year,” Instebo explained. “ I ran 20:30 last year and wanted to beat that time and run a good race. But the sand portion is tough, it wasn’t as tough for me this year but it’s definitely a challenge because if you run it too fast you die.”
Omar Padilla-Lopez finished second to Roberts in the men’s race at 22:49. The second Vaquero across the line for the women’s team was Nicole Bartlett with a time of 22:15.
“The sand part of the course was unforgiving and its something we have to train a little more for,” Roberts said
Once the runners are past the sand portion, the course features a hill, a lot of grass and short stretches of pavement.
Instebo and Graham-Zamudi’s time at this meet sets up a friendly rivalry when it comes time for State Championships.
Fickerson predicted that Graham-Zamudi will win state, however Instebo will give her a run for her money at the WSC Championships on Tuesday Oct. 23, at Costa Mesa.
