SAC
SPORTS
WRESTLING
SAC GOES 0-4 IN
OPENING DUALS MEET
In the Dons' fi rst competition of
the season freshman Benjamin
Navarrete went undefeated in the
157-pound class at the Mt. San
Antonio College Duals.
Navarrete was the only Don
to win all four matches. SAC lost
overall to Modesto College 45-3,
Mt. SAC Maroon 42-10, East Los
Angeles College 45-10, and to Rio
Hondo College 47-18. The Dons
next tournament is the Santa Ana
Invitational on Oct. 5.
/Oliver Rivero
FOOTBALL
DONS LOSE KEY TO
THE COUNTY GAME
Running Man
GIOVANNI BARAJAS leads Santa Ana College to its fi rst victory of the
season by winning the Golden West Invitational in dominating style.
S
The Santa Ana Dons lost the
97th annual Key to the County
game 59-13 against long-time
rivals Fullerton College Hornets
on Sept. 21.
Santa Ana's offense could not
get into a rhythm as they kept
turning the ball over, allowing the
Hornets to capitalize them into
points. It is SAC's third consecutive
loss to the Hornets.
The Dons play against Victor
Valley College Rams Saturday,
Sept. 28, at 6 p.m.
/Rafael Valencia
8
STORY
OLIVER RIVERO
PHOTO
LESLY GUZMAN
anta Ana sophomore runner Giovanni
Barajas won the Golden West College Invi-
tational on a hot Friday afternoon, Sept. 20.
Barajas covered the 3.96-mile course in a time
of 21:03, shaving off 19 seconds from his previous
best two weeks at the Palomar Invitational.
"I felt excellent. We executed the plan today to
push my limits," he said.
Barajas took the lead early into the course,
and by mile two was well ahead. He created
distance between himself and the fi eld by accel-
erating up a steep uphill and gliding through an
uneven, narrow path along a lake. While others
struggled, he made it look eff ortless, gaping the
other runners.
"We have been doing a lot of hill training, so
that helped [me]," Barajas said.
By the end of the third mile, Barajas was dom-
inating and no other runner could stay within
minutes of him. Barajas' primary focus during the
race was staying calm and controlling his breath.
He said he knew if his breathing wasn't com-
el Don Santa Ana College · September 2019
posed, he would waste energy needed to keep a
fast, consistent pace throughout the race.
Despite his dominating performance, Barajas
said that there's still room for improvement.
"The last mile [is where I declined]. We're still
working on being able to dog it out and push
through the pain," he said.
Barajas now plans to move up the intensity of
his training.
"We've been focusing on mileage. Now we're
going to transition to more power, which means
more speed workouts, more tempo runs, and
declining the mileage,” he said. “Hopefully, that is
going to help me with the postseason and with
the last mile of the race."
Dons Cross Country Head Coach Miriam Mit-
zel said she was proud of not only Barajas' win,
but also the team's overall performance. "They
executed the way that they have been training,"
Mitzel said.
The Dons next run is Oct. 4 at the Falcon Invi-
tational at Don Knabe Regional Park in Cerritos.