Beaumont, CA—With a blazing sun and temperatures exceeding 90 degrees, the Colton High Cross-Country team took to the three-mile course at the Beaumont Invitational for a day defined by poor organization and inaccuracies.

Unlike the Colton Swarm, which took place last week, the Beaumont Invitational did not attend to as many details, the most egregious of which was the lack of directional arrows on the course. This resulted in several athletes, including Colton’s, running off course, which, in some cases had a devastating impact on their times.

In addition to poor course management, there were few volunteers on the course guiding and supporting runners. The only silver lining is that this was not a league event for any of the teams involved.

Despite the problems created by the event management, several of Colton’s athletes still had good mornings. Freshman Brianna Jimenez, running varsity for the first time, shaved over two minutes off her time for a personal best of 27:08.9. On the boys’ side, freshman Vincent Solis posted a time of 20:58.5, crushing last week’s time at the Swarm by nearly nine minutes.

In team play, boys’ varsity became the first of Colton’s teams to place at an invitational this year, taking ninth in the varsity boys’ category on the strength of its five runners, Osvaldo Contes, Marcus Perez, Anthony Garcia, Daniel Montes, and Adrian Negrete. They put together a collective team time of 2:03:57.

“It was a tough morning,” Assistant Coach Mateo Cisneros said, “Overall, for the athletes who did participate, it was a great practice running three miles.”

The Yellowjacket Cross-Country team begins league play next week on Wednesday at Rim of the World.

Colton High School Times

Top Times, Girls – All Schools

Top Times, Boys – All Schools