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WALNUT - One of the more distinctive sounds of victory was again present, sort of, at Friday's first day of high school competition at the 64th annual Mt. San Antonio College Cross-Country Invitational. Hoover High junior Jeremy Zadoorian won his second straight coveted tin cowbell, given only to the race winner, after taking first place in the boys' Division III green race in a time of 16 minutes, 43 seconds. There was one catch, however, as Zadoorian was serenaded with silence after attempting to ring his bell only to find out the clapper was missing.

While the forecast called for rain and the use of Mt. San Antonio College's lengthened, but flattened course, the elements and conditions did little to slow the majority of local cross-country teams from advancing out of Saturday's preliminaries to the following week's divisional finals. Burbank High and Burroughs will be joined at the hip again, at least for another week, as the Pacific League city archrival boys' teams both advanced out of the Division I first heat. The Bulldogs, ranked eighth in Division I, finished second to top-ranked Rancho Cucamonga, 49-74, while unranked Burroughs took the fourth and final qualifying spot with 124 points, just outlasting Santa Fe, which finished with 126 points.

WALNUT - A day after Flintridge Prep delivered the area's lone victory at the 65th annual Mt. San Antonio College Cross-Country Invitational, two more locals pushed their way into the winner's circle on Saturday's second and final day. Glendale High's Lena Setian won an individual race and the Crescenta Valley High boys' captured a team title on an afternoon in which both Burbank and Burroughs also celebrated. “This is so unbelievable, I never expected it,” said Setian, who captured the Division I green race in an unofficial time of 18 minutes 05 seconds.

WALNUT - It was a day of exceeded expectations for the Glendale Community College track and field team at Saturday's community college edition of the 55th annual Mt. San Antonio College Relays. Maybe no one came in with more acclaim and lived up to that subsequent billing than did Glendale sophomore Grace Graham-Zamudio. The state leader in the 1,500-meter run superseded her California-best time of 4 minutes, 36 seconds by winning the event in 4:34.47, which was just off the meet record time of 4:33 set by Phoenix's Trina Leopold in 1985.

GLENDALE — A big meet with fast runners under any circumstances, the Mt. San Antonio College Cross-County Invitational was made even faster by cool weather and clean air Saturday morning in Walnut. Crescenta Valley High's girls' and boys' teams used the annual preview for end-of-season CIF events to gauge where they stand, as did numerous other teams that competed in the meet's lower divisions on Friday. The Falcons girls competed in the Division 1 & 2 Team Sweepstakes and placed 15th overall and 11th out of Division 1 teams.

BOYS' TRACK AND FIELD Crescenta Valley, St. Francis at Mt. SAC Relays: Golden Knights' senior Caleb Simmeth merited the highest local finish in taking third in the seeded 300-meter hurdles in a time of 39.57 seconds on Saturday afternoon. Smith finished behind race-winner Justin Collins (38.37) with a runner-up 39.41. Smith was an alternate for the 110 hurdles, but was not selected. Teammate Eric Knowles finished 11th (43-04) in the seeded triple jump at the Mt. SAC Relays.

It was a day of firsts for the Glendale Community College cross-country programs at Mount San Antonio College on Friday morning, in more ways than just the Vaqueros men's and women's teams beating all comers to the finish line. In outpacing second-place Los Angeles Valley, 51-63, in the four-mile race, the Vaqueros men won at the storied course for the first time in program history and their 1 hour 49 minute 32 second team time, combined with the third-fastest three-mile course mark of all time of 91:36 set by the women, established an all-time combined sweepstakes course record of 3:22:08.

GLENDALE — With the ultimate goal of state glory still a week away, Southern California’s best junior college cross-country runners will gather with the hope of extending their seasons. That entails today’s agenda for the Glendale Community College men’s and women’s cross-country teams, which are set to compete in the Southern California Championships at Mount San Antonio College in Walnut. The Vaqueros and other elite programs were originally scheduled to compete in the races at Irvine Regional Park, but the recent wildfires and poor air quality resulting from them forced tournament officials to move the meet to Mt. SAC. How the Vaqueros handle the three-mile course in Walnut will determine their fate in advancing to the State Meet, which will take place Nov. 17 at Fresno’s Woodward Park.

GLENDALE ? Local track and field athletes convened at Mt. San Antonio College on Saturday and came away with mixed results. The Crescenta Valley High team showed that they are a force to be reckoned with, while Hoover was left looking for improvement but gained experience as they competed in the 49th annual Mt. SAC Relays. A week after setting a national mark in the 4x1,750-yard relay at the Arcadia Invitational, the Crescenta Valley girls' long distance runners showed that they have staying power.

GLENDALE — With the air quality seemingly no longer a problem and Southern California blazes quelled, area cross-country runners are looking to set forth upon the CIF Southern Section finals with no distractions but their opponents on Saturday morning. “It’s a big day,” said Flintridge Prep boys’ Coach Ingrid Herskind, who leads her Rebels into the Division V race as one of six local squads hoping to climb into the CIF hierarchy and, at the same time, advance to next week’s CIF-State Meet in Fresno.