ALISO VIEJO, Calif. – Vanguard juniors Evan Hernandez and Kate Baranski claimed Golden State Athletic Conference Cross Country Runners of the Month accolades for September, announced the conference office on Wednesday morning.
Hernandez registered a pair of top-10 finishes, highlighted by his own record-breaking performance at The Master's Invitational that led to his second career selection as GSAC Runner of the Month. On the Central Park 8K course, Hernandez ran the race in 24 minutes, 28.5 seconds to cross the line in eighth overall out of 236 competitors. He beat his previous record, set the 2022 GSAC Championships, by four seconds.
The Menifee native made his 2023 debut at the UC Riverside Invitational in the Open class, coming in fifth place overall with a time of 25:09.9. He was in the top-two over the first two splits, and ended up just 10 seconds off the winning time.
Baranski made an impressive entrance onto the cross country roster after competing for two seasons on the women's soccer team. She won her collegiate debut on September 1 at 32nd annual Vanguard Invitational, traversing the 5K course in 19:38.5. Baranski helped the Lions win their own meet for the first time since 2019, and she became the first VU runner to win an individual title since Marissa Thompson in 2018.
However, the El Cajon native wasn't finished, as she led the Lion lineup in the following two meets. In a field loaded with NCAA Division I competitors, she claimed 21st place (18:33.3) in the Open class at the UC Riverside Invitational. She lopped off more than a minute from her debut to establish a personal-best for the 5K distance.
Moving to the 6K distance for the first time in her career, Baranski was again VU's top finisher at The Master's Invitational, as the Lions got a chance to run at Central Park, site of this year's GSAC Championship. She clocked 22:19.7 for the third-fastest time in VU history, good for 24th place in a loaded field that featured several runners from the nationally-ranked TMU squad.
The Lions are taking a three-week break from competition before gearing up for their next meet, an October 14 date at the Highlander Invitational.
