The Diablo Valley Cross Country team earned a second place finish for the men and a third place finish for the women in Friday’s First Annual George Brooks Invitational meet at Hidden Lakes Park in Martinez.

The women’s 5k run flew by, with the winning time of 19:32. Kate Sallstrom placed 1^st for DVC and 4^th overall in the event. Behind her, Carmen Martinez came in 32 seconds later to post an 8^th place finish. At 21:18, Kaeli Hancock placed 10^th overall and 3^rd for DVC.

“I feel like I left it all out there, especially in the last 100 meters,” said Sallstrom after the race.

In the men’s 4.1 mile event, DVC stacked up numerous top 20 finishes. First for DVC and 5^th overall, Dominique Caston started strong and held his pace for a time of 23:20. Dylan Winn followed him in 10^th overall with a time of 23:27. In third place, Damian Kellogg finished in 24:06.

Friday’s race was a practice run for the Big 8 Conference event that will feature the same course on Oct. 26. Volunteer Jim H. stated, “Everything went smooth and the races went off without a hitch.”

Coach Shelly Pierson worked her runners up to the meet, so they went into the meet fatigued. She wanted to use this meet as a practice run and allow for something to build on.

Pierson said that in spite of this being more of a training run, her teams placed in the top three of both events. “A second place finish and a third place finish…happy coach,” said Pierson.