Mt. SAC's Daniel Abdala Races To State Men's Cross Country Title

Mt. San Antonio College sophomore Daniel Abdala won the CCCAA State Cross Country men's title in the 57th state meet held at Fresno's Woodward Park on Nov. 20.

Abdala, who placed sixth as a freshman in 2019, ran the 4-mile course in the fastest Woodward Park course time ever over that distance of 19:52.4. He followed up his individual victories at both the South Coast Conference and Southern California Championships. His first-place finish wasn't enough for the Mounties, who settled for state runner-up to repeat champion San Diego Mesa College. Mesa scored 26 points to Mt. San Antonio's 37. 

"Individually, it felt great. I had a lot of fun on the course. It was really fun to run with the pack going into the second and third miles and just letting go in the last one," Abdala said.

"I knew going into the second hill that I had to put on the pedal really quick. If they would respond to it, then stay with them, and if not, then just go with it. We went up the little hill a little slow, so I knew that once I got to the top, to put the burners on them and then slide down to about 800 meters and that's when I knew."

The only other SCC runner to place in the state top 14 was Mountie Jesse Alvarado in fifth place (20:21.3). El Camino (20th place) and Long Beach City (21st) were the other scoring teams from the conference at the '21 state meet. 

Abdala is the third South Coast runner to win the state race in the past four CCCAA Championships and 11th in the conference's history dating back to 1969. El Camino's Carson Bix won the 2017 race and Mt. SAC's Manuel Fernandez captured the 2018 crown. 

(some information from the release courtesy of the CCCAA).