From the moment the Vikings stepped out of the San Jose County airport, with sunglasses on and the bright California rays soaking into vitamin D deficient bodies, the Vikings meant business. Although the Vikings traveled to a place commonly associated with vacations, it was another business trip for the Vikings before they entered the championship racing portion of the season.
For the men, the main goals coming into the meet were to beat UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly, both ranked opponents in the USTFCCCA West Region. If the Viking men beat them, then they could solidify their spot in the West before running at the Big Sky Conference Championships on Oct. 29.
For the women, the main goal was to compete well against the University of San Francisco, which has historically had a well-rounded women's team and would be looking to win the meet.
As the team arrived at Baylands Park for their pre-meet run, one could actively feel the excitement building. The last three weeks have been big for the Viking squads as they have silently been putting in work without the interruption of a race. Three straight weeks of two workouts a week -- near to or at peak mileage -- took a toll on the Viks, but it also improved them both physically and mentally following the Roy Griak Invitational on Sept. 24.
As the Vikings jogged around the course with RC planes dive bombing overhead, the mood was light, and the quiet confidence that had grown in the last three weeks continued to flourish. It would only be a matter of hours before the Vikings would get a chance to put that confidence on full display.
The scene on the morning of the race was very similar to the beginning of an old Western film. The Vikings sat at picnic tables, mostly silent, hands in their pockets, as the sun rose over the horizon in the early morning hours. Many faces stared off into that horizon, almost expecting their competitors to come galloping up in a cloud of dust beneath the wake of the sunrise's orange glow.
The men were the first to face their adversaries. The field sprinted the opening 200 meters, eager to get in a good position before the course bottlenecked. It wasn't long before the Viks assumed the position they wanted to be in the race.
Jordan MacIntosh, Josh Snyder, and Keynan Abdi led the charge upfront, running in the lead pack together as teammates. It was a sight to be seen with the three of them at the front of the pack, at times conversing with one another as they collectively attempted to break the rest of the field.
Towards the latter half of the race, the front pack burst away from the field with the three Vikings stoically remaining at the front, propelling themselves to the finish. As the trio swung wide for the finish line, each tried to find another gear to beat the other across the line. In the end, Josh won the intra-team battle, crossing the line second overall in a time of 23:40. Jordan and Keynan followed in 3rd (23:43) and 5th (23:47), respectively, meaning the Viks not only placed three in the top 10 but that three also went under the 24-minute barrier.
The Viking men also had incredible performances from both Evan Peters and Drew Seidel. After having mediocre performances at Roy Griak, both Evan and Drew had themselves a day in Santa Clara. Drew especially had been struggling the last few weeks, as he debated if his noteworthy performance at the Viking Rust Buster was a "fluke" or if he was going to race below his expectations again in California.
However, Drew pushed past these thoughts and looked like he did at the Viking Rust Buster: Strong. Evan and Drew ran good races all the way to the finish as both ran personal bests, separated from one another by only seconds. Evan crossed the finish line as the Viking men's fifth runner with Seidel sixth on the day, both right behind Luke Ramirez.
The performances of these Vikings led to the team dominating the competition. The Vikings scored only 67 points, beating Cal Poly by 37 points in the process.
On the women's side, the Vikings showed how fierce they can be as a pack. From the gun, competitors tried to shove and elbow the Viking women, but their resolve was kept intact and little to no ground was let up.
Katie Camarena did her thing at the front, showing her veteran status as she raced. Katie really turned on the jets over the last kilometer of the race, attempting to stay in third. Camarena ended up crossing the finish line mere fractions of a second above the 20-minute barrier in third place. Camarena's dominant race was enough to get her the new school record in the six-kilometer race, beating the old mark by 48 seconds.
As she caught her breath, her Viking teammates continued to race for the team battle. Maya Irving was the second Vik across and 7th overall in a new personal best of 20:37. Maya was followed by Hunter Storm in 11th, Liza Sajn in 16th, with Abi Swain 22nd and rounding out the scoring five, all running personal bests.
The Viking women handily beat out Cal Poly in third place by scoring only 59 points. The Viking women were also only 13 points behind the University of San Francisco. Like the men, the women were pumped up by their performances as they all warmed down together, yelling loudly for a fellow teammate in the process.
The Viks remained in good spirits as they perused downtown San Jose on Lime Scooters, and enjoyed local eateries. As captain Luke Rameriz remarked towards the end of the trip as many of the Viks gorged themselves on airport Chick-fil-a, this may be the best meet the Vikings have ever had as a program in recent history. With the men winning, the women getting second place, school records being reset, and personal bests being run, it's hard to disagree.
The hope is that the momentum continues as the Vikings forge ahead into final preparations for the Big Sky Conference meet, Oct. 29, at Meriwether National Golf Course. This weekend only served as the dress rehearsal for the two main events in a few weeks.
