LEE VINING, MAMMOTH COMPETE AT MT. SAC
By Ben Trefry
On Friday, October 19, cross-country teams from the Eastern Sierra raced at the biggest high school cross-country meet in the world, at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, Calif. – better known as Mt. Sac.
Spanning two days and comprising 79 races of about 150 runners each, the 71st annual Mt. Sac Invitational is running elevated to a spectacular scale. Runners’ finishing times and places are determined by electronic chips tied into their shoelaces, and live video of the finish line is shown on a JumboTron for the thousands of parents, coaches and spectators.
In the empty parking lots where teams set up their tents to prepare for the race, there’s a row of porta-potties that stretches hundreds of feet across the pavement. The logistics of it are equally impressive – every 15 minutes, a new race starts and another flood of runners enters the course.
