Roadrunners run away with Butte Invitational title Diehl leads Butte to sweep in men's race. Hoyt pulls away from Finn to top womens field North Forebay Recreation Area Thursday October 20, 2011 By JOSEPH SHUFELBERGER-ER Sports Writer OROVILLE - A little motivation went a long way for the Butte College men's cross country team. The Roadrunners didn't merely win their Butte Invitational on Thursday at the North Forebay Recreation Area, they dominated. Butte fielded the first six runners who finished the 4-mile course with Alex Diehl winning the race in 21 minutes, 38 seconds. Last Friday at the Jim Middleton Invitational, which was held at West Valley High in Cottonwood, the results were good for Butte, but not what the Roadrunners wanted.While the best team score belonged to Butte, Caleb Rosales placed second and Diehl was third. "I was glad it happened," Butte coach Seth Roberts said, "because if there was any complacency that took care of it." On Thursday, the Roadrunners showed they can get plenty of competition from their own ranks. Behind Diehl's top time was Rosales in 22:06, Nathan Inkman in third at 22:27, Russell McGregor was fourth at 22:28 and Eli Stilman, a Paradise High grad, was fifth at 22:43. For good measure, Butte's Luis Zuniga was sixth at 23:16. "When we're all running together as we were, it puts my mind at ease and it's just like practice," Diehl said. Those five led to Butte's perfect score of 15 points, easily distancing itself from Redwoods' 49. Shasta didn't field a complete team. "We wanted a little payback on our home course," said Diehl, a freshman. Mission accomplished as the Roadrunners were hotter than even the unusually warm October day. The display showed that next week's Golden Valley Conference Championships, which will also be at West Valley in Cottonwood, isn't the end of the season for Butte. "We've got a lot of talented athletes so we want to show NorCal that," said Inkman, an Oroville High graduate as is McGregor. "Our goal is to qualify for state," Roberts said. A top-10 finish at NorCals would send the Roadrunners on to the state championships in Fresno. While the Butte men dominated, the women's team also turned in some top times. The Roadrunners' Cara Hoyt, a freshman, finished first on the 3-mile course in 18:55. Shasta's Molly Finn, another Oroville High grad, was second at 19:16. Redwoods won the women's race with 39 points to Butte's 46. Shasta and Feather River had incomplete teams. Hoyt earned her victory by pulling away on some familiar territory. "I grew up in Santa Cruz and we practiced on hills all the time. A lot of girls are good at running downhill," Hoyt said. "Molly is my main competition. As soon as we hit the second hill, I was able to get some distance between her." Still, Finn was pleased with her showing. "I felt like I had been working hard and not seeing results so this was nice to see," she said. Butte's Mariela Navarro was fourth in 20:32, teammate Chelsea Petersen was ninth at 22:43 and Grace Rhodehouse, a Paradise High grad, 15th (26:40). MacKenzie Morris' 17th place at 28:48 completed Butte's scoring. Navarro, still recovering from a cold, was pleased with her progress. "It went OK, a little too hot for my tastes," she said. "I feel like I can do better." Navarro used her teammate Hoyt to set the pace. "I try not to lose her on the course," Navarro said, "but sometimes... I do better at that." While the Butte women's team is battling depth issues that the men don't have to be concerned with, the Roadrunners' coach was pleased with both performances. "Over the last year, Butte has built a pretty good program," Roberts said. "We have a bunch of focused runners especially going into next week's meet." The GVC meet next Thursday will feature more complete teams, but it's clear that Roberts' stated goal of going to state is the men's aim, and some of them are even thinking a little bigger. "We want to go to state," Rosales said, "and do really well."