This November the men’s squad wrapped up the USATF San Diego-Imperial Dirt Dog Cross Country season with plenty of accomplishments worth celebrating and recounting…
Team.
The Open men of PRT stood out among the San Diego competitive clubs in typical fashion—fielding a formidable scoring-five squad at every single race during the series.
Most Open Men of Prado (plus Justin!) posing for a team pic after Crazy 8’s in Rancho Bernardo: October 2019. Pictured from left to right (back row):
“Not That” Jon “The Rookie” Pierce; “The Pack” Hunter Daniel; “Danger” Dan Seidel, Alex “Fear My Kick” Phipps, Justin “Time” Turner, Thomas “Wicked Fast, Wimpy Stash” Whitcomb, “Clutch” Chris Wernke, Anthony “Make the Ladies go Idyll-Wild” Malatesta, Oliver “Twist” Langford, Andrew “Work Horse” Wood, (kneeling, left to right) Brett “Barn Burner” Olson, Nick “No Big Deal” Scarpello, Jonathan “Fast and Furious” Fenton, Yari “You Gotta Try My Gnocchi” Fontebasso.
All We Do Is Win
The open men captured the team win at Bake at the Lake with authority, by a score of 20 – 81, over second-place Milestone Running, in the historic race’s inaugural entry into the series.
A few good Men of Prado, from left to right: Thomas Whitcomb (hidden behind Jon Pierce), followed by Anthony Malatesta, Nick Scarpello, Andrew Wood, Tyler “Thunderwood” Underwood (fun hat), and Dan Seidel. The men draw a line in the sand with their feet to mark the start line moments before the starting gun for the Bake at the Lake 2019 at Lake Hodges. The men won 20–81 over crosstown rival Milestone Running.
Double Crown
Tyler Underwood bested the entire field twice for two individual race victories, at the Bake at the Lake and Cuyamaca 6K. This upcoming February, Tyler will represent PRT at the Olympic Marathon Trials in Atlanta, GA.
New Racers on the Block
This fall the open men welcomed four new tenacious team members with all-star running resumes: Jon Pierce, Anthony Malatesta, Chris Wernke, and Andrew Wood. All four made immediate impacts to the team, not only because they pushed their teammates in training bouts, but also because every single one of these new guys scored points for the Open Men this season, cracking into the top five in one or more races. As a matter of fact, Anthony was the top dog at the Balboa Boogie. Meanwhile Chris was counted among our championship five-man scoring squad in his first season as a cross-country runner, ever! Jon showed tenacity as a consistent, key lowstick among the top guys, while Andrew was a role model and a workhorse: winning the Iron Dog honors for competing week in and week out all season long.
Iron Dog Andrew Wood wills teammate Jamaal Ryan forward to the finish line in the closing meters of the Dirt Dog XC Championships, November 10 at Mission Bay. Photo courtesy of Christopher Friend. View Christopher’s Online Photography Gallery here.
The Endgame & Looking Ahead
The Open Men took second by a slim margin behind San Diego Track Club, as our clubs traded friendly jabs all season long: teeter-tottering back and forth between team wins, individual wins, and hard-fought mid-pack battles on both sides.
Iron Dogs
Thomas and Andrew: Way to be out there every weekend. You are members of an elite class of 2019 Iron Dogs, competing selflessly all season long and scrapping for every point.
For more information on final teams + individual standings, click the following link to learn more about the notorious USATF San Diego-Imperial Dirt Dog Cross Country series.
To stay in the know with day-to-day team happenings and performances, follow PRT on Instagram @pradoracingteam or at facebook.com/pradoracingteam.