Last year, he settled for being the No. 2 runner, but returning sophomore Eduardo Urbina established himself as the top harrier for the Pasadena City College men's cross country team Friday at the 2017 season-opening, Palomar Invitational meet.

Urbina placed 13th overall out of 115 runners with a time of 22 minutes, 14.1 seconds over the 4-mile course at Guajome Park in Oceanside. While PCC placed 10th out of 11 teams, Riverside City College dominated in winning the team title with nine runners crossing the line in the first 10 places including individual champion Ricardo Cardenas.

After Urbina, PCC's next fastest racers were sophomore Felipe Loera (56th, 24:06.8) and freshman Trevor Abe (57th, 24:07.1), who is one of four Lancers runners from Arcadia High on the '17 roster. Other Pasadena racers competing at Palomar were letterman Alexis Arevalo (83rd, 26:05, Gabrielino High), rookie Izaq Davolt (87th, 26:35, Arcadia), and freshman Adrian Zavala (101st, 28:53, Alhambra HS). 

Abe was 35th at last year's Mt. San Antonio Invitational race, but his Arcadia teammate Dylan Che, who is also expected to compete this season for PCC was 26th in that same event. 

PCC head coach Innocent Egbunike is in his second season in charge of the program and he has brought on a new assistant coach in Steve Laguna while long-time Lancers assistant Pat Williams continues his tour of duty that dates back to the 1980s. Last season, PCC placed third at the South Coast Conference Championships, its highest finish at that event in 14 years. 

Next Friday, Sept. 15, the PCC harriers will be back in action at the SoCal Preview Meet held in Santa Clarita.