WALNUT – When a cross country course has a reputation of being the toughest in the state, featuring three monster hills, dust that would make an Oklahoman choke and hot, dry Santa Ana wind conditions, even the most fearless runner can be intimidated.

Oh yes, don't forget the fastest competition in the West. Rancho Bernardo's Molly Grabill and Our Lady of Peace's Sammy Silva had heard all about the three-mile course at Mt. San Antonio College.

But that didn't stop them from accepting the challenge by running in the Individual Sweepstakes race at the Mt. SAC Invitational yesterday – a race headlined by 2008 Olympic Trials 1,500-meter finalist Jordan Hasay of San Luis Obispo Mission College Prep.

Their reaction was identical.

“It didn't seem as long as I expected,” said Grabill, a sophomore who kept her poise after Hasay opened with a ridiculously fast 5:05 mile. Grabill finished third (16 minutes, 54 seconds), six seconds behind San Clemente's Alex Dunne, as Hasay went on to win in 16:27.

Said Silva about the course: “It feels short.”

Silva, a senior, had hoped to place in the top 5 but was eighth (17:41), any temporary disappointment tempered by the fact that she felt she could have run faster. For both, one of the main objectives was to run the course before the Foot Locker Western Regionals on Dec. 6. Both hope to qualify for the 30th National Championships a week later at Morley Field in Balboa Park.

Neither had stepped on the course before for a variety of reasons but if either was intimidated, it certainly didn't show.

When Hasay ripped off the 5:05 first mile, Grabill was running comfortably in fourth. With all three hills remaining, she was confident she would not be passed and hopeful of moving up.

“It's cross country. You never know what's going to happen, so you just run your race and be prepared if something unusual does happen,” Grabill said. “I knew about the competition, and when Jordan takes it out that fast, we all run faster trying to keep up, and that's good.

“This is the toughest course I've been on.”

Still another objective for Grabill was to see how she matched up with Dunne, who last year finished eighth in the state in Division I, 10 spots ahead of Grabill, 30 seconds away. Trimming that gap to six seconds had Grabill smiling.

As for Silva, she was second last year in Division III. While Katy Daly of San Francisco St. Ignatius returns, she was not in yesterday's race. Not that Silva was disappointed.

“I'm running anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute faster this year than last year, and I want to win state,” Silva said.

The Megan Morgan-led Torrey Pines girls finished third in the Team Sweepstakes, with three runners finishing in the top 21. Morgan, a junior, placed second in 17:27.

“It's all right not to win; we'd rather surprise everyone later in the season,” Morgan said.

Hoover's Dahir Mohamed posted the fastest local time for the boys, 15:21, en route to his eighth-place finish in the individual sweepstakes.

“I'll take eighth – for now,” said Mohamed. “Especially on this course. It has three tough hills. We (Morley Field course) have just one.”