SD Prep Sports: Cross Country

www.sdprepsports.com

E-mail us at sdprepsports@cox.net

Home   Swimming/Diving   Cross Country  Track & Field   Roller Hockey   Water Polo   CIF Scorecard

2007 Prep Cross Country
San Diego Section
Archives

2006 Season in Review
2005 Season Scrapbook
2004 Season Scrapbook
2003 Season Scrapbook

2002 Season Scrapbook

2001 Season in Review

2000 Season in Review

Prep Previews/Reports
California State Finals
Cougars’ Sherrod leads East County runners at state meet

Posted Nov. 26, 2007
Steele Canyon’s Adrian Sherrod put a little bit more shine on his senior season of glory with a meteoric fourth-place finish at last weekend’s California state cross country championships in Fresno. Sherrod, the defending San Diego Section Division II champion, timed 15:41 on the 3.1-mile Woodward Park course on Nov. 24 to finish as the section’s top runner in the race.

The Cougar harrier easily out-distanced his nearest San Diego County challenger, San Pasqual’s Kenneth Raedel (25th place), by 26 seconds.

Sherrod placed 18 seconds behind the 15:23 posted by race-winner James Tracy, a senior from Del Campo, and just one second out of placing second. Hueneme senior Jose Alcantar earned runner-up honors with a time of 15:40. Vista Del Lago junior Emmanuel Ngula followed in 15:41 – a time shared with Sherrod as the pair both fought for position across the finish line.

Sherrod, whose time was third-best among all section runners in all divisions at this year’s state finals, led the Cougars on the course to a top 15 team finish. Steele Canyon placed 14th among the 23 teams entered in the division with 328 points – 71 points out of a top 10 finish.

Among individuals in the 193-deep field, senior Evan Anderson was 48th in 16:31. Senior Tim Buckmaster was 84th in 16:50. Senior Carson Cooper was 123rd in 17:10. Sophomore Mitch Lane was 152nd in 17:30. Sophomore Ryan Lawler was 170th in 17:53. Junior Shavim Patel was 172nd in 17:58.

Three East County runners completed the Division II boys race as individual state qualifiers. Monte Vista junior Misikir Mentose placed 67th with a 16:44 time, followed by Grossmont senior Grant Lieberman (69th, 16:44) and Valhalla senior Brian Randlett (86th, 16:52).

El Capitan, led by senior Kyle Phipps’ 27th-place finish, stacked up 16th in the Division III boys team standings.

Phipps’ time of 16:17 was 14th-best among the 111 section boys runners. He was followed by sophomore teammate Kyle Moran (80th, 16:55), junior Nick Bedrosian (97th, 17:04), senior Chris Torres (136th, 17:35), senior Michael Devan (141st, 17:43), junior Kenny Stephenson (179th, 18:29) and senior Miles Segni (192nd, 21:26).

The Vaqueros finished 30 points behind section division champion Valley Center and 26 points ahead of La Jolla (which placed seven points ahead of El Capitan at the section finals).

Mt. Miguel sophomore Dylan Marx placed 123rd in the 193-deep Division III field in 17:22.

In the Division IV boys race, Christian freshman Michael May was 95th in the field of 201 finishers in 17:25, followed by Mountain Empire senior Morgan Smith in 100th place in 17:31.

Steele Canyon finished 20th among Division II girls teams. Top runners included senior Megan Meyer (110th, 20:13), freshman Chelsey Harmeson (112th, 20:15), sophomore Christie Hendel (133rd, 20:40), sophomore Arianna Pascarella (153rd 21:27), sophomore Kayla Mollon (165th, 21:30) and junior Lauren Parr (191st, 24:21).

Valhalla freshman Paige Hughes was the top East County finisher in the race with a 67th place-finish in 19:37 among the 192 finishers.

Two other East County individual state qualifiers turned in respectable finishes. El Capitan junior Katie Martin was 115th in the 194-deep Division III girls field in 20:36; Christian sophomore Taryn Dunton was 97th in the 198-deep Division IV girls field in 21:13.

Lincoln junior Elizabeth Apgar turned in the fastest time among the section’s girls qualifiers in posting a third-place finish in the Division II race in 17:48. Fallbrook senior Bret Hasvold had the fastest boys time among section runners by finishing fourth in the Division I race in 15:24. Both Apgar and Hasvold won their respective races at the section divisional finals the preceding week.

Otay Ranch Mustangs end season 13th at state finals

The Otay Ranch High School boys cross country team concluded a highly successful season with a 13th-place finish at this year’s state championship meet. The Mustangs had three of their seven runners finish in the top third of the 201-deep Division I field: sophomore Jacob Roach, senior Brandon Velasquez and junior Jonathan Limon.

Roach, this year’s reigning Mesa League champion, placed 34th with a time of 15:57 on the 5K Woodward Park course in Fresno. Velasquez finished 50th in 16:05, followed by Limon in 58th place in 16:10.

The trio was among the San Diego Section’s top 11 boys place-finishers at the Nov. 24 event, with Roach posting the third-best time of any section runner, inclusive of all five divisional races, and Velasquez finishing with the eighth-best time, followed by Limon with the 11th-best time.

Otay Ranch’s other finishers included junior Alfred Haslerig (122nd, 16:45), senior Cory Rael-Meza (151st, 17:04), senior Abraham Castillo (164th, 17:16) and junior Ryan Perry (190th, 17:56).

Roach rates as the section’s No. 2 returning underclassman behind Rancho Bernardo sophomore Parker Stinson, who finished 17th in the Division I boys race in 15:38. Fallbrook senior Bret Hasvold, who timed 15:24 to finish fourth overall in the Division I race, was the section’s top performer at this year’s state finals. Steele Canyon senior Adrian Sherrod (fourth, Division II) was the only other section runner to post a better time on the day than Roach (second at the section finals).

The Mustangs finished with 304 team points, trailing seventh-place Rancho Buena Vista (191 points) but placing ahead of 18th-place Torrey Pines (441 points). Otay Ranch qualified for the state championships by finishing second behind RBV at the section finals, with the top three teams advancing from the section.

Mar Vista senior Edgar Lopez, the South Bay League’s returning champion, placed 79th among the 193 individuals in the Division II field. He had the 34th-best time (16:49) among the 111 section runners to compete in this year’s state championship meet.
Lopez finished fifth at the section finals.

Calvary Christian Academy junior Jacob Barlow competed in the Division V race at the state finals, placing 140th in the 181-deep field in 19:33. Barlow was fifth at the section finals.

Bonita Vista freshman Sofia Garcia was the conference’s lone female qualifier. She strode to a 131st-place finish in the 198-deep Division I girls race with a time of 20:14. The Baron frosh sensation, who placed 10th at the section finals, ranked 46th among the section’s contingent of 105 runners, inclusive of all five divisional races.

Calvary Christian Academy junior Monica Jimenez placed 158th in the 169-deep Division V girls race with a time of 24;57. Jimenez placed eighth at the section finals.

All-state
•Fallbrook’s Hasvold, Steele Canyon’s Sherrod and Coronado senior Ben Enowitz (eighth, Division IV) earned all-state honors by finishing among the top 10 placers in their respective divisional races.

•Former Calvary Christian Academy standout Elizabeth Apgar, now competing for the reborn Lincoln Hornets, was the section’s top female performer with a third-place finish in the Division II girls race. Apgar, who won her divisional race at the preceding section finals, timed 17:48.

•The section’s other all-state girls runners included Our Lady of Peace junior Sammy Silva (second, Division III) and University City junior Sheree Shea (fourth, Division III).

San Diego Section Finals
East County report:
Tragic event inspires Cougars' greatest day

2007 California State Meet Qualifiers List

Posted Nov. 19, 2007
When members of the Steele Canyon High School boys cross country team stepped up to the starting line at Saturday’s San Diego Section Division II championship meet at Balboa Park’s Morley Field, they each sported an identical headband.

It read: R.I.P. Devan, 6/10/89 to 11/6/07.

The heartfelt message was in reference to former teammate Devan Caddell, who was killed in an automobile accident less than two weeks earlier. Caddell graduated last June after helping spur the Cougars onto an eventual runner-up finish at the section track and field finals.

Four of the seven team members still wore the headbands after climbing to the top of the awards podium following the race in which the Cougars strode to a history-making first-place finish. Caddell, a student at Mesa College prior to his untimely death at just 18, was likely there in spirit beside his former teammates.

Senior Adrian Sherrod, who trained with Caddell during the summer, led the emotional team victory by taking first-place individual honors in the race. He said the memory of Caddell was an inspiration to the whole team.

It was an appropriate tribute to a friend and helped cap what unquestionably has to be considered the greatest day in the history of the school’s cross country program. The Cougars’ girls team finished third in its division to join the boys team at Saturday’s state championship meet in Fresno.

“Wow … it couldn’t be more satisfying. What a year,” coach Gary Stathas exclaimed succinctly.

Sherrod, fresh off victory at the preceding week’s Grossmont South League finals, finished the hilly 3.04-mile course in 16 minutes, 8 seconds — 15 seconds ahead of San Pasqual junior Kenneth Raedel and 48 seconds in front of fellow East County standout Brian Randlett of Valhalla, who placed fourth in the 136-deep field behind Hoover Mohamed Dahir.

The Cougars, who missed qualifying for the state meet by 24 points two years ago and by 10 points last year, edged Mt. Carmel by one point for the team title, finishing with a low score of 72 points to the Sundevils’ 73 points. Steele Canyon’s five scorers finished 1-6-12-21-32. Mt. Carmel’s top five runners finished 8-13-14-18-20.

The top 10 placers are recognized as members of the All-Division II First Team. Senior Evan Anderson (sixth, 16:59) joined Sherrod in that elite group. The next 10 place-finishers are considered members of the All-Division II Second Team. Senior Carson Cooper earned that honor with a 12th-place finish in 17:14 while senior Tim Buckmaster just missed earning an All-CIF place-finish in 21st place with a time of 17:36.

Sophomore Ryan Lawler rounded out team scoring in 32nd place with a 17:56 time.

The Cougars’ five-man spread was 1:48, with the No. 2 through No. 5 runners separated by 57 seconds.

Senior Nathan Luke keyed Mt. Carmel with an eighth-place finish in 17:04. The Sundevils’ five-man spread was just 31 seconds. But the ability of Steele Canyon to place two runners ahead of Mt. Carmel’s first scorer was instrumental in winning the CIF championship for the Cougars.

If members of the newly crowned CIF champions did not exactly jump up and extol their victory on the awards podium, it was understandable. Besides running with the memory of Caddell’s recent death, Steele Canyon also had to contend with the loss of its No. 5 runner throughout the regular season, with younger runners moving up to fill the big shoes both at league finals and the division championship.

Thus, pressure to excel abounded throughout the Cougar’s seven-man lineup.

“When you win by one point, everyone was the difference,” Stathas said. “Our No. 5 guy, Vinnie Cirello, got hurt two weeks ago. He didn’t run in the conference meet. We had those five and then a gap and then two more. But this group is very close — they do everything together — and that just made them challenge even more to overcome this. Mitch Lane stepped up at the conference meet and helped us win as a team. So then we wondered who would it be this week? But Ryan Lawler stepped it up for us. At the one-and-a-half mile mark, he was around 60th and we yelled out that he had to move up in the field. He moved up close to 30 spaces.”

“We had to make our No. 6 man into our No. 5 man,” Sherrod said.

The meet title was the fifth for Sherrod this season. He opened the season by winning the Wolf Pack, Mustang and Mt. Carmel invitationals before recording the top time at both the league and division finals. He placed fifth at last year's division finals.

“I didn’t want to take the lead. I wanted other people to do the work the first mile and then speed up the last two miles and just hang on until the end,” said Sherrod, who took the lead between the first- and second-mile mark.

The top five runners not on any of the three qualifying teams advanced to this weekend’s state meet as individual qualifiers. Among those five division qualifiers were two more East County runners besides the aforementioned Randlett: Monte Vista junior Misikir Mentose (ninth, 17:08) and Grossmont senior Grant Lieberman (10th, 17:08).

Monte Vista finished fourth in the team standings — 50 points behind third-place San Pasqual. Senior Darius Nocon (15th, 17:29) earned All-CIF honors while junior Jose Morales (27th, 17:44), sophomore Dillon Breen (43rd, 18:15) and senior Javier Sanchez (54th, 18:30) all finished in the top half of the field.

Valhalla finished in sixth place, with junior Adam Steinert (17th, 17:32) earning an All-CIF finish. The Norsemen also received top-half finishes at Saturday’s divisional race from junior Michael Gorney (41st, 18:12), senior Brett Johnson (57th, 18:31) and junior Matt Hurrell (60th, 18:35).

Randlett qualified for the state meet two years ago as an individual.

West Hills, which finished eighth in the team standings, was led by seniors Mike Gonia (22nd, 17:37) and Tommy Dolan (39th, 18:09) and juniors Marcus Nelson (40th, 18:12) and Devon Fritz (59th, 18:34) and senior Sean Donnellan (67th, 18:49).

The Steele Canyon girls team, with 92 points, finished third behind team champion Mt. Carmel (52 points) and runner-up Westview (58 points). The Cougars edged Valhalla for the final team qualifying berth by 15 points, though the Norsemen finished with one individual state meet qualifier. West Hills finished in fifth place with one indiivudal state qualifier; Grossmont was ninth.

The Cougars went 4-16-21-23-28 in team scoring, led by senior Megan Meyer’s individual fifth-place finish in 17:19 on the 2.75-mile course. Following Meyer’s lead were teammates Chelsey Harmeson (18:12), Arianna Pascarella (18:30), Christie Hendel (18:33) and Lauren Parr (18:40). Harmeson is a freshman while Pascarella and Hendel are sophomores and Parr is a junior.

Besides Meyer (the reigning Greossmont South League champion), Harmeson also strode to an All-CIF place-finish in the field of 122 runners.

The third-place finish was a tribute to the team’s resiliency in dealing with an untimely spate of late season injuries.

“They're banged-up. They ran through last week to win the league title but have been dealing with a lot of issues,” Stathas said. “Our goal has always been to qualify for state and they reached that goal by placing in the top three. Lauren Parr, who passed out last week (at league finals), was our No. 5 girl. She ran a great race.”

Valhalla freshman Paige Hiughes made a bold statement with here eighth-place finish in 17:37 while West Hills junior Kelsey Hall — the reigning Grossmont North League champion — placed 10th in 17:43 to earn the final individual state qualifying berth.

Monte Vista sophomore Valerie Hycz (19th, 18:15) and Valhalla freshman Megan Hughes (20th, 18:17) both earned All-CIF recognition by virtue of their top 20 place-finishes.

Lincoln junior Elizabeth Apgar, formerly of Calvary Christian Academy in Chula Vista, won top individual honors in the Division II girls field with a runaway victory in 16:25 -- finishing 40 seconds ahead of runner-up Alicia Trujillo of Westview. The title was her third after previously winning two in Division V with the Royal Knights.

State-bound
El Capitan’s boys team advanced to this weekend’s state meet with a third-place finish in the Division III race. Kyle Phipps led the Vaqueros on the course with a seventh-place finish in 17:11, followed by junior teammate Nick Bedrosian (ninth, 17:13), sophomore Kyle Moran (16th, 17:30), senior Chris Torres (22nd, 17:49) and senior Michael Devan (66th, 19:09). Phipps (the reigning Grossmont North League champion), Bedrosian and Moran all were bestowed with All-CIF accolades.

El Capitan finished with 120 team points to trail team champion Valley Center (84 points) and runner-up La Jolla (113 points). The Vaqueros finished five points ahead of fourth-place Cathedral Catholic while preseason favorite University City — running without top-ranked Mac Fleet (sidelined by a foot injury) — placed fifth.

San Dieguito Academy senior Travis Pederson finished as the Division III boys champion in 16:53.

Mt. Miguel sophomore Dylan Marx won an individual state qualifying berth with his meteoric fifth-place finish in 17:08. Other individual state meet boys qualifiers include Mountain Empire senior Morgan Smith and Christian freshman Michael May.

Smith finished 14th in the Division IV boys race with a time of 17:40. The Redhawks finished third as a team, followed by Christian. However, only the top two teams in Division IV advance to the state meet. May finished eighth in 17:47.

Mountain Empire seniors Cory Jameson (14th, 18:08) and Jason Pohl (15th, 18:11) both recorded top 20 individual finishes. Christian junior Jesse Beason (12th, 18:03) and Patrtiots freshman Daniel Struass (18th, 18:39) both placed among the top 20 finishers.

El Capitan junior Katie Martin (17:41) finished eighth in the Division III girls race to advance to Fresno. However, the Vaqueros finished sixth as a team.

Foothills Christian junior Kelsey Chiodo (21:24) placed sixth in the Division V girls race while River Valley senior Holly Walker (22:45) was 11th in the same field to both secure individual state qualifying berths. Meanwhile, Christian sophomore Taryn Dunton placed eighth in 18:47 to post yet another elite finish.

River Valley finished third in the team standings but placed two of its five runners among the top 15 finishers. Following Walker's lead was Maura Anderson (14th, 23:05).

Notepad
Mt. Empire freshman Jacy Epperson was 13th in the Division IV girls race in 19:13. The Redhawks placed sixth in the division.

Foothills Christian, led by junior Gage Provencher's 14th-place individual finish, placed fifth in the Division V boys team standings.

Granite Hills senior Gabriella Black placed 15th in the Division I girls race in 17:08.

Mustangs make believers out of pollsters, place second in Division I boys finals
Otay Ranch reaches goal of qualiying for state meet

What’s in a ranking? It offers a sense of reward for teams that achieve them as well as a target for teams that desire them.

In the case of the Otay Ranch boys cross country team, the only ranking that ultimately counted was where the Mustangs stood at the end of the season. Head coach Ian Cumming believed his team had the potential to challenge for the San Diego Section Division I title from the start of the season. The Mustangs’ second-place finish in last Saturday’s Division I finals at Balboa Park’s Morley Field vindicated that.

Otay Ranch put its best collective foot forward, entering the meet ranked sixth in the division and finishing it ahead of – count ’em – nine North County programs.

Cumming had two words for his team after all the medals had been handed out: “Incredible job.”

Next stop: The state championship meet Saturday in Fresno.

“This is what we talked about from the first workout,” Cumming told his team. “The guys have done an incredible thing.”

Cumming was not exaggerating there.

The Mustangs ran without their customary fourth and fifth scorers at the Mesa League finals the previous week; nothing changed in the intervening eight days. Otay Ranch went up against the best in Division I short-handed but fleet of feet.

Sophomore Jacob Roach ran like the wind in posting a phenomenal second-place individual finish, traversing the 3.04-mile hill course in 16:19 – 19 seconds behind race-winner Bret Hasvold of Fallbrook.

Senior Brandon Velasquez, a returning state meet qualifier, placed seventh in 16:36, followed by junior teammates Jon Limon (17th, 16:53) and Alfred Haslerig (38th, 17:26) and senior Abraham Castillo (41st, 17:31). Senior Cory Real-Meza (52nd, 17:43) and junior Ryan Perry (92nd, 18:30) followed in non-scoring positions.

Otay Ranch finished with 105 team points – well behind team champion Rancho Buena Vista (55 points) but 14 points ahead of third place Torrey Pines and 23 points ahead of fourth place Fallbrook.

The top three teams in the division qualified for the state finals.

“These guys believed in themselves and did the job,” Cumming said succinctly. “These guys went out and raced great. The strength for us was our top four. For our 5-6-7, they had to go out and race aggressively and they did. That’s what this team is made of – a great bunch of kids.”

The top 10 place-finishers are considered members of the All-CIF First Team. Roach and Velasquez earned such honors. The next 10 placers are considered members of the All-CIF Second Team. Limon earned that honor.

Cumming said the team’s chance to run on the state meet course at the Clovis Invitational earlier this season was invaluable. “If we get in the top 15, we’ve done a heck of a job. If get in the top 10, we’ve had a great race. If we get in the top five, it will be a phenomenal race,” Cumming said. “We got ninth place at the Clovis Invitational running against some of the best teams in the state. I think the guys will do a good job.”

The Mustang Seven will be joined by four other runners at this weekend’s state championship meet – all of whom qualified as individual entries.

Mar Vista senior Edgar Lopez placed fifth in the Division II boys race in 16:59 while junior Jacob Barlow finished fifth in the Division V boys race. Bonita Vista freshman Sofia Garcia finished 10th in the Division I girls field to also make a statement while Calvary Christian Academy junior Monica Jimenez qualified as an individual with an eighth-place finish in the Division V girls race.

Garcia completed the 2.75-mile course in 16:55 – 53 seconds behind another freshman, Rancho Bernardo’s Molly Grabill, the Division I champion, who posted the fastest girls time of the day (16:02).

Barlow timed 19:41 – 27 seconds off the winning time posted by Tri-City Christian junior Carson Colpean. The Royal Knights placed fourth as a team this year after qualifying for last year’s state meet.

Jimenz inherited the team lead after two-time Division V champion Elizabeth Apgar transferred to Lincoln, winning this year’s Division II title.

Lopez is making a return trip to Fresno. He took an elbow to the mouth in the first mile of the race but managed to keep his focus, finishing as the top Metro Conference runner in the race.

Bonita Vista senior Derek Groom finished 12th in the Division I boys race in 16:44 to miss the state qualifying cut by four seconds. The Barons finished a strong fifth in the team standings.

Steele Canyon senior Adrian Sherrod timed 16:08 to capture the Division II boys title, leading his Cougar teammates to a one-point victory over Mt. Carmel in the team standings. The Cougars wore headbands emblazoned with the words “R.I.P. Devan, 6/10/89 to 11/6/07.”

The words were a tribute to the memory of former teammate Devan Caddell, who perished in an automobile accident just before league finals. Caddell was a member of the Bonita Vista team as a freshman before his family moved to the Jamul area.

San Diego Section Championships
Top 25 Metro Conference Runners
Division I Boys
2. Jacob Roach (10, Otay Ranch) 16:19
7. Brandon Velasquez (12, Otay Ranch) 16:36
12. Derek Groom (12, Bonita Vista) 16:44
15. Alfredo Rodriguez (10, Bonita Vista) 16:49
17. Jon Limon (11, Otay Ranch) 16:53
23. Marco Robles (12, Chula Vista) 17:03
25. Shinaloa Agbede (9, Bonita Vista) 17:09

Division II Boys
5. Edgar Lopez (12, Mar Vista) 16:59
16. Alejandro Medina (12, Montgomery) 17:32

Division V Boys
5. Jacob Barlow (11, Calvary Christian) 19:41
16. Jesus Araujo (9, Calvary Christian) 20:54
19. David Cruz (11, Calvary Christian) 21:14
20. Tim Steele (9, Calvary Christian) 21:20

Division I Girls
10. Sofia Garcia (9, Bonita Vista) 16:55
21. Cristina Hernandez (9, Bonita Vista) 17:21

Division V Girls
8. Monica Jimenez (11, Calvary Christian) 22:00
18. Aja Henry (12, Calvary Christian) 25:27
19. Patty Lorenzo (9, Calvary Christian) 25:28
21. Rachel Lowther (9, Calvary Christian) 25:44

Metro Conference Finals
BV's Groom takes lead, Otay Ranch's Roach takes title

Posted Nov. 14, 2007
Shades of Eric Avila and Austin Jett and a few other graduated superstars.

Just when one thought one had seen some of the best cross country runners ever to trod Metro Conference cross country courses, along comes Otay Ranch sophomore Jacob Roach and Bonita Vista senior Derek Groom.

Comparisons do not always stick but in the case of these two exceptional runners, they just might.

Roach, whose body build is reminiscent of Eastlake’s Jett, held off a late push by Groom, the Barons’ heir to Avila, to win as the pair crossed the finish line in Friday’s Mesa League finals. A fantastic finish it was in the best sense of the phrase.

“Before the race, my strategy was just to race and move up slowly. But the last half-mile, I had to go all out and give everything I had,” said Roach, who timed 15:57 on the 3.1-mile hill course.

Groom, who strode in front of Roach with 50 meters left in the race, finished in 15:58.

The duo finished first and second among individuals in the combined conference race.

“My goal was to be in the lead at the mile. I was second but on a 5:09 fast pace. I was there,” said Groom, who finished 12th at last year’s league finals as a junior. “I got in a little under 16:00. To break 16:00 was my ultimate goal. I did it.”

Otay Ranch senior Brandon Velasquez, a returning individual state meet qualifier, was third in 16:06. The pack separated thereafter.

Both Roach and Groom achieved their goal of finishing under 16:00 in a race.

“I was third at the two-mile mark. It was Brandon and me at the last down hill. I guess I just got an extra little energy and pushed Jacob with about 50 to 60 meters left. But then he picked it up and passed me with two meters left,” Groom said.

“He got in front of me. But I got back in front a step before the finish line,” said Roach, who had previously beaten Groom by 21 seconds en route to winning the South Bay Invitational boys varsity race on the same course in late September and subsequently bested Groom in the teams’ Oct. 11 dual meet.

Roach finished eighth at last year’s league finals as a freshman.

Chula Vista finished third place at last Friday’s league finals with 73 points, followed by Eastlake (96 points) and Sweetwater (129 points).

The Barons made up for a 16-point dual meet loss by finishing just four points arrears of the Mustangs at league finals. Had Bonita Vista managed to make up that gap completely, the teams would have finished as league co-champions.

“I’m really proud of my teammates,” Groom said. “We had four in the top 10. I’m extremely proud of them.”

The Barons’ other three all-league runners (top 10 individuals) included sophomore Freddi Rodriguez (third, 16:24), freshman Shin Agbede (seventh, 16:34) and junior David Garcia (eighth, 16:35). Bonita Vista totaled five medalists (top 15 individuals) as senior Bernie King (a track and field hurdler) finished 14th in 17:27.

But it was the Mustangs who had just a bit more of whatever it takes to win on the day. Otay Ranch produced two of the top three finishers, three of the top five finishers, four top 10 finishers and five top 15 finishers. Its five-man spread was 1:11 — 18 seconds better than BV’s 1:29.

The top 10 individuals are recognized as members of the all-league team. Joining Roach (first) and Velasquez (third) on the all-league team were juniors Jon Limon (fifth, 16:31) and Alfred Haslerig (10th, 16:50). Senior Cory Meza was 12th in 17:08. The Mustangs nearly had six medalists with senior Abraham Castillo finishing 16th in 17:35.

Otay Ranch placed all its seven runners among the top 20 finishers as junior Ryan Perry was 20th in 17:57. No other team finished with all its runners among the top 20 finishers. Bonita Vista’s seventh runner was 30th. Third place Chula Vista placed its seventh runner 27th.

Chula Vista had one runner among the top 10 finishers, two medalists and five runners in the top 20. Senior Marco Robles was sixth in 16:32, followed by junior Eduardo Sanchez (17:17) in 13th. Junior Juan Vazquez (17th, 17:42) and sophomores Jonathan Salmeron (18th, 17:52) and Hector Munoz (19th, 17:57) finished as a pack to complete the Spartans’ scoring.

The season is not over yet, of course.

Both Roach and Groom, as well as their talented teammates, will compete in Saturday’s San Diego Section Division I finals at Balboa Park’s Morley Field. The top three teams advance to compete in the state finals the following Saturday in Fresno. The top five individuals not on one of the three qualifying teams also advance.

The Metro front-runners look to impact the field.

“I want to try to qualify for state,” Groom said. “I want to break 16:00 at Morley Field. I’ve never broken 17:00 on that course.”

South Bay League
Mar Vista senior Edgar Lopez repeated as the South Bay League’s individual champion with a time of 16:47 (10th overall in the conference field). Team champion Montgomery notched the next two place-finishers — seniors Alejandro Medina (16:50) and Juan Vieyra (17:22) — and finished with three all-league runners and five medalists overall. For the Aztecs, junior Jesus Valdez (18:14) was 10th, followed by senior teammates Enrique Robles (18:24) and Adrian Dominquez (18:30).

Castle Park challenged with three all-league runners and five medalists — led by David Meza (fifth, 17:54) and Arturo Gomez (17:58) — to finish three points behind Montgomery in second place. Hilltop was third, followed by Mar Vista, Olympian and Mater Dei in team points at last Friday’s league finals.

Also earning all-league honors for the Trojans was Juan Lozano (seventh, 18:01). Sophomore Andres Torres (fourth, 17:42) led Hilltop on the course, followed by classmate Connor Galleher (eighth, 18:08).



Lancers, sans superstar, dig deep for title #6
No one would refute the credentials of Hilltop junior Tanya Valenzuela, already a two-time all-league runner, including league champion as a freshman, and the favorite to win this year’s South Bay League individual title. But when Valenzuela went down recently with a season-ending soccer injury, it op ened up the field a bit to the competition — both on and off the Lancers’ roster.

Hilltop entered this year’s league finals as five-time defending champions. The Lancers left last Friday’s course at Rohr Park as six-time defending champions.

“Tanya is definitely our best runner,” Hilltop coach Mark Hedderson said. “The other girls respect her. But there’s a friendly competition among them to be the best they can be. With Tanya out, I think the girls felt more responsibility.”

The only problem facing the Lancers was that Valenzuela, the team’s superstar, was not the only quality sidelined for last Friday’s league finals. Also out of uniform was Jessica Torres, considered the team’s No. 4 or No. 5 runner.

In other words, title No. 6 was something special to savor.

“We had beaten Montgomery in the dual season. The girls knew that if we beat them again at league finals that we would be the league champions,” Hedderson said. “Of the seven girls who ran, we only had one senior. It was a very good year.”

Sophomores Michelle Lane and Karina Franco finished first and second among South Bay League runners to lead the Lancers, who out-pointed the runner-up Aztecs 24-47. Hilltop placed all its top five scorers among the league’s top 10 individuals — a purely dominating performance.

Fellow underclassmen Nicole Elias, Marianna Bedoya and Sonia Rodriguez finished fifth, seventh and ninth, respectively. Freshman Nicole Wolfe and senior Hilda Ramirez placed 14th and 22nd, respectively, as the team’s (non-scoring) sixth and seventh runners.

Lane captured first place honors — as well as the coveted title of South Bay League Runner of the Year — with a time of 16:52 on the 2.5-mile course. Franco placed second in 17:06 with a gap of 10 seconds before Mater Dei sophomore Johanna Rhein crossed the finish line.

Montgomery placed three runners among the top 10 finishers —considered to comprise the all —league team. They included freshman Brenda Vieyra (fourth, 17:32), senior Angela Vazquez (eighth, 17:56) and freshman Cristina Robles (10th, 17:59).

The Aztecs’ five scorers also included sophomore Ana Pacheco (12th, 18:16) and freshman Karen Galvez (13th, 18:16). Montgomery finished 43 points ahead of third place Mater Dei (90 points). Castle Park (101 points) and Mar Vista (113 points) rounded out the field.

“What was surprising about this year’s girls team was that it was basically a new team than the one we expected to return,” coach Ruben Ledesma said.

Mar Vista junior Nethania Penrod finished sixth in 17:38 to complete the top 10 individuals.

Medals went to the top 15 finishers. Hilltop and Montgomery each finished with six medalists to flood the field. The Aztecs’ sixth runner, sophomore Elena Soler, was 15th in 18:24. Castle Park’s Carolina Estrada was 11th in 18:02, followed by Montgomery’s Pacheco and Galvez, Hilltop’s Wolfe and Montgomery’s Soler.

Mesa League stretch run
Three teams entered last Friday’s league finals knotted in a first-place tie in the Mesa League dual meet standings — meaning that the winner of the finals race would crown itself in sole possession of this year’s league championship title. Would it be Chula Vista, Eastlake or … Sweetwater?

It didn’t quite work that way.

Bonita Vista, clearly one of the most improved teams over the course of the season, broke through to win last Friday’s meet with a low score of 41 points, followed by Eastlake (55 points), Sweetwater (60 points), Chula Vista (92 points) and Otay Ranch (96 points). Because of their 2-2 dual meet record, however, the Barons could not win the league title, with performances from the dual meet part of the season and the league finals counting equally.

What it meant was that the second-place finisher at last Friday’s finals would be the league champion. That was Eastlake.

Ironically, it was the second consecutive year that the Titans failed to win the league finals yet still ruled as league champions.

For the record, Bonita Vista and Sweetwater shared the rights to second place, with Chula Vista finishing in third place.

“All year long, it was Chula Vista, Bonita Vista, Sweetwater and Eastlake — the teams were so close you didn’t now which one would win,” said Eastlake coach Joe Stubbs, whose team avenged a four-point dual meet loss to Chula Vista with a higher place-finish (by 37 points) at the league finals. “All the other teams had good talent but we had the depth. I think it was our depth that won it for us at league finals and gave us the championship.”

The Titans finished in a pack, with its lead runner, sophomore Michelle Walling, finishing third in 16:04, and their fifth scorer, junior Jacqueline Villa, finishing 18th in 17:43. In between the front and back of the Eastlake pack were junior Itzel NuÒo (fourth, 16:06), junior Rachel Naranjo (13th, 17:13) and sophomore Andrea Voigt (17th, 17:38). The spread between the five runners was 1:38.

Junior Diamond Anderson (19th, 17:47) finished as the Titans’ sixth runner while sophomore Cassie Daily (22nd, 18:03) was Eastlake’s No. 7 runner.

Villa won last year’s league title as a member of Chula Vista.

While the Titans’ back-to-back league championships constitute an amazing feat in a league seemingly now filled with parity, Stubbs said last year’s title remains the most special. “It was the first year we won the banner (in the Mesa League),” he said.

With no seniors among Eastlake’s top seven, one has to wonder if this is the start of a cross country dynasty for the Titans.

“You don’t want to say ‘dynasty’ when you’ve been on the bottom until the last two years,” Stubbs said. “But it shows that if you get a break and work hard that you can be successful. The self-confidence that results from that shows they can do it again.”

The same attributes could be applied to a young Bonita Vista team out to recapture the program’s former glory. The Barons’ fortunes appear to be in good standing with freshmen sensations Sofia Garcia and Cristina Hernandez as they led the way with a meteoric one-two finish among Mesa League runners. Garcia timed 15:49 while Hernandez timed 15:59 — five seconds ahead of Eastlake’s Walling.

Garcia appears to be the catalyst. “I’ve been jogging a lot with my father but this is the first time I have been running with a team,” she said. “I got into running this summer. I got Cristina to come on the team.”

Sweetwater sophomore Ailyn Mejia had the early lead in the race but the two BV freshmen had taken control by the two-mile mark. Garcia and Hernandez were the Barons’ only two top 10 finishers but three more runners — juniors Jazmine Jurado (11th, 16:58), Griselda Quintero (12th, 17:04) and Cynthia Alvarez (15th, 17:20) — filled in slots 11 through 15 to give the league finals champions five medalists in the field.

Sweetwater, obviously enjoying one of its best seasons in the past two decades, totaled three top 10 finishers and four medalists. Mejia finished fourth in 16:11, followed by classmates Maila Lucht (seventh, 16:33) and Saira Carrillo (eighth, 16:43). Junior Bianca Maela was 14th in 17:17.

The future appears bright for distance runners in the Mesa League as a whole with just two seniors among the top 30 finishers (one in the top eight). Chula Vista junior Jessica Mendoza was sixth in 16:13 while junior teammate Erika Garcia was 10th in 16:51 to give the Spartans two all-league runners.

Otay Ranch senior Tina Poole was the dean of this year’s class with a ninth-place finish in 16:47. The Mustangs just missed having two medalists as sophomore Viviana Martinez was 16th in 17:29.



Boys Cross Country Varsity Finals
Nov. 9 at Rohr Park (2.5 miles)
Mesa League Finals
Top individuals:
1. Jacob Roach (10, Otay Ranch) 15:57
2. Derel Groom (12, Bonita Vista) 15:58
3. Brandon Velasquez (12, Otay Ranch) 16:06
4. Alfredo Rodriguez (10, Bonita Vista) 16:24
5. Jonathan Limon (11, Otay Ranch) 16:31
6. Marco Robles (12, Chula Vista) 16:32
7. Shinaloa Agbede (9, Bonita Vista) 16:34
8. David Garcia (11, Bonita Vista) 16:35
9. Eric Fujikawa 12, Eastlake) 16:39
10. Alfred Haslerig (11, Otay Ranch) 16:50
11. Alejandro Aparicio (11, Sweetwater) 16:59
12. Cory Rael-Meza (12, Otay Ranch) 17:08
13. Eduardo Sanchez (11, Chula Vista) 17:17
14. Bernard King (12, Bonita Vista) 17:27
15. Cesar Rodriquez (10, Eastlake) 17:28
16. Abraham Castillo (12, Otay Ranch) 17:35
17. Juan Vazquez (11, Chula Vista) 17:42
18. Jonathan Salmeron (10, Chula Vista) 17:52
19. Hector Munoz (10, Chula Vista) 17:57
20. Ryan Perry (11, Otay Ranch) 17:57
21. Gabriel Garcia (11, Eastlake) 18:02
22. Jorge Moreno (12, Sweetwater) 18:02
23. Juan Garcia (11, Bonita Vista) 18:16
24. Andrew Bidwell (11, Chula Vista) 18:21
25. Max Soto (10, Eastlake) 18:22
26. Andrew Hyde (12, Eastlake) 18:41
27. Adrian Lagman (11, Chula Vista) 18:43
28. Jose Mendoza (10, Eastlake) 18:43
29. Kyle Lintz (10, Eastlake) 18:44
30. Bobby Torres (12, Bonita Vista) 18:52
31. Aldyn Delgado (9, Sweetwater) 18:58
32. Gustavo Camarillo (11, Sweetwater) 19:02
33. Jesus Alvarado (11, Sweetwater) 19:17
34. Roman Gonzalez (11, Sweetwater) 19:25
35. Carlos Salazar (11, Sweetwater) 20:18
36. Armando Guerrero (11, San Ysidro) 20:25
37. Giannini Mendiola (12, San Ysidro) 20:31
38. Oscar Zavala (11, San Ysidro) 22:58

Team scores
1. Otay Ranch 31
2. Bonita Vista 35
3. Chula Vista 73
4. Eastlake 96
5. Sweetwater 129


South Bay League Finals
Top individuals:
1. Edgar Lopez (12, Mar Vista) 16:47
2. Alejandro Medina (12, Montgomery) 16:50
3. Juan Vieyra (12, Montgomery) 17:22
4. Andres Torres (10, Hilltop) 17:42
5. David Meza (Castle Park) 17:54
6. Arturo Gomez (Castle Park) 17:58
7. Juan Lozano (Castle Park) 18:01
8. Connor Galleher (10, Hilltop) 18:08
9. Salvador Armenta (12, Mar Vista) 18:11
10. Jesus Valdez (11, Montgomery) 18:14
11. Raul Lozano (Castle Park) 18:21
12. Enrique Robles (12, Montgomery) 18:24
13. Adrian Dominguez (12, Montgomery) 18:30
14. Antonio Salemor (Castle Park) 18:40
15. Eric Lao (10, Olympian) 18:45
16. Hernan Naranjo (10, Montgomery) 18:52
17. Luis Garcia (10, Hilltop) 18:56
18. Daniel Codallos (12, Montgomery) 18:59
19. Jorge Garcia (12, Hilltop) 19:01
20. Louis Pina (10, Hilltop) 19:12
21. Sean Waters (11, Mar Vista) 19:16
22. Isaac Alvarez (10, Mar Vista) 19:27
23. Ezequias Kim (9, Hilltop) 19:31
24. Jorge Montoya (Castle Park) 19:37
25. Franco Montalvo (11, Olympian) 19:39
26. Carlos Rodriguez (12, Mater Dei) 19:40
27. Joshua Bradshaw (10, Olympian) 19:50
28. Francisco Diaz (Castle Park) 20:11
29. Gerardo Logan (12, Mar Vista) 20:11
30. Brian Limon (12, Mater Dei) 20:25
31. Javier Martinez (12, Hilltop) 20:41
32. Juan Hernandez (10, Mater Dei) 21:01
33. Luis Torres (12, Mater Dei) 21:05
34. Yosuke Muroi (10, Olympian) 21:10
35. John Masi (10, Olympian) 21:18
36. Xander Celestino (11, Olympian) 21:25
37. Michael Lopez (11, Mar Vista) 21:35
38. Jose Luis Barragan (12, Mar Vista) 21:40
39. Luis Lopez (12, Mater Dei) 21:59
40. Michael Rodriguez (10, Mater Dei) 22:08
41. Hector Lutteroth (11, Mater Dei) 22:15
42. Raymond Fernandez (10, Olympian) 22:52

Team scores
1. Montgomery 40
2. Castle Park 43
3. Hilltop 68
4. Mar Vista 82
5. Olympian 136
6. Mater Dei 160

Girls Cross Country Varsity Finals
Nov. 9 at Rohr Park (2.5 miles)
Mesa League Finals
Top individuals:
1. Sofia Garcia (9, Bonita Vista) 15:49
2. Cristina Hernandez (9, Bonita Vista) 15:59
3. Michelle Walling (10, Eastlake) 16:04
4. Itzel Nuno (11, Eastlake) 16:06
5. Aylin Mejia (10, Sweetwater) 16:11
6. Jessica Mendoza (11, Chula Vista) 16:13
7. Maila Lucht (10, Sweetwater) 16:33
8. Saira Carrillo (10, Sweetwater) 16:43
9. Tina Poole (12, Otay Ranch) 16:47
10. Erika Garcia (11, Chula Vista) 16:51
11. Jazmine Jurado (11, Bonita Vista) 16:58
12. Griselda Quintero (11, Bonita Vista) 17:04
13. Rachel Naranjo (11, Eastlake) 17:13
14. Bianca Maela (11, Sweetwater) 17:17
15. Cynthia Alvarez (11, Bonita Vista) 17:20
16. Viviana Martinez (10, Otay Ranch) 17:29
17. Andrea Voigt (10, Eastlake) 17:38
18. Jackie Villa (11, Eastlake) 17:43
19. Diamond Anderson (11, Eastlake) 17:47
20. Violeta Hernandez (9, San Ysidro) 17:57
21. Karla Gadea (9, Otay Ranch) 18:00
22. Cassie Daily 10, Eastlake) 18:03
23. Cassandra Luna (10, Bonita Vista) 18:07
24. Danele Conlon (10, Chula Vista) 18:12
25. Amanda Tinsley (11, Otay Ranch) 18:14
26. Janet Hernandez (9, Chula Vista) 18:17
27. Paola Aleman (11, Sweetwater) 18:21
28. Vanessa Martinez (9, Otay Ranch) 18:26
29. Cristen Rask (11, Chula Vista) 18:27
30. Megan Wymer (12, Bonita Vista) 18:34
31. Danielle Dominguez (10, Chula Vista) 18:38
32. Cristel Freeman (11, Chula Vista) 18:44
33. Katie Coleman (9, Otay Ranch) 18:51
34. Paulina Maldonado (9, Otay Ranch) 19:19
35. Janette Meraz (11, Sweetwater) 19:34
36. Geornisha Newkirk (12, Sweetwater) 20:20
37. Valeria Ceja (12, San Ysidro) 20:24

Team scores
1. Bonita Vista 41
2. Eastlake 55
3. Sweetwater 60
4. Chula Vista 92
5. Otay Ranch 96


South Bay League Finals
Individual results
1. Michelle Lane (10, Hilltop) 16:52
2. Karina Franco (10, Hilltop) 17:06
3. Johanna Rhein (10, Mater Dei) 17:16
4. Brenda Vieyra (9, Montgomery) 17:32
5. Nicole Elias (10, Hilltop) 17:38
6. Nethania Penrod (11, Mar Vista)17:38
7. Marianna Bedoya (10, Hilltop) 17:53
8. Angela Vazquez (12, Montgomery) 17:56
9. Sonia Rodriguez (10, Hilltop) 17:57
10. Cristina Robles (9, Montgomery) 17:59
11. Carolina Estrada (Castle Park) 18:02
12. Ana Pacheco (10, Montgomery) 18:16
13. Karen Galvez (9, Montgomery) 18:16
14. Nicole Wolfe (9, Hilltop) 18:23
15. Elena Soler (10, Montgomery) 18:24
16. Jessica Serna (Castle Park) 18:38
17. Triado Olympia (11, Southwest) 18:39
18. Mary Mendez (11, Montgomery) 19:21
19. Vanessa Tanave (10, Mater Dei) 19:26
20. Jocelyn Luna (9, Olympian) 19:40
21. Shantell Armenta (12, Mar Vista) 19:53
22. Hilda Ramirez (12, Hilltop) 19:55
23. Raquel Papipietro (10, Mater Dei) 20:31
24. Raquel Lopez (Castle Park) 20:38
25. Rosalina Contreras (9, Southwest) 20:52
26. Maritiza Rodriguez (10, Olympian) 21:21
27. Diane Moore (10, Mater Dei) 21:24
28. Cynthia Pinon (Castle Park) 21:25
29. Kristina Rodriquez (11, Mater Dei) 21:36
30. Stephanie Ibarra (12, Mater Dei) 21:58
31. Ira Garcia de Alba (12, Mar Vista) 22:12
32. Ayuliteh Martinez (Castle Park) 22:42
33. Marissa Ornelas (12, Mater Dei) 22:43
34. Val Garcia de Alba (10, Mar Vista) 22:57
35. Mytzuki Arevalo (11, Southwest) 23:37
36. Angelina Wehbe (10, Southwest) 24:08
37. Silvia Munguia (12, Mar Vista) 24:27
38. Kristena Madden (11, Olympian) 25:37

Team scores
1. Hilltop 24
2. Montgomery 47
3. Mater Dei 90
4. Castle Park 101
5. Mar Vista 113

Grossmont Conference Finals
Cougars rev up for state cross country finals
Steele Canyon paces boys teams at Grossmont South League finalsPosted Nov. 12, 2007
The Steele Canyon High School boys cross country team appears to be treading into unknown territory — a very welcome path that could take the Cougars to the state championship meet in Fresno over Thanksgiving weekend. Steele Canyon finished the regular season ranked third among all San Diego Section teams — first among Division II teams. The top three teams at the section finals Nov. 17 at Balboa Park’s Morley Field advance to the state meet.

The Cougars appear to be running with a mission after topping Helix by 32 points to capture the team title at Saturday’s Grossmont South League finals at Steele Canyon High School’s campus course. Steele Canyon, buoyed by four top 10 individual finishers, totaled 33 points on the 5K course. The Highlanders, led by a pair of top 10 individuals, finished second with 65 points, followed closely by Monte Vista and Valhalla, both with 69 points. Mt. Miguel (131 points) and Granite Hills (162 points) rounded out the field.


Grossmont South League
Steele Canyon senior Adrian Sherrod led the entire conference field with a time of 16:08, besting Grossmont North League champion Kyle Phipps (16:43) and finishing 37 seconds ahead of senior teammate Evan Anderson (16:45), the next Grossmont South League runner.The Cougars finished 1-2-7-10-13 in team scoring among Grossmont South League teams. Senior Carson Cooper finished the race as Steele Canyon’s No. 3 runner (ninth in the conference field in 16:59), followed by senior Tim Buckmaster (14th in the conference field in 17:24) and sophomore Mitch Lane (21st in the conference field in 17:37).

Shivam Patel (25th in the conference field, 17:54) and Matt Corey (35th in the conference field, 18:11) finished sixth and seventh among Steele Canyon runners.

Helix was keyed by the triumphant return of junior Chase Roberts, who finished fourth among league runners (sixth in the conference, 16:55), and senior Cameron Sundin, who finished fifth (seventh in the conference, 16:57).

Monte Vista edged Valhalla for third place on the finish of its sixth runner (22nd to 24th places). Junior Misikir Mentose (17:05), senior Darius Nocon (17:32) and junior Jose Morales (17:36) finished ninth, 11th and 12th among league runners for the Monarchs. Senior Brian Randlett (16:55) and junior Adam Steinert (16:58) were the Norsemen’s top 10 league finishers. Randlett finished fifth in the combined conference field.

Mt. Miguel sophomore Dylan Marx rounded out the parade of Grossmont South League top 10 finishers with an eighth-place time of 17:04 (10th among conference runners). Freshman Jimmy Porfirio was next for the fifth place Matadors in 19:13 (28th among league runners).

Senior Drew Jones (26th among league runners) led sixth place Granite Hills with an 18:55 time.

Grossmont North League
El Capitan edged Grossmont, 45-46, for first place among Grossmont North League boys teams. The first-place Vaqueros finished with four top 10 league finishers while the second-place Foothillers had two top 10 league finishers. West Hills, which also was in the running for the team title with three top 10 league finishers, placed third with 49 points.

Kyle Moran (fifth, 17:26), Nick Bedrosian (sixth, 17:28), Chris Torres (10th, 17:43), Kenny Stevenson (23rd, 19:04), Miles Segni (25th) and Michael Devan (26th) followed Phipps on the course for El Capitan, which ended the season ranked in a tie for 10th in the state among Division III boys teams. Moran and Bedrosian placed 15th and 16th, respectively, in the conference field.

Grossmont’s fortunes were placed on the feet of Grant Lieberman (third, 17:05), Jeff Suchil (fourth, 17:18), Aaron Thomas (12th, 17:56), Mitchel Dominguez (13th, 18:03), Parry Thorton (14th, 18:14), Daniel Santillan (28th) and Nicholas Christie (29th). Lieberman and Suchil finished 12th and 13th, respectively, in the conference field.West Hills, which ended the regular season ranked fourth behind San Pasqual (second) and Mt. Carmel (third) in the Division II boys team rankings, received strong performances from Mike Gonia (second, 16:49), Tommy Dolan (seventh, 17:28) and Marcus Nelson (eighth, 17:34) along with Sean Donnellan (15th, 18:16) and Garrett Cabral (17th, 18:29). Gonia finished fourth in the conference field while Dolan and Nelson both posted top 20 conference place-finishes.

Anthony DeBarrows (ninth in league, 17:41), Jason Gordon (11th in league, 17:51) and Matt Palmer (18th, 18:26) keyed Santana’s fourth-place team finish with 78 points while Freddi Martinez (21st, 18:43) and Camron Willey (22nd, 18:46) paced fifth place El Cajon Valley (139 points).

The San Diego Section finals are scheduled to start with the Division V girls race at 8:30 a.m., followed by the Division I girls race at 9:05 a.m., the Division V boys race at 9:40 a.m., the Division I boys race at 10:10 a.m., the Division II girls race at 10:40 a.m., the Division III boys race at 11:15 a.m., the Division IV girls race at 11:45 a.m., the Division II boys race at 12:20 p.m., the Division III girls race at 12:50 p.m. and the Division IV boys race at 1:25 p.m.


Grossmont Conference Championships
Saturday, Nov. 10 at Steele Canyon High SchoolGrossmont North League
Boys results (3.1 miles)
Team standings: 1. El Capitan 45, 2. Grossmont 46, 3. West Hills 49, 4. Santana 78, 5. El Cajon Valley 139. Top individuals: 1. Kyle Phipps (El Capitan) 16:43, 2. Mike Gonia (West Hills) 16:49, 3. Grant Lieberman (Grossmont) 17:05, 4. Jeff Suchil (Grossmont) 17:18, 5. Kyle Morgan (El Capitan) 17:26, 6. Nick Bedrosian (El Capitan) 17:28, 7. Tommy Dolan (West Hills) 17:28, 8. Marcus Nelson (West Hills) 17:34, 9. Anthony DeBarrows (Santana) 17:41, 10. Chris Torres (El Capitan) 17:43; 11. Jason Gordon (Santana) 17:51; 12. Aaron Thomas (Grossmont) 17:56.
Girls results (2.55 miles)
Team standings: 1. West Hills 21, 2. El Capitan 56, 3. Grossmont 64, 4. El Cajon Valley 109.Top individuals: 1. Kelsey Hall (West Hills ) 15:41, 2. Katie Martin (El Capitan) 16:23, 3. Samantha Timanus (West Hills) 16:32, 4. Nicole Anderson (West Hills) 16:33, 5. Sabile Scheppmann (Grossmont) 16:36, 6. Carrie Saccone (West Hills) 16:41, 7. Ciera Stauffer (West Hills) 16:52, 8. Cualli Hernandez (El Capitan) 17:06, 9. Lilly Arce (West Hills) 17:08, 10. Kelly McNulty (West Hills) 17:17; 11. Genieva Ozuna (West Hills) 17:27; 12. Janelle Shelby (Grossmont) 17:30; 13. Jordan Thomas (West Hills) 17:32; 14. Valarie Lozano (West Hills) 17:33; 15. Kristin Secciani (Grossmont) 17:34.

Grossmont South League Finals
Boys results (3.1 miles)
Team standings: 1. Steele Canyon 33, 2. Helix 65, 3. Monte Vista 69. 4. Valhalla 69, 5. Mount Miguel 131, 6. Granite Hills 162.Top individuals: 1. Adrian Sherrod (Steele Canyon) 16:08, 2. Evan Anderson (Steele Canyon) 16:45, 3. Brian Randlett (Valhalla) 16:55, 4. Chase Roberts (Helix) 16:55, 5. Cameron Sundin (Helix) 16:57, 6. Adam Steinert (Valhalla) 16:58, 7. Carson Cooper (Steele Canyon) 16;59, 8. Dylan Marx (Mt. Miguel) 17:04, 9. Misikir Mentose (Monte Vista) 17:05, 10. Tim Buckmaster (Steele Canyon) 17:24; 11. Darius Nocon (Monte Vista) 17:32; 12. Jose Morales (Monte Vista) 17:36; 13. Mitch Lane (Steele Canyon) 17:37; 14. Shavim Patel (Steele Canyon) 17:54; 15. Ben Felt (Helix) 17:54.
Girls results (2.55 miles)
Team standings: 1. Steele Canyon 36, 2. Valhalla 43, 3. Granite Hills 65, 4. Monte Vista 123, 5. Helix 124, 6. Mount Miguel 163.

Top individuals: 1. Megan Meyer (Steele Canyon) 15:54, 2. Gabriella Black (Granite Hills) 16:05, 3. Paige Hughes (Valhalla) 16:16, 4. Chelsey Harmeson (Steele Canyon) 16:22, 5. Danielle Wilson (Valhalla) 16:29, 6. Alexandria Olivo (Granite Hills) 16:30, 7. Valerie Hycz (Monte Vista) 16:37, 8. Christie Hendel (Steele Canyon) 16:38, 9. Lauren Carlton (Valhalla) 16:39, 10. Arianna Pascarella (Steele Canyon) 16:41; 11. Megan Hughes (Valhalla) 16:55; 12. Ashley Schramm (Helix) 16:59; 13. Lauren Parr (Steele Canyon) 17:00; 14. Hailey Mayer (Monte Vista) 17:07; 15. Madeleine Martinez (Valhalla) 17:12.

Metro Conference
League titles to be decided Friday

Posted Nov. 6, 2007
The Metro Conference cross country championship meet is scheduled Friday, Nov. 9, at Rohr Park in Chula Vista. It is being looked upon with eager anticipation by several teams — and individuals — who appear to be peaking at the proverbial right time of the season.

The top 10 finishers in both the Mesa League and South Bay League receive all-league recognition while the top 15 place-finishers in each league receive medals. Races will be contested in boys and girls varsity and boys and girls junior varsity divisions.

Racing is scheduled to start at 2 p.m.

Otay Ranch remains the front-runner among the Mesa League’s boys teams to qualify for the upcoming state championship meet. The Mustangs finished 12th in the team sweepstakes division at last month’s prestigious Mt. SAC Invitational, prompting a drop from No. 2 to No. 8 in the weekly coaches poll. Head coach Ian Cumming noted that some coaches may not have been aware that Jacob Roach, one of the team’s top runners, did not compete at the race and that he also pulled Daniel Juarez, another top five runner, out of the race more than halfway into it because of a sore hamstring muscle.

“Jacob was unavailable for the Mt. SAC weekend and Daniel’s hamstring was a little sore and it was not worth hurting him,” Cumming said. “He (Juarez) is fine now and ready to go for the end of the season. I can only surmise that the drop in the rankings is based on Mt. SAC results. While it is nice to be ranked very high, I have always contended that only one ranking really matters and that is the end-of-the-season ranking.”

The Bonita Vista Barons will likely have something to say about that as they attempt to ride a late-season surge to defend their title. A victory at Friday’s league finals could forge a co-championship in the final point standings that equally award performance during the dual meet season and at the league finals meet.
The Baron boys team finished with a meteoric third-place finish in its varsity division race at Mt. SAC, with front-runner Derek Groom placing first among Metro boys individuals in the race.

The Bonita Vista girls team, meanwhile, has steadily risen up the standings this season, as has Sweetwater. The Red Devils defeated defending league champion Chula Vista last Friday, 22-33, in dual competition to throw the outcome of Friday’s league finals into some doubt as to which team will actually claim the 2007 championship.

“What proved to be an interesting league finals will be even more interesting given the missed week of practice due to the fires,” Cumming said.

The Mustangs finished the dual meet season undefeated at 4-0, with its scheduled Oct. 26 match-up against Chula Vista cancelled due to the wildfire crisis. Otay Ranch swept San Ysidro in both boys and girls competition last Friday by identical 15-50 scores. Roach led the boys to victory with the top time of 16:37 on the 3.0-mile course while Tina Poole recorded the top girls time of 17:05 on the Mustangs’ 2.48-mile on-campus course.

Brandon Velasquez qualified as an individual for last year’s state meet and is looking for his teammates to join him this season. Otay Ranch will need to finish among the top three teams at the section finals on Nov. 17 to advance to the state meet. Should the Mustangs fall short in that quest, they still figure to qualify several individuals for the trip to Fresno over the Thanksgiving weekend.

The battle for this year’s South Bay League title appears to be between Montgomery and Hilltop. The Aztecs boys team concluded an undefeated regular season dual meet schedule with a 21-38 victory against Castle Park last Friday at Luckie Waller Park. Alejandro Medina, as he had most of the season, led Montgomery with a time of 17:34 on the 3.1-mile course.

In girls action, Hilltop is bidding to win its sixth consecutive league title. led by Tanya Valenzuela.

Mar Vista’s boys team is led by returning state meet qualifier Edgar Lopez.

Groom leading surging Barons in search of co-title
Posted Nov. 2, 2007
For three years, Bonita Vista’s Derek Groom, now a senior, ran in the large shadows of all-league cross-country teammates Eric Avila, Mathew Seat and Chris Close. While his teammates were earning lots of athletic accolades, Groom was quietly becoming not only a great runner in his own right, but a top student as well.

“For the fourth year in a row, Derek has had the highest GPA of anyone on the Barons cross country team,” BV coach Lou Russo said.
With the loss of Avila, Seat and Close to graduation, Groom was thrust into the No. 1 spot on the Barons boys cross-country team. Groom, who has a 4.3 GPA, has risen to that challenge.

“This year, Derek has been one of the top five South County runners at several early-season cross country invitationals,” Russo said. “Once again this year, South County has some great boy cross country runners, such as Brandon Velasquez and Jacob Roach of Otay Ranch, Eric Fujikawa of Eastlake, and Edgar Lopez of Mar Vista. Derek has applied the same focus and work ethic he has in the classroom to his training. He’s now earned his way into that elite group of South County runners.”

The results of the prestigious Mt. SAC Invitational, held two weekends ago in Walnut, indicate that Groom and his Baron teammates may be peaking at just the right time. On the very hilly and difficult three-mile course, Groom’s time of 16:04 was the fastest time of any South County runner and led the Barons to a third place finish in the boys varsity division.

Other South County runners turning in fast times were Velasquez of Otay Ranch (16:06), Jonathon Limon of Otay Ranch (16:08), Freddie Rodriguez of Bonita Vista (16:17), Shin Agbede of Bonita Vista (16:35) and Eric Fujikawa of Eastlake (16:42). Besides Bonita Vista’s third place finish in the boys varsity division, Eastlake placed 11th in that same race and Otay Ranch placed 12th in the very fast team sweepstakes division.

“Our boys’ team did great, and we had some very good individual performances,” Bonita Vista assistant coach Abe Garcia said. “Freshman Shin Agbede was the No. 1 freshman and sophomore Freddie Rodriguez was the No. 1 sophomore, both in the varsity division (out of 152 runners). Derek Groom’s very fast time of 16:04 (average of 5:21 per mile) not only led the Barons boys team to a third-place team finish, but Derek finished fourth individually in the entire race against some of the top runners in California.”

On the girls’ side, Eastlake junior Michelle Walling turned in the fastest time for a South County runner, finishing the same three-mile course as the boys in 19:59 (11th overall). Closely behind her was the Bonita Vista freshman tandem of Christina Hernandez (20:07) and Sophi Garcia (20:12). Other top South County girl finishers were juniors Julia Aguilar of Bonita Vista (22:00) and Diamond Anderson of Eastlake (22:14).
There were 110 girls in the varsity division. Only one freshman girl (Torri Sarris of Newport Harbor) ran faster than Bonita Vista’s two freshman sensations. Hernandez remains undefeated in dual meets this year.

The Lady Barons finished fourth in the varsity division out of 23 teams. Eastlake finished 17th.

With only two seniors in the Bonita Vista boys team’s top 10, and only one senior in the girls’ top 10, it would be easy to assume that this would be a rebuilding year for the Barons. Not so, according to first-year Bonita Vista coach Russo.

“Our boys and girls teams are very young,” he said. “But seniors Groom and Megan Wymer are great leaders. They want to continue the tradition of excellence in cross country at Bonita Vista. Our young team has set its goals very high. Our girls suffered a one-point loss to a very good Chula Vista team. Our boys were beaten by Otay Ranch in an early-season dual meet. But the goal of both Baron teams is to finish the League as co-champions and have a top five finish at CIF.”

Beating a very good Spartans girls team and a highly-ranked Mustangs boys team the second time around (at league finals) will be a difficult challenge, but not one that is insurmountable, according to Bonita Vista’s Groom.

“Our young Lady Barons’ race at Mt. SAC was fantastic (fourth place out of 23 teams). They are just learning how to race and will be very fast at league finals,” he said. “Our Barons boys team has had some injuries, but we’ll have those guys back for league finals.”

Groom, a math whiz who plans to attend Stanford (and whose nickname is Einstein), has a simple equation for the Barons’ cross country success: E = mc squared.

Groom elaborated on the famous equation: “E stands for the fact that everyone on our boys and girls teams contributes to the teams’ success. M stands for our motivation to avenge our early-season losses. C-squared stands for the double commitment our teammates have made to each other to be the league co-champions.”

Will the very young Barons boys and girls cross country teams be able to fulfill Groom’s formula for victory? We’ll find out at league finals Friday, Nov. 9, at Rohr Park.

Notepad
•Groom finished 12th among No. 1 boys at the Southern California Invitational Oct. 13 at Guajome Park in Oceanside. Groom’s time of 17:26 for 3.1 miles ranked behind the winning mark of 16:02 posted by Fallbrook senior Bret Hasvold. Groom’s time ranked 39th best out of 130 runners.

•BV’s Rodriguez placed 12th among No. 2 boys runners with a time of 17:35 while Agbede was seventh among No. 3 runners in 17:37. BV’s David Garcia (17:43) was 15th and Jason Finn (19:50) was 32nd in the Nos. 4-5 runners race while Juan Garcia (19:20) and Bobby Torres (20:47) finished 28th and 32nd, respectively in the Nos. 5-6 runners race.

•BV’s Hernandez placed 14th in the No. 1 girls race with a time of 16:28 for 2.4 miles. Torrey Pines junior Erin Gillingham turned in the winning time of 14:34.

•BV’s Garcia finished 11th in the No. 2 girls race in 16:24 (47th among all 120 female finishers on the day) while Baron teammate Jazmine Jurado (17:38) was 13th in the No. 3 girls race. In the Nos. 4-5 girls race, BV’s Griselda Quintero (17:34) and Sun Lee (18:31) finished 25th and 30th, respectively. In the Nos. 5-6 girls race, BV’s Wymer (19:21) and Miranda Murphy (20:32) finished 30th and 33rd, respectively.

•As a team, Bonita Vista finished 10th among all boys teams and 14th among all girls teams. The boys teams order of finish included Barstow (first, 54 points), El Camino (second, 88 points), Paloma Valley (third, 104 points), Torrey Pines (fourth, 105 points), Rancho Bernardo (fifth, 149 points), Fallbrook (sixth, 159 points), Carlsbad (seventh, 179 points), San Pasqual (eighth, 179 points) and Vista (ninth, 203 points).

•Top girls teams included Torrey Pines (first, 50 points), Rancho Bernardo (second, 89 points), Vista (third, 92 points), La Costa Canyon (fourth, 130 points) and Fallbrook (fifth, 156 points).

Mustangs move up in cross country rankings
Updated Oct. 12, 2007
The top three Division I teams at the upcoming San Diego Section cross country finals advance to the state championship meet. The Otay Ranch Mustangs believe they are on course to qualify for the state meet, and others appear to agree after the Mustangs pulled in the No. 3 ranking in the weekly coaches poll at midseason.

The section finals are Nov. 17. The state championship meet follows Nov. 24.

The Mustangs got an incredible mid-season barometer reading on just where they stand after competing in the elite Clovis Invitational Oct. 6 in Fresno. The event is held on the same course that will be used for the state championship meet in November, offering a unique challenge to participating teams.

Otay Ranch placed ninth among all boys teams in the championship division. “Things are going well,” head coach Ian Cumming said. “Apparently others think we are doing well in terms of a quest for the state meet since we have moved up to No. 3 in the coaches poll. I am happy with our progress and feel very good about the team's chances of qualifying for state.”

Out of 169 individuals in the race, Brandon Velasquez (the team’s returning individual state meet qualifier) was the Mustangs’ top finisher on the 5K course in 15:58 (33rd place), followed by teammates Jacob Road (46th, 16:09), Jon Limon (47th, 16:10), Daniel Juarez (73rd, 16:33), Leon Medina (108th, 16:54), Abraham Castillo (116th, 17:01) and Cory Rael-Meza (128th, 17:10).

Buchanan captured top team honors in the race with a score of 152 points. El Rancho placed second with 185 points, followed by Crescenta Valley (third, 196 points), Skyline (fourth, 197), Arcadia (fifth, 219), Foothill (sixth, 239), Jesuit (seventh, 262) and Ayala (eighth, 262).

Otay Ranch finished 10 points behind Ayala and four points ahead of 10th-place Del Campo.Foothill-Bakersfield’s Chris Schwartz finished first among individuals in 15:21, followed by Del Campo’s James Tracy (15:23), Alisal Trojans’ Diego Estrada (15:29), Crescenta Valley’s Zack Torres (15:30), Clovis West’s Andrew Campbell (15:30), Royal’s Alex Routh (15:31), Crescenta Valley’s Eric Kleinsasser (15:32), Palo Alto’s Philip MacQuitty (15:32), Arcadia’s Renaud Poizat (15:33) and, rounding out the top 10 finishers, Willow Glen’s Mohamed Abdalla (15:34).

The Mustangs placed 21st in the 172-deep Division I girls race, led by Tina Poole’s 61st individual place in 20:33. Viviana Martinez was the team’s second finisher (103rd, 21:40).

After posting its meteoric top 10 place-finish at the Clovis Invitational, Otay Ranch stepped off against its biggest challenger for this year’s Mesa League championship on Oct. 11 in a match-up of league unbeatens at Discovery Park. The Mustangs out-pointed the Barons, 21-37, to improve to 3-0 in dual meet competition.

Roach turned in the top time on the 3.0-mile hill course in 16:25.In the girls half of the dual, Bonita Vista turned back Otay Ranch by a 22-36 score. BV’s Cristina Hernandez earned medalist honors with the top time of 14:51 on the 2.25-mile hill course.Cumming said he was “especially happy” with how the team responded against a very good Bonita Vista squad on a Thursday following the Mustangs’ big trip and meet over the weekend.

“Bonita raced very well and we were able to handle the challenge,” Cumming said. “Our girls also ran very well. Bonita beat us by 22 to 36 but we are running much better and faster than three weeks ago."

A rapidly-improved Otay Ranch girls team could impact the order of finish at the Metro Conference finals on Nov. 9 at Rohr Park.

The Mustangs boys team stepped off Mesa League competition with a 25-31 victory against Chula Vista on Sept. 28 and followed with a 19-40 victory against Sweetwater on Oct. 3. Velasquez earned medalist honors with a time of 16:43 for 3.1 miles in the dual win against Chula Vista at Rohr Park while Juarez posted the top time of 17:11 on the Mustangs’ on-campus 3.0-mile course against Sweetwater.


Notepad
•Bonita Vista’s boys team had stepped off its dual meet season with a 25-31 victory against Chula Vista Sept. 28 at Rohr Park and followed with a 15-50 win against San Ysidro Oct. 5. Derek Groom posted the winning time of 16:10 against Chula Vista while Bernie King timed 18:07 against San Ysidro.

•The BV girls team opened the season 1-1 prior to meeting the Mustangs. Bonita Vista lost a 27-28 dual match-up against Chula Vista and followed with a 15-50 win against San Ysidro. BV’s Hernandez turned in the top time of 15:52 on the 2.5-mile course at Rohr Park in the Sept. 28 dual while teammate Sofia Garcia earned medalist honors at the Oct. 5 dual with a time of 15:05 at Discovery Park.

•In South Bay League competition, Montgomery’s boys team remained undefeated at 4-0 following successive dual victories against Hilltop (23-32 on Sept. 28), Mater Dei (15-49 on Oct. 5), Olympian (15-48 on Oct. 5) and Southwest (15-50 on Oct. 12). Alejandro Medina posted top times in the opening four duals for the Aztecs.

•Hilltop’s girls team improved to 2-0 in dual competition after defeating Southwest, 15-50, Oct. 5. Tanya Valenzuela turned in the top time of 16:17 on the 2.5-mile course. The Lancers stepped off their dual season Sept. 28 with a key 18-40 victory against Montgomery.

South Bay Invitational Report
Mustangs, winners again, appear ‘on course’ for state meet berth

Posted Oct. 4, 2007
The San Diego Section cross country coaches’ weekly rankings list the Otay Ranch Mustangs fourth in the section as well as among Division I boys teams. The top three teams at the section finals advance to the state championship meet. The Mustangs believe they are on course to qualify for the state meet, regardless of where others may currently rank them.

The 2007 Mustangs are a decidedly committed group, as evidenced by the team’s runaway victory at the South Bay Invitational held Sept. 21 at Rohr Park. Otay Ranch finished with a meet-low score of 53 points in the boys varsity division — a whopping 70 points ahead of longtime section power San Pasqual and 86 points ahead of Mesa League rival Bonita Vista (third place).

The Mustangs captured the junior varsity team title by 49-point margin over Bonita Vista. In that power-packed showing, Otay Ranch had the top two individuals (Alfred Haselrig and Ryan Perry) and placed its top five scorers among the top 11 finishers.

The Mustangs finished with three of the top 10 finishers in the 5K race, four of the top 16 and five of the top 20 in the 152-deep field. Sophomore Jacob Roach led the Otay Ranch scoring parade with a meteoric first-place finish in 16:11. Senior Brandon Velasquez was sixth in 16:28, followed by junior teammate Jon Limon in 10th place in 16:48.

Otay Ranch’s fourth and fifth runners, seniors Leon Medina (16th) and Cory Meza (20th), timed 16:58 and 17:05, respectively. The Mustangs also medalled their sixth runner, Daniel Juarez (23rd, 17:08), who finished among the top 35 finishers.

Roach bested runner-up Kenneth Raedel, a junior from San Pasqual, by six seconds to win the boys varsity race. El Capitan senior Kyle Phipps was third in 16:24, followed by Ramona senior Dean Manley in fourth place in 16:26. Mar Vista senior Edgar Lopez finished fifth in 16:27 — one second ahead of the Mustangs’ Velasquez.

“I wanted to stay with the pack and see how it felt, then push the second mile and see what would happen and the third mile I just drove it in,” said Roach, who bettered his time by more than two minutes as a freshman. “The first mile I felt really good.”

Roach, who got his first taste of competitive running in the seventh grade after growing up in what he termed a “soccer family,” has set a goal to break 16:00 this season. He posted a 5K time of 16:58 at the season-opening Mustang Invitational.

“I’m proud of Jacob and proud of the entire team,” Cumming said. “Our JV team ran very smart after trailing in the race for the first mile.”

Otay Ranch opened the season by winning its varsity division at the Mustang Invitational on Sept. 7. In that event, Otay Ranch finished 25 points ahead of Steele Canyon (ranked eighth in the section). Top individuals included Roach (fourth), Velasquez (fifth), Limon (sixth) and Medina (ninth).

Bonita Vista finished third in the Division I finals two years ago to earn a celebrated (and from a South Bay perspective, rare) trip to the state meet. Otay Ranch head coach Ian Cumming believes his current squad measures up well to that BVHS team of destiny.

“It’s been a good start to the season,” Cumming said. “I did not have the chance as an insider to follow the Bonita Vista team then but I think we compare to that team favorably. Right now they have us ranked fourth. We obviously need to be in the top three.”

Even if the Mustangs should not finish among the top three teams, Otay Ranch expects to send several individuals to Fresno. Velasquez qualified as an individual entry last year.

“I think our top three can make it to state — myself, Brandon and Jonathon (Limon),” Roach said. “I think our team can qualify from the top three. But there are a lot of good teams out there.”

The Mustangs stepped off Mesa League dual competition last Friday with a 17-43 victory against Eastlake at Discovery Park. Velasquez led Otay Ranch with a winning time of 16:43 on the 3.1-mile hill course.

Bonita Vista, which appears it will play a contenders’ role in this year’s league title chase, stepped off the season with a 25-31 victory against Chula Vista at Rohr Park. Derek Groom earned medalist honors with a top time of 16:10 on the 3.1-mile course.

In South Bay League competition, Montgomery defeated Hilltop, 23-32, at Luckie Waller Park in a bid to capture this year’s league title outright. The Aztecs shared last year’s league title with Castle Park.

Montgomery finished 14th in the South Bay Invitational team standings — something that gave coach Ruben Ledesma concern heading into last Friday’s head-to-head encounter. “Our first and second are solid but three, four and five have flip-flopped. Fortunately, we’re 10 deep,” Ledesma said.

Top Aztecs at the South Bay Invitational included Alejandro Medina (44th, 17:34) and Juan Vieyra (46th, 17:36). Medina recorded the top time (17:48, 3.1 miles) in last Friday’s dual meet.

Charting another title
Hilltop’s girls team took the first step toward securing its sixth consecutive league title when it sped past Montgomery, 17-40, last Friday at Luckie Waller Park. Tanya Valenzuela turned in the top time on the 2.5-mile course in 17:07 after placing 10th among individuals in the girls varsity field at the South Bay Invitational.

The Lancers had edged the Aztecs by 23 points at the Mustang Invitational but made a statement with a 138-point bulge on their South Bay League challengers at the South Bay Invitational by finishing 13th in the team standings (Montgomery was 17th).

Chula Vista edged Bonita Vista, 27-28, in a key Mesa League dual last Friday while defending league champion Eastlake claimed a 17-40 dual win from Otay Ranch. The Spartans, Titans and Barons all figure to be seriously involved in the chase for this year’s league banner that will not be settled until the Metro finals in November.

Bonita Vista freshman Cristina Hernandez, who claimed an elite fourth-place finish at the South Bay Invitational, finished with the top time at Rohr Park (15:52, 2.5 miles) while Eastlake sophomore Michelle Walling, a top 35 medalist at the South Bay Invitational, turned in the top time of 15:12 on the 2.25-mile course at Discovery Park.

South Bay Invitational medalists
Other top 35 boys varsity medalists included Bonita Vista senior Derek Groom (seventh, 16:32), Bonita Vista sophomore Alfredo Rodriguez (ninth, 16:45), Eastlake junior Gabriel Garcia (11th, 16:51), Eastlake senior Eric Fujikawa (21st, 17:06), Bonita Vista freshman Shinaloa Agbede (25th, 17:11) and Sweetwater junior Alejandro Aparicio (35th, 17:17).

Other top 35 girls varsity medalists included Bonita Vista freshman Sofia Garcia (eighth, 16:28), Sweetwater sophomore Maila Lucht (20th, 16:57), Bonita Vista junior Jazmine Jurado (21st, 16:58), Sweetwater sophomore Ailyn Mejia (22nd, 17:01), Eastlake senior Jackie Villa (31st, 17:12), Eastlake's Walling (32nd, 17:14) and Bonita Vista junior Julia Aguilar (35th, 17:19).

West Hills, Steele Canyon strong in cross country

At the halfway point of the 2007 high school cross country season, the Steele Canyon High School girls team appears to be high-stepping it. The Cougars placed all five of their scorers among the top 25 place-finishers at the recent South Bay Invitational to capture the single-division girls varsity team title.
That is impressive.

But perhaps only fitting for the seventh-ranked team in the San Diego Section.

Junior Lauren Parr paced what could stand as the Cougars’ best-ever team with an 11th place finish on the 2.5-mile course in 16:43, followed by senior teammate Bethany Rangel in 15th place in 16:47. Freshman Chelsey Haremon was the third-fastest ninth grader in the 137-deep field with a 16th-place finish, also in 16:47. Sophomore Arianna Pascarella (23rd, 17:02) and junior Annie Shileds (24th, 17:04) rounded out Steele Canyon’s contingent of five scorers.
The top five-runner spread was 21 seconds.

That is an elite finish.

The Cougars finished with a division-low 89 points at the Sept. 24 gathering — 28 points ahead of runner-up Ramona, 36 points ahead of third place San Pasqual, 39 points ahead of fourth place Bonita Vista and 64 points ahead of fifth place Valley Center.

Valley Center placed third at last year’s Division III section finals while San Pasqual was seventh in the Division II field — just ahead of eighth place Steele Canyon.

Perennial Grossmont North League powers West Hills and El Capitan finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in the team standings at this year’s South Bay Invitational. The Wolf Pack edged the Vaqueros by two points in a preview of the teams’ sure-to-be hotly-contested upcoming league dual meet.

West Hills had two runners place among the top 20 finishers: senior Samantha Timanus (12th, 16:46) and junior Kelsey Hall (18th, 16:54).

El Capitan had two top 25 finishers: junior Katie Martin (sixth, 16:23) and senior Jamie Ferguson (25th, 17:05).

Grossmont (11th place), Monte Vista (12th place), Christian (15th place) and El Cajon Valley (19th place) rounded out the field of seven East County entrants.
Sophomore Valerie Hycz paced Monte Vista with a seventh-place individual finish in 16:24 while junior Hailey Mayer placed 19th in 16:56.

Our Lady of Peace junior Sammy Silva captured top individual honors with a time of 15:29, followed by senior teammate Maria Barrett in 15:53 — the only two girls varsity runners to break 16:00 in the race.

Boys varsity
Meanwhile, El Capitan continued its strong start with a fourth-place team finish in the boys varsity standings. Senior Kyle Phipps placed third among individuals on the 5K course in 16:24 — 13 seconds behind race winner Jacob Roach of Otay Ranch and seven seconds behind runner-up Kenneth Raedel of San Pasqual.
The Vaqueros placed all five of their scorers in the top third of the 152-deep field, with Chris Torres (26th, 17:12), Nick Bedrosian (30th, 17:14), Kyle Moran (41st, 17:30) and Miles Segni (42nd, 17:31) following Phipps’ lead.

Monte Vista and West Hills finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in the team standings.Monte Vista and West Hills finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in the team standings, followed by fellow East County entrants Grossmont (11th place), Christian (18th place) and El Cajon Valley (21st place).

Grossmont senior Grant Liebermann (13th, 16:55), West Hills senior Mike Gonia (14th, 16:57) and Monte Vista’s Misikir Mentose (19th, 17:05) all managed top 20 individual finishes. El Capitan earned the No. 14 section ranking following the South Bay Invitational — six spots down from eighth-ranked Steele Canyon (which did not compete at Rohr Park).

Junior varsity
West Hills and Steele Canyon produced the same low score of 43 points in the girls JV race, with the Wolf Pack edging the Cougars for first place on the place-finish of its sixth runner (17th to 18th place).

Jordan Tanner (first, 17:12) and Genieva Ozuna (second, 17:25) paced the 201 runners in the race, followed by Steele Canyon’s Shelby Bowers (fourth, 18:11) and Brittany Hutchison (sixth, 18:13).

West Hills’ top five scorers finished first, second, 11th, 14th and 15th while Steele Canyon posted the fourth, sixth, eighth, ninth and 16th best times.

Steele Canyon’s Michelle Beasley (eighth, 18:22) and Gabrielle Beasley (ninth, 18:23) — both freshmen — and West Hills’ Fatima Gomez (11th, 18:39), Lindsey Stewart (14th, 18:50) and Mallori Van Denover (15th, 18:50) all posted top 15 individual finishes. Steele Canyon freshman Vanessa Kellems was 16th in 18:51.

West Hills finished third and Monte Vista finished fifth in the boys JV race. Nick Pierce (12th, 19:02), Devon Fritz (13th, 19:05), Marcus Nelson (17th, 19:17), Mike Russo (24th, 19:42) and Kyle Jorge (26th, 19:50) paced the Wolf Pack in the 141-deep field while Isaac Jimenez (19th, 19:30), Jared Martin (22nd, 19:38), Jose Zaizar (28th, 19:56), Daniel Huezo (37th, 20:08) and Steven Terry (39th, 20:14) led the Monarchs in the race.

Steele Canyon placed fourth in the boys frosh/soph race, followed by West Hills (seventh), Christian (eighth), El Capitan (11th) and Grossmont (13th). Five East County runners placed among the top 20 finishers in the 157-deep field: Christian freshmen Michael May (fourth, 18:11), Daniel Struass (fifth, 18:12) and Garret Crouder (12th, 18:39), West Hills sophomore Ken Saxer (16th, 18:45) and Steele Canyon freshman Nick Cirello (18th, 18:57).

Mustang Invitational Report
Steele Canyon’s Sherrod running at the front of the pack
JAMUL, Sept. 13, 2007 -- Steele Canyon’s Adrian Sherrod has let his feet do the talking, so to speak, during the first two weeks of the 2007 high school cross country season. The Cougar harrier took first-place honors in the boys senior division at the season-opening Wolf Pack Invitational Aug. 31 at West Hills High School. He followed by winning the large school division at the 12th annual Mustang Invitational Sept. 7 at Rohr Park in Chula Vista.

This is Sherrod’s fourth year on the varsity team. He has set defined goals to accomplish his senior year. “I’m looking to be league champion, CIF champion and hope to be in the top 10 at the state meet in Division II,” he said.

The Cougar harrier completed the 5K hill course at Rohr Park in 16 minutes, 22 seconds to finish as the top individual in the Blue Division. He timed 18 seconds ahead of Indio’s Ankur Joshi, the second-place individual, and Valhalla senior Brian Randlett, who placed third in 16:56.

Sherrod opened the season by turning in the top time of 10:50 on the 2.1-mile course at West Hills High School under very hot conditions. He finished 21 seconds ahead of Mar Vista’s Edgar Lopez, the race’s second-place finisher, and 23 seconds ahead of Rancho Buena Vista’s Andrew Hunter (third, 11:13).

Lopez, a returning state meet individual qualifier, won the Silver Division race at Friday’s Mustang Invitational in 16:57. Sherrod’s time was the best on the day, inclusive of both varsity divisions.

Sherrod’s time at the Wolf Pack Invitational was the best on the day among all sophomore-junior-senior runners while that turned in by Lopez ranked fourth (behind Sherrod, Rancho Buena Vista’s Collin Jarvis and Rancho Bernardo’s Parker Stinson).

Both Sherrod and Lopez — individual state meet qualifiers last season — look to move up the standings this season.
Sherrod finished fourth at last year’s Grossmont South League finals (behind three seniors) and was fifth at the ensuing San Diego Section Division II championship meet (behind three seniors and super sophomore Mac Fleet from University City).
Sherrod qualified for the state meet as an individual, finishing seven seconds ahead of Lopez (the fifth and final individual state qualifier in eighth place).

As a measure of progress, Sherrod placed 22 seconds behind Jarvis in last year’s state meet. At the Wolf Pack Invitational, Sherrod’s time was four seconds faster than that posted by Jarvis in winning the boys junior race.

Jarvis placed fourth at last year’s Division I section field in 16:30. In the Division II field, Sherrod timed 16:49, with Randlett finishing 13th (26 seconds behind Sherrod). Sherrod owned a 13-second advantage over Randlett (seventh) in the preceding league finals.

At the state meet, Sherrod placed 39th (behind 20 seniors) while Lopez was 57th (11 seconds behind Sherrod). For the record, RBV’s Jarvis placed 36th among Division I runners at last year’s state meet.

After finishing with the top varsity times in his first two meets this year, Sherrod said he is on track to accomplish his goals this season. He timed 19 seconds faster than his third individual finish (in the smaller schools-oriented Silver Division) at last year’s Mustang Invitational.

“I’m a lot faster than last year. I think I’m on the right path,” Sherrod said. “I put in a really hard summer. It was the longest summer I’ve put in. I’m looking forward to being one of the top runners.”

Sherrod should have some company in his championship quest. The Cougars (74 points) finished second in the Blue Division standings to host Otay Ranch (49 points) at last Friday's Mustang Invitational despite fielding a slightly amended lineup, according to coach Gary Stathas.

Seniors Evan Anderson (seventh, 17:14) and Tim Buckmaster (17th, 17:41), sophomore Ryan Lawler (22nd, 17:44) and senior Carson Cooper (27th, 17:56) rounded out Steele Canyon’s top five scoring contingent in the 78-deep field.

The Cougars have the potential to field five seniors among their top seven, making them one of the more formidable teams on the course in terms of experience.

“We have a strong senior team,” Sherrod said. “We’re all looking to move up. Right now, we’re ranked second in Division II. But if we keep working hard, we might get first. We’re hoping to get at least the top three in CIF (section finals) and that would make it to state.”

Steele Canyon’s girls team looks to build on last year’s championship season. The Cougars underscored that with their first-place finish in the team standings at last Friday’s Mustang Invitational. The Cougars topped the Blue Division standings with 65 points — 13 points ahead of runner-up Escondido and 48 points ahead of third place Valhalla.

Megan Meyer built on her first-place finish in the girls senior division at the Wolf Pack Invitational with a fourth-place finish at the Mustang Invitational (14:09 for 2.3 miles). Steele Canyon placed all its five scorers among the top 20 finishers in the 75-deep field. Sophomore Ariann Pascarella placed 11th in 14:43, followed by senior Bethany Rangel (12th, 14:45), sophomore Christie Hendel (18th, 14:57) and junior Lauren Parr (20th, 15:01).

Pascarella and Hendel finished third and fourth, respectively, in the season-opening Wolf Pack Invitational girls sophomore race while Parr was third in the junior race and Rangel was sixth in the senior race.

MV’s Lopez, Otay Ranch Mustangs set the pace
CHULA VISTA, Sept. 7, 2007 -- Benny Holt has coached at Mar Vista High School since 1979. During his long tenure, he has seen such illustrious runners as Matt Clayton (SDSU), Willie Guarino (USD), Hector Hernandez (Western States), Blake Swier (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo) and Troy Swier (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo) pass through the Imperial Beach school’s cross country program.

Senior Edgar Lopez appears to be the next in line to continue that tradition.

“There’s no doubt he’ll continue his running career in college,” said Holt after Lopez captured top honors in the boys varsity Silver Division race at Friday’s 12th annual Mustang Invitational at Rohr Park.

Lopez timed 16:57 on the 5K course to win the division for the second consecutive year, finishing with the fourth-best time on the day behind Steele Canyon senior Adrian Sherrod (16:22), Indio senior Ankur Joshi (16:40) and Valhalla senior Brian Randlett (16:56), all of whom comprised the top three pace-setters in the Blue Division varsity race.

Lopez, who won last year’s South Bay League individual title after finishing runner-up the previous season, has competed at Mar Vista since joining the team halfway through his freshman year. Holt knew he had a natural from the onset.

“Just by the way he ran — smooth and fluid — just like a natural distance runner,” Holt said. “When he first started, I nicknamed him ‘The Shadow’ because if you turned around, he was gone. He was so quick. He was also a bit unsure of himself. But he got in his miles between his freshman and sophomore year and he has been our No. 1 runner since. He’s kept improving.”

Added Holt: “He wants to be the best he can be. That includes winning Metro and improving on his place in CIF. He was eighth last year and went to the state meet as an individual qualifier. He wants to improve on that.”

The Otay Ranch Mustangs, meanwhile, collectively set the pace in the boys varsity Blue Division race with another first-place finish — this year topping Steele Canyon by 25 points. Four of Otay Ranch’s five scorers notched top 10 place-finishes in the 78-deep race, with all five scorers finishing among the top 25 runners in the field.

Sophomore Jacob Roach led the Mustangs on the course with a time of 16:58 — fifth best between the two varsity divisions on the day — and was immediately followed by two teammates: senior Brandon Velasquez (sixth, 17:07) and junior Jonathon Limon (seventh, 17:09). Senior Leon Medina finished ninth among division runners in 17:20 while senior Abraham Castillo was 25th in 17:52.

Velasquez is a returning individual state meet qualifier. His teammates aim to join him this season in Fresno.

“The kids are obviously excited to be off to a good start,” said Otay Ranch head coach Ian Cumming, who doubled as meet director. “It is early but I think this team has its sights set on running their best at the end of the season. As a coach, I am happy with both our boys and girls teams. Our girls are especially young and will improve quickly. Friday was a chance to get out and compete with other teams. We competed well and gained some good experience.”

Bonita Vista — led by freshman Shinaloa Agbede (10th, 17:21) and senior Derek Groom (13th, 17:29) — finished seventh in the boys varsity Blue Division team standings.

The top 35 finishers in each division received medals. Sweetwater’s Alejandro Aparicio (28th, 17:57) and Otay Ranch senior Cory Rael-Meza (34th, 18:07) both medalled in the highly competitive boys varsity Blue Division.

Said Cumming: “I would like to thank all the coaches and teams who competed. I am always thankful and amazed for the number of parents and friends who are willing to commit their afternoon and part of the evening to volunteering at the meet to make it possible for the kids to compete. Therefore, thank you to the 25 to 30 adults who volunteered and to our kids who helped clean the course. A special thank you to The Phair Company for sponsoring The Mustang Invitational and Movin’ Shoes who donated gift certificates to the varsity winners.”


Silver Division Boys Varsity
Top 20 finishers among Metro Conference teams included Montgomery seniors Alejandro Medina (fourth, 17:46) and Juan Vieyra (seventh, 18:03), Hilltop sophomore Luis Garcia (14th, 18:52), Montgomery senior Enrique Robles (16th, 18:53), Montgomery sophomore Hernan Naranjo (19th, 19:11) and Hilltop sophomore Connor Galleher (20th, 19:17).


Silver Division Girls Varsity
Five-time defending South Bay League champion Hilltop finished fifth in the team standings — 23 points ahead of sixth place Montgomery. Four Lancers medalled (top 35 finishes): junior Tanya Valenzuela (10th), sophomore Michelle Lane (21st), senior Hilda Ramirez (31st) and senior Jessica Torres (34th).

Lancers have designs on sixth straight league title
The Hilltop High School girls cross country team is seeking its sixth consecutive South Bay League championship banner. The Lancers got the 2007 season off on the right foot, so to speak, with a fifth-place finish in its division at the 12th annual Mustang Invitational Sept. 7 at Rohr Park — 20 points ahead of the sixth-place Montgomery Aztecs.

The Aztecs could be the chief challenger to Hilltop’s championship designs this season.

The Lancers are led by junior Tanya Valenzuela, an all-league runner in both 2005 and 2006, who finished 17th among individuals at last year’s San Diego Section Division II championship meet. She is joined on the varsity unit by sophomore Michelle Lane and senior Jessica Torres, both all-league runners in 2006, as well as senior Hilda Ramirez and sophomore Sonia Rodriguez, up from last year’s junior varsity team.

The Lancers are bolstered by sophomores Marianna Bedoyo and Tanya Lozano and freshman Nicole Wolfe, all newcomers to cross country.

Valenzuela placed second at last year’s league finals, 24 seconds behind race-winner Julia Hernandez of Castle Park, while Lane placed seventh as a freshman, followed by Torres in eighth place. Hilltop recorded a low score of 15 in the team standings — a phenomenal finish in a league-wide gathering.

“We lost two of our top three (runners) to graduation but have some good new runners,” Hilltop coach Mark Hedderson said. “Winning league is our first goal. We finished sixth at CIF last year in Division II. This season, we move up to Division I.”
Don’t be surprised if the Lancers make some noise despite the move up enrollment levels.

Valenzuela finished 10th in 15:23 on the 2.3-mile course at this year’s Mustang Invitational, followed by teammates Lane (21st, 15:49), Ramirez (31st, 16:28) and Torres (34th, 16:39) — all of whom earned medals as top 35 placers in the field of 68 runners.

Montgomery had two runners place among the top 35 individuals, led by sophomore Elena Soler (22nd, 15:50) and junior Mary Mendez (24th, 16:05).

Our Lady of Peace junior Sammy Silva captured top individual honors in the Silver Division with a time of 13:38, followed by Lincoln junior Elizabeth Apgar (13:45).

Vaqueros looking strong once again on the cross country course

LAKESIDE, Sept. 1, 2007 -- The El Capitan High School boys and girls cross country teams could be in for a very special season of achievement, according to coach Anthony Garcia. Those expectations are nothing new for a program that has annually ranked among the top echelon of not only the Grossmont North League but the San Diego Section’s mid-size enrollment schools.

Expect this year to be no different.

Garcia is particularly optimistic about this year’s Vaqueros girls team. Junior Katie Martin, a two-time state meet qualifier, leads a core of returners that includes seniors Jamie Ferguson and Kelsee Ramsey.

Martin placed ninth among individuals at last year’s San Diego Section Division II championship meet. Ferguson was 35th while Ramsey was 43rd in the 143-deep field.

At the preceding Grossmont North League finals, Martin finished third.

“Our girls team is going to be good this year,” Garcia said. “We are not sure how good yet because we still have some questions to answer.”

Some of those questions were answered at the Vaquero Stampede, held Sept. 1 at Lindo Lakes.

Martin led the team with a second-place finish in the Division II girls junior-senior race, timing 10:08 on the 1.65-mile course. Ferguson finished fourth in the same field in 10:39 while Ramsey was ninth in 11:08.

Martin finished eight seconds off the time posted by race winner Brittany Balcom, a junior from Ramona. Martin had the 11th-best time, inclusive of all races in the two divisions — a total of 319 runners.

While Martin has established her own credentials, both Ramsey and Ferguson are off to a “great start,” in Garcia’s words, with Ferguson showing “some great early season form,” according to the El Capitan coach.

That core trio is joined by sophomores Heidi Swanson, Carolina Reyes and Cualli Hernandez. Juniors Rochelle Leavitt and Brianda Meza also are vying for top varsity spots along with sophomores Cecilie Arcamo and Becca Dehnel, Garcia said.

Swanson placed third in the girls freshman-sophomore race at the Vaquero Stampede with a time of 10:30 while Hernandez (11:05) and Reyes (11:20) finished sixth and ninth, respectively, in the same race while Arcamo (11:35) was 12th.

Garcia noted that Swanson, who is new to cross country, has been the team’s No. 2 or No. 3 runner to start the season and, in his words, has “the potential to turn into a great runner.”

Reyes, he noted, has improved a “couple of minutes per race so far this season off of last year and figures to be a solid fifth or sixth runner.”

Arcamo is an 800-meter runner from the track season and is another newcomer to cross country. Dehnel was a sprinter in the track season but appears to be ready to challenge for a varsity spot this season, according to Garcia.

“We are a very young team and have to gain valuable experience before we fully begin to see our potential,” Garcia said. “We are looking to challenge West Hills for the league title again this year and are looking to be ready to challenge for a berth to the state meet.”

El Capitan’s boys team, meanwhile, features a wealth of experience. Seven of the Vaqueros’ top 10 runners are seniors — many of them four-year runners, according to Garcia.

At the top of that experienced pack of runners is senior Kyle Phipps, who has led the team on the course for the past three seasons. Phipps had a strong summer of off-season workouts in preparation for this season and stepped off the season by capturing the Division II boys junior-senior race at the Vaquero Stampede. Phipps timed 10:52 on the 2.35-mile course, finishing with the third-best time on the day behind San Pasqual junior Kenneth Raedal (10:44) and Coronado senior Ben Enowitz (10:48), both of whom topped the Division I field.

Joining Phipps are three runners who Garcia said all had “fantastic summers and are ready for a great season.” Those runners include senior Chris Torres, junior Nick Bedrosian and sophomore Kyle Moran.

Moran stepped off the season by capturing the boys freshman-sophomore race at the Vaquero Stampede, timing 8:37 on the 1.65-mile course. Torres finished third in the boys junior-senior race (2.35 miles) in 11:16, with Bedrosian finishing seventh in 11:33.

Garcia said if senior Miles Segni can keep pace with the team’s top four runners, the Vaqueros have the potential to challenge University City for this year’s San Diego Section Division III team title.

Seniors Mike Devan and Kenny Stevenson round out El Capitan’s top seven runners. Both are new to the varsity ranks but look to be impact runners before the season is over, Garcia said.

Also challenging to break into the team’s top seven are seniors Richard Zepeda and Luke Middlebrook and sophomore Todd Clarke.

Segni (16th, 11:51), Devan (17th, 11:58) and Stevenson (19th, 12:22) all managed top 20 finishes in the 84-deep boys junior-senior race at this year’s Vaquero Stampede. Clarke (19th, 9:42) posted a top 20 finish in the 77-deep freshman-sophomore race.

“Chris Torres, who has been one of the hardest-working runners for four years, looks to add hardware before graduation,” Garcia said. “Junior Nick Bedrosian had a small breakthrough last year and if he can recapture that this year, we will be a very good team. Sophomore Kyle Moran is very talented and has put in some good work. He has adjusted well to the varsity ranks and makes our top four a very solid group.

“If all the pieces come together, this team will be pressing the rest of the league for the league title as well as running with the best come CIF time,” Garcia said.

If all the pieces do fit into the puzzle, the El Cap coach said his team could be rewarded with a top 10 finish at the state meet.

Notepad
•Mt. Miguel sophomore Dylan Marx finished second in the boys freshman-sophomore race at the Vaquero Stampede with a time of 8:44 (1.65 miles). Santana sophomore Dustin Tyler placed fourth in the same race with a time of 8:59. Christian freshmen Garret Crouder was sixth in 9:22, followed by teammate Daniel Struass (eighth, 9:23) while Mt. Miguel freshman Jimmy Porfirio finished 10th in 9:25.

•Santana senior Anthony DeBarrows (eighth, 11:37) and Christian junior Jesse Beason (ninth, 11:39) both posted top 10 finishes in the boys junior-senior race at this year’s Vaquero Stampede. Santana junior Jason Gordon was 11th in 11:41 while Christian junior Jacob Cruz (24th, 12:39) and Mt. Miguel senior Carlos Sepulveda (25th, 12:46) both recorded top 25 finishes.

•Granite Hills freshman Alexandria Olivo placed fourth in the Division I girls freshman-sophomore race at the Vaquero Stampede while Eagles senior Gabriella Black finished fourth in the girls junior-senior race. Black’s 9:57 time was fifth-best in all the girls races.

•Christian had three runners place among the top 11 finishers in the Division II girls freshman-sophomore race: sophomore Taryn Dunton (fifth, 10:56) and freshmen Megan Robertson (10th, 11:29) and Tiana Row (11th, 11:33).

•Mt. Miguel senior Jessica Dukerschein was sixth in the Division II girls junior-senior race while Christian senior Hannah Pearl was 12th in the same field. Coronado sophomore Sallie Privett posted the top girls time of 9:29, inclusive of all divisions.

Mustangs off-roading it as CIF front-runner
CHULA VISTA, Aug. 31, 2007 --.The Otay Ranch High School boys cross country team could be headed for a record-breaking season, and a return to the state championship meet. Along the road to Fresno could be a history-making CIF championship title.

“We should be one of the quality-ranked teams,” Mustang head coach Ian Cumming said. “We’ll see as the season goes on.”

When asked about the team’s potential, Cumming did not choose to give a diplomatic response. "We have a chance to win CIF if things go well for us,” he said up front. “But a team like Rancho Buena Vista (defending Division I champions) has a lot of talent. You also don’t want to look past several teams in our league.”

Otay Ranch just missed winning last year’s Mesa League dual title and went on to place seventh among teams at the San Diego Section Division I championship meet. The top three teams qualify for the state finals. The Mustangs look to be one of those teams.

“Our kids have been very dedicated throughout the summer, es