SD Prep Sports

SD Prep Sports: Cross Country

Titan front runners gear up for league finals

By Phillip Brents
Posted Oct. 28, 2003

Though the results might not show up in the win-loss column, the Eastlake High School cross country team can count on several standout runners for leadership this season.
Seniors John Stubbs and Kyle Maynes have been mainstays all season long leading the boys team while Sara McKinney and Melanie Desalvo have become leaders on the girls team the second half of the season.

Stubbs and McKinney posted impressive third-place individual finishes in the Titans’ Oct. 16 double dual meet against defending Mesa League champion Bonita Vista and South Bay League contenders Otay Ranch and Castle Park at Discovery Park

Stubbs timed 17:50 on the 3.0-mile steep hill course to finish nine seconds behind Bonita Vista leaders Ryan Becijos and Julian Zamora as the top Eastlake finisher. McKinney (15:52) trailed race winner Tiffany Caddell (15:20) of Bonita Vista and runner-up Veronica Gonzales (15:33) of Castle Park on the girls 2.25-mile course.

Stubbs led the Titans at the West Hills, Mustang-Baron Invitational and South Bay invitationals. He was 16th out of 73 finishers at the season opening Wolf Pack Invitational and placed 24th at the eighth annual Mustang-Baron Invitational the following week in leading the Titans to a 10th-place team finish.

“John is consistently running a good race. He’s the best thinker on the team. He knows where to be when he supposed to be,” Eastlake coach Eva Curavic said.

McKinney burst on the scene at the Sept. 26 South Bay Invitational by finishing as the team’s top runner despite just one week of practice. Desalvo and McKinney finished second and third, respectively, among individuals in a double dual meet Oct. 3 at Rohr Park that included runners from Sweetwater, Mar Vista and Hilltop.

“With the addition of those two girls, they’ve pumped up the enthusiasm and the level of the girls team. They’re all running better because of them,” Curavic said of McKinney and Desalvo.

Maynes (18:34) finished 10th overall among individuals in the Oct. 16 double dual meet. He also finished as the Titans’ No. 2 scorer in the preceding Oct. 3 double dual meet as well as at the South Bay Invitational.

Andy Sist, who finished fourth out of 92 finishers in the junior boys race at the Sept. 5 West Hills meet, was the Titans No. 2 runner at Mustang-Baron Invitational.
Ashley Ronco (eighth, 16:41) and Leticia Flores (ninth, 16:51) both scored top 10 finishes in the Oct. 16 double dual meet.

The Eastlake front runners hope to continue their upward spiral at the Metro Conference championship meet Nov. 14 at Rohr Park. The top 10 finishers in both the Mesa and South Bay leagues are considered all-league runners for the season.

The Titans will then compete in the San Diego Section Division I championship meet Nov. 22 at Morley Field. The top 10 finishers in each division earn First Team All-CIF recognition. The next 10 place-finishers earn Second Team All-CIF honors.