SD Prep Sports

SD Prep Sports: Cross Country

Wagnew carries torch for Grossmont Conference at state meet

By Phillip Brents
Posted Dec. 1, 2003

Helix senior Babey Wagnew paced the Grossmont Conference’s parade of eight individual state meet qualifiers at this year’s San Diego Section divisional cross country championship meet, and though he fell victim to an untimely injury, he still carried the torch for the conference at last Saturday’s state finals in Fresno.

He just wished he could have carried it a little higher.

Wagnew, who captured the San Diego Section Division I boys race in 15:34 to post the fastest time on the day in all five divisions at the Nov. 22 Morley Field meet, entered the state finals ranked fourth in the division after finishing eighth as a junior.

Moreover, the Highlander runner was making his fourth consecutive trip to the Central Valley to close out what many expected to be a spectacular season. However, a case of tendinitis in his left ankle left him with a 14th-place finish on the 5K Woodward Park course. His time of 15:47 was 23 seconds behind last year’s finish and 32 seconds off this year’s winning time of 15:15 turned in by top-ranked Yosef Ghebray of James Logan.

Otherwise, the large cast of conference qualifiers that also included the Grossmont South League champion Monte Vista boys team and the Grossmont North League champion West Hills boys and girls squads spoke volumes in terms of achievement.

Other Grossmont Conference individual state qualifiers included Valhalla junior Alicia Nugent, El Capitan senior Cassie Atkinson and Grossmont junior Randee Meek in the Division II girls field and Santana’s Erin Price and Afton Siebern in the girls Division III race.

Other high achievers included Valhalla freshman Anthony Bareno, who qualified in the boys Division II race, and Helix senior Evon Willingham, who qualified in the girls Division I race.

All earned All-CIF honors by finishing among the top 10 runners in their divisions at the San Diego Section finals.

Price, who posted the top time of 14:11 (for 2.4 miles) at the Grossmont North League finals Nov. 15 at Harry Griffen Park, finished 38th out of 189 runners in her division at the state finals with a time of 19:27 for 3.1 miles, while Meek, who had registered the runner-up time of 14:33 at the league finals, placed 62nd out of 186 runners in her division in Fresno with a time of 19:33.

Atkinson, who had the fifth-best time of 14:56 at the Grossmont North League finals, placed 121st in 20:36 while Siebern (sixth in league) was 76th in 20:09.

Nugent, who placed second in the Grossmont South League finals, finished 69th in Fresno with a time of 19:39.

Running 2.75 miles at the San Diego Section finals, Nugent (17:00) was fifth, Atkinson (17:16) was seventh and Meek (17:17) was ninth in the Division II field while Price (17:18 ) was fourth and Siebern (17:50) was ninth in the Division III field. Willingham (17:22) was eighth in the Division I race.

At last weekend’s state meet, Willingham finished 31st in 18:59 to move up as the section’s fourth-place finisher while Bareno concluded a standout first season by finishing 71st out of 189 runners in 16:44 to place eighth among section qualifiers. He had finished 10th in the Division II San Diego CIF championships in 17:02.

Among the team qualifiers, the West Hills girls squad had the best showing by placing 14th out of 23 teams in the Division II field. The Wolf Pack finished seven points ahead of Scripps Ranch, which the week before had out-pointed the Grossmont North League champions by 30 points for second place at the San Diego Section CIF finals.

Elaine Gillespie (35th, 18:56) led West Hills in Fresno, followed by teammates Kristen Peters (73rd, 19:45), Johanna Fisherova (81st, 19:52), Lynnette Simonds (93rd, 20:03), Janae Dale (154th, 21:28), Melissa Peabody (173rd, 22:13) and Samantha Espinolda (175th, 22:14).

Monte Vista, which finished third at the section finals, moved up a notch to place ahead of San Diego CIF champion West Hills in last weekend’s Division II boys state meet field. Grossmont South League champion Monte Vista finished 18th while Grossmont North League champion West Hills was 19th among 23 teams in the division. Both East County teams finished behind University City (16th place), the top-ranked team in the regular season.

Zach Norcross (50th, 16:28) paced Monte Vista to finish sixth among section individuals. Following his lead were teammates Robbie McGrorty (104th, 17:04), Michael Ramirez (120th, 17:16), David Frehafer (124th, 17:19), Matthew Renaud (134th, 17:31), Michael Wallace (160th, 18:01) and Roddy Taylor (173rd, 18:23).

Matt Noble (65th, 16:39) led West Hills, followed by teammates Jeremy Root (76th, 16:49), Billy Scott (116th, 17:13), Brian Dunne (137th, 17:31), James Huntington (149th, 17:43), Robert Hernandez (154th, 17:53) and Mike Focht (167th, 18:16).

Scott had navigated the 3.1-mile Harry Griffen Park course in 16:58 as the Grossmont North League’s top finisher.