SD Prep Sports

SD Prep Sports: Cross Country

What could be next for Otay Ranch Mustangs?

By Phillip Brents
Posted Oct. 28, 2003

The new Otay Ranch Mustangs keep raising their standard for excellence each week, it seems.

Where it could all end is anyone’s guess but the whispers that began in late September appear now to have found substance.

Could first-year Otay Ranch be headed for a CIF title?

After finishing ahead of established South Bay League foes at the eighth annual Mustang-Baron Invitational Sept. 12 at Rohr Park, the Mustangs returned to the same site two weeks later to score perhaps an even more noteworthy performance by winning the boys frosh/soph division at the 30th annual South Bay Invitational.

The upward spiral has only continued.

A 3-0 dual meet start set up Otay Ranch for a second-place finish at the prestigious Mt. San Antonio Invitational Oct. 24 in Walnut — a regional event annually regarded as an indicator for success at the upcoming state championships.

Sophomores Ernesto Valdez (11:54) and Matt Danielson (12:05) finished fourth and fifth, respectively, to lead the Mustangs on the 2.2-mile course in the Division IV race. Otay Ranch also received inspired performances from freshman Ricky Pimental (20th, 12:29) and sophomore Ryan Matias (21st, 12:30), who placed among the top 17 percent of runners in the field of 121 finishers.

Otay Ranch placed its five scorers in the top third of the race and had all seven of its runners finish among the top 68 in the field. Rounding out the Mustangs finishers were sophomore Andre Negron (41st, 13:05), freshman Jesse Matias (67th, 13:47) and sophomore Matt Wescott (68th, 13:49).

Otay Ranch put the entire San Diego Section Division IV field on notice after nosing out San Pasqual by one point, 94-95, to capture the team championship at the South Bay Invitational.

Otay Ranch finished the 3.1-mile race with three of the top nine finishers, four of the top 18, and placed its five scorers among the top 59 finishers out of 127 runners to complete the race.

Danielson (third, 18:14) and Valdez (fifth, 18:31) both scored impressive top five finishes. Following their lead were teammates Ryan Matias (ninth, 18:57), Pimental (18th, 19:05) and Ivan Dallet (59th, 20:57).

Mustang head coach Ian Cumming had to be understandably pleased with the team’s performance.

“It was our one chance to compete at the frosh/soph and junior varsity level this year and the kids took advantage of it with some solid performances,” he said.

La Jolla Country Day, Bishop’s and Coronado were the top three teams at last year’s Division IV championship meet to earn trips to the state championship meet in Fresno. While Division IV individual champion Jacob Ruzevick of Coronado returns, Otay Ranch finished ahead of the Islanders in the team standings at the Mustang-Baron Invitational to fire the first salvo.

Interesting, indeed.

“We have a good shot to be in the top three teams,” Cumming said.

The Mustangs’ girls team also paired up against similar age-group competition at the South Bay Invitational and produced positive results on the course. Sophomore Jasmine Leija raced to a third-place finish in the girls JV division, timing 18:07 for 2.5 miles. Freshman Jasmine Schoonmaker (18:58) finished 11th in the same field while sophomore Natalie Dygert (19:25) placed 18th in the field of 138 finishers.

Otay Ranch placed seventh out of 17 teams in the division.

Dygert (17th, 15:14) and Schoonmaker (19th, 15:15) both scored impressive top 20 finishes at Mt. SAC.

While the South Bay League may not carry the overall strength that higher enrollment schools in the Mesa League possess, there is certainly no less drama in which teams will capture championship titles this season.

There appears to be a ferocious three-way battle for supremacy for both the boys and girls team championships. In particular, a photo finish looks to be brewing between Hilltop, defending champion Mar Vista and newcomer Otay Ranch in the boys ranks after both Hilltop and Otay Ranch dealt the reigning champion Mariners narrow defeats to open the season.

Hilltop edged Mar Vista 27-28 on Oct. 3 at Rohr Park in a dramatic fourth- and fifth-man finish while Otay Ranch registered a 25-30 victory the following week.

Hilltop and Otay Ranch were scheduled to meet in a high profile dual showdown Oct. 31 at Discovery Park. However, that might be only the start of potential fireworks. The highly anticipated outcome of that dual encounter only counts as half the winning equation as the team finish at the season concluding Metro Conference championship meet Nov. 14 at Rohr Park will fill in the rest of the missing puzzle.

Mar Vista’s Troy Swier, who captured top honors at last year’s San Diego Section Division II championships before going on to earn a sixth-place finish at the state finals, earned medalist honors on the 3.1-mile Imperial Beach Pier course in the Mariners’ Oct. 10 dual against the first-year Mustangs by timing 17:29 but Otay Ranch overcame his No. 1 individual finish to claim the team victory. Valdez (18:10) and Danielson (18:22) finished second and third, respectively, for Otay Ranch. The Mustangs then placed the fifth and sixth runners in a heated three-way dash for fourth place won by the Mariners’ Rene Garcia to give the first-year squad four of the top six place-finishers.

Matching Garcia’s 19:04 time were Otay Ranch runners Ryan Matias (fifth) and Pimental (sixth) as the three runners crossed the finish line chest-to-chest.

“We thought our second and third guys could beat their second guy, so our 3-4-5 guys were the key for us. Our No. 5 guy, Andre Negron, ran a huge race. It was a breakthrough for him,” Cumming said.
Negron timed 19:51 in ninth place ahead of Mar Vista’s final scorer (19:57).

Otay Ranch defeated Mar Vista 22-33 in girls competition as the Mustangs’ Leija won medalist honors with a time of 18:15 on the 2.4-mile course. Otay Ranch claimed the dual win by pushing across the first three runners in the race. Dygert finished second, followed by teammate Schoonmaker, also in 18:53.

For the record, Otay Ranch finished ahead of Hilltop in the team standings at the season opening Mustang-Baron Invitational but the Lancers were without the services at that time of Jameela Alneyadi, their second runner, and the Mustangs have since been surprised by Castle Park to fall from the unbeaten ranks in league. The 27-29 loss to the Trojans Oct. 16 at Discovery Park gave both Otay Ranch and Castle Park 2-1 league records to place a premium on the Otay Ranch-Hilltop dual as to which team — if any — takes an advantage into the conference finals.

“It’s difficult to see how the two teams match up but it should be interesting to find out,” Cumming said.