SD Prep Sports

SD Prep Sports: Cross Country

Mar Vista's Swier goes prime time

Mariner road king takes runner-up Woodbridge Invitational finish

By Phillip Brents
Posted Sept. 24, 2003

The state high school championship meet is still two months away but that
hasn't prevented Mar Vista High senior Troy Swier from sending out a message
to all competitors.

The Mariner road king fired his latest salvo of the early season with a
meteoric second-place finish in last Saturday's celebrated Woodbridge
Invitational in Irvine.

The invitational drew from a regional perspective with runners from
throughout California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah challenging the 3.0-mile
course.

Swier challenged for the lead until the end of the race before eventually
slipping behind Durate's Mohamed Trafeh.

Swier took the lead at the 2.25-mile mark but Trafeh responded and the two runners went back and forth until Trafeh eventually opened a gap in the final 200 yards and maintained it to the finish line to best the MV harrier by two seconds.

Trafeh timed 14:17; Swier clocked in at 14:19 University City sophomore sensation Riley Booker was 12th in 15:00.

Bonita Vista senior Ryan Becijos was 82nd in 15:53. He was followed on the course by teammates Julian Zamora (15:58), Michael Morales (16:24) and Abraham Alvarez (16:34). The Barons fifth through seventh runners included Mike Valdez, Ryan Groth and Bersain Gutierrez.

Bonita Vista junior Tiffany Caddell was the lone Baron to earn a medal (top 60 finishers) by placing 53rd in 18:58.

The Woodbridge Invitational was the second meet in one day for Bonita Vista coach Hector Hernandez, whose team also competed earlier in the Mt. Carmel/Movin Shoes Invitational at Morley Field. Top finishers included freshmen boys Eric Avila (17:07) and Mathew Seat (18:47); freshmen girls Topacio Palomino (20:44) and Brittney King (21:23); sophomores Jessi Tinsley (18:12) and Diego Ornelas (21:45); juniors Katie Leahy (20:47) and Patrick Raue (19:23); and seniors Angel Torres (19:23) and Jared Purkey (17:55).

Next up is the South Bay Invitational Friday, Sept. 26, at Rohr Park, starting at 4 p.m., when #4 Bonita Vista takes on #3 RBV. "This should help clear up the rankings," Hernandez said.

Mt. Carmel/Movin Shoes Invitational

BV frosh sensation does it again

Bonita Vista High freshman Eric Avila hasn't wasted making up for lost time. After placing fourth out of 189 finishers in the Blue Division boys junior varsity race at the eighth annual Mustang-Baron Invitational Sept. 12 at Rohr Park, Avila proceeded to enter his name in the Mt. Carmel/Movin Shoes Invitational record book last Saturday.

Avila finished third in the Division I freshman boys race with a time of 17:07 on the 2.95-mile course at Morley Field to earn a position on the invitational's all-time top 40 leaderboard. His time would rank him in a tie for 29th overall. He finished as the San Diego Section's top runner in the race.

What is so remarkable is that he was only cleared to compete Sept. 10.

"If he continues training, he can be one of the great ones," Bonita Vista coach Hector Hernandez said.

Avila's time placed him behind race-winner Jordan Schmidt (16:36) of Orange Lutheran and runner-up Usiel Guadarama (16:41) of Dana Hills. Avila finished 11 seconds ahead of the race's fourth-place finisher and 37 seconds ahead of Chula Vista's Jovanny Yorba in seventh place. Chula Vista's Roberto Jimenez earned a berth among the top 20 finishers with a time of 18:08 in 20th place.

Inclusive of Division 2 runners, Avila finished with the fifth best time among all freshmen -- second among San Diego Section runners.

Division I highlights
Sweetwater's Edgar Llanez (11th, 16:21) and Javier Diaz (15th, 16:24) both earned top 15 place-finishes among senior boys while Chula Vista's Ivan Villareal was 10th with a time of 16:13 in the junior boys race. The Spartans had two runners make the top 25 list in the sophomore boys race: Martin Jimenez (19th, 17:09) and Roberto Hernandez (25th, 17:20).

Chula Vista's Irene Bueno was 15th in the girls senior race, timing 17:34, while Spartan teammate Brittany Chatman was 16th in the girls freshman race with a time of 18:14.

Division 2 highlights

Otay Ranch's Ernesto Valdez was seventh in the boys sophomore race with a time of 17:18 while teammate Matt Danielson (17:43) was 14th in the same race. Castle Park's Jorge Diaz was 25th in the boys junior race in 17:44. Hilltop and Castle Park each had a runner place among the top 20 freshmen boys. Johnny Pina (18:14) earned that honor for Hilltop with an eighth-place finish while Castle Park's Eli Ledezma was 20th in 19:03.

Hilltop's Selina Munoz (17:42) placed 13th in the girls junior race while Otay Ranch's Jasmine Leija (18:54) was 14th in the girls sophomore race. Otay Ranch had another top 25 finisher in Jasmine Schoonmaker, who finished 23rd with a time of 19:36 in the girls freshman race. Hilltop's Lisa Lane was 22nd in the girls freshman race in 19:35.