SD Prep Sports

SD Prep Sports: Cross Country

Challengers emerge in Grossmont South League

By Phillip Brents
Posted Oct. 11, 2004

Has the Grossmont South League finally come of age since the Steele Canyon joined the loop a few years back? With three boys teams, including the Cougars, sporting 2-0 dual meet records through the first two weeks of league competition, one could certainly justify such a statement.

At right: Granite Hills Josh Sandoval posted third-place individual finishes at both the Sept. 10 Mustang Invitational and Sept. 24 South Bay Invitational.

Steele Canyon's 25-31 victory against Granite Hills on Oct. 8 placed the Cougars into a three-way tie for the league lead alongside incumbent heavyweights Monte Vista and Valhalla. Steele Canyon started the season with a 26-29 win against Helix on Sept. 30.

Defending league champion Monte Vista defeated Mt. Miguel (18-45) and Helix (15-41) to engineer its 2-0 start while Valhalla ran past Granite Hills and Mt. Miguel by scores of 24-32 and 20-41, respectively.

In early season matchups hinting at the balance of power in the league this season, Monte Vista (second) finished ahead of both Granite Hills (seventh) and Helix (10th) at the Sept. 10 Mustang Invitational while Granite Hills (12th) topped Helix (14th) again at the Sept. 24 South Bay Invitational.

Among Grossmont South League girls teams, Helix and Granite Hills were both off to 2-0 starts ahead of Valhalla (1-1). Helix edged the Cougars, 28-29, in the teams' dual opener on Sept. 30 before defeating Monte Vista by a score of 18-43 on Oct. 8. Granite Hills jump-started its dual meet season with victories against Valhalla (23-36) and Steele Canyon (22-35).

Helix (fourth) finished ahead of Granite Hills (sixth) in the large schools division at the Mustang Invitational while Steele Canyon (third) finished of Monte Vista (eighth) in the small schools division. Steele Canyon (sixth) had edged Granite Hills (seventh) at the South Bay Invitational before falling behind in the teams’ dual meet matchup.

Among individuals, Valhalla sophomore Anthony Bareno remains one of the San Diego Section's top underclassmen. He ranks as the seventh-fastest sophomore returners from last year's state meet after placing 71st out of 189 runners last November in Fresno. He finished 10th at the San Diego Section Division II championship meet to help the Norsemen to a seventh team finish behind division champion West Hills and third-place Monte Vista.

Bareno stepped off the 2004 high school season by winning the sophomore race at the Wolf Pack Invitational Sept. 3 at West Hills High School. He covered the 2.1-mile course in 11 minutes, 10 seconds to best his nearest challenger by nine seconds. His 11:10 time stood up as the third fastest on the course among senior, junior and sophomore boys -- trailing only section superstars Jake Ruzevick (10:59) or Coronado and C.J. Hersh (11:09) of Torrey Pines.

Bareno continued in high gear by placing second among varsity boys at the Bronco Roundup Sept. 11 at Kit Carson Park in Escondido. Bareno timed 10:31 for two miles to trail Escondido's Fernando Torres (10:23).

Granite Hills junior Josh Sandoval has also started the season strong after finishing second at last year’s Grossmont South League championships. He placed 44th out of 149 runners at last year’s San Diego Section Division I finals.

Sandoval kick-started this season by finishing ninth among junior/senior boys at the Sept.11 Vaquero Stampede and finished 11th among Division I junior boys at the Mt. Carmel Movin Shoes Invitational Sept. 18 at Balboa Park's Morley field (more than 2,000 runners competed in all divisions). His 16:27 time for 2.95 miles placed him 44th overall among all section boys finishers at the Movin Shoes event and was nine seconds faster than Steele Canyon senior Ricardo Bernal.

Sandoval took third-place honors at the Sept. 24 South Bay Invitational – an event that featured several of the top-ranked teams in the section.

Junior Michael Ramirez was Monte Vista's top finisher at the Mt. Carmel Invitational, finishing eighth among Division II junior boys (64th overall) in 16:39 (12 seconds behind Granite Hills' Sandoval).

The Monarchs' strength this season is clearly the team's ability to pack runners. Monte Vista demonstrated that with a seventh place finish out of the 37 section teams at the Movin Shoes Invitational. The Monarchs’ five scorers were separated by a spread of 25 seconds.

Following Ramirez on the Movin Shoes course were senior teammates Robbie McGrorty (16:43), Patrick Palmiter (16:51), Michael Wallace (16:58) and David Frehafer (17:04). McGrorty, who finished 16th at last year’s Division II CIF finals, placed 17th among Division II senior runners while Wallace was 22nd and Frehafer was 23rd among the 156 finishers. Palmiter was 12th among Division II junior boys.

Ramirez and Palmiter were fourth and fifth, respectively, among junior boys at the Wolf Pack Invitational. McGrorty, Frehafer and Wallace were 11th , 13th and 14th , respectively, among senior boys.

Besides Bareno, other top Valhalla runners include Matt and Mark Kielbasa and Anthony Strunz. Matt Kielbasa was ninth among Division II boys varsity runners at the Bronco Roundup while Mark Keilbasa was 20th. Strunz was 28th.

Newcomers could impact the Norsemen’s final league finish. Two Valhalla runners placed among the top five JV/freshmen runners at the Bronco Roundup. Brett Johanson captured first place in 11:43 while Brian Rickards was fifth.

Granite Hills’ Alex Guaderrama captured first-place finishing honors among freshmen and
sophomores at the Vaquero Stampede, timing 8:28 for 1.65 miles. Andrew Joslyn was 19th among 55 finishers in the division. Marc Porter was 15th and Walter Bueno was 21st among 52 junior/senior finishers.

Girls preview
Valhalla's Alicia Nugent paces the Grossmont South League's top female runners after placing 69th at last year's state meet. She qualified for the state finals after finishing fifth at the San Diego Division II championships after placing second at the Grossmont South League finals.

At right: Granite Hills Ashli Sandoval leads West Hills Kristen Peters to the finish line at South Bay Invitational.

Nugent started the season by finishing second among senior girls at the Wolf Pack Invitational with a time of 9:6 for 1.6 miles. Her time stood up as the second-fastest on the day behind senior race winner Lindsay de la Montaigne (8:55) of Rancho Bernardo, last year's fourth-place finisher at the San Diego Section Division I finals.

Nugent responded to the challenge by winning the Division II girls varsity race at the Bronco Invitational, finishing seven seconds ahead of University of San Diego High's Molly O'Toole in 12:33 for two miles. Nugent's time was the fourth best among girls varsity runners on the day, inclusive of all divisions.

Jamie Marliere and April Montgomery, who finished fourth and fifth, respectively, at last year’s Grossmont South League championships, pace Helix.

Marliere, who finished 13th at last year’s Division I CIF championships, opened the season by placing ninth among senior girls at the Wolf Pack Invitational. Montgomery was second at the Mustang Invitational a week later while Marliere placed 12th as Helix raced to a fourth-place finish ahead of sixth-place Granite Hills.

Granite Hills edged Helix by three points for sixth place at last year’s Division I CIF finals after the Highlanders had edged the Eagles by one point at the league finals a week earlier.

Ashli Sandoval, who finished sixth at last year’s league finals and 14th at the ensuing Division I CIF finals, led Granite Hills on the course at the South Bay Invitational with a second-place individual finish.

For the Eagles, Breeanna Lorenzen and Kim McGrath were 10th and 13th, respectively, among junior/senior girls at the preceding Vaquero Stampede.

Valhalla’s Michelle Dalton won the Division II JV girls race at the Bronco Roundup, timing 14:21 for two miles. Teammate Anna-Marie Hosking was second in 14:34 while Katie Malinar finished 10th.