SD Prep Sports

SD Prep Sports: Cross Country

Metro Conference 2K4 Cross Country Preview

Mustangs earn respect, seek to repeat league title

By Phillip Brents
Posted Aug. 23, 2004

Perhaps the best part of Ian Cumming’s job as head cross country coach at Otay Ranch High School last year was knowing that everyone of impact in the fledgling Mustangs program would be returning the following season.

Cumming certainly had to be pleased with the results of the embryonic 2003-04 season: the boys team captured the South Bay League championship title en route to a second-place finish in the San Diego Section Division IV finals to earn a trip to the coveted state meet.

The girls team did not do that poorly either after netting a second-place finish in the league standings and a highly-competitive fourth-place finish at the division finals.

Will fortunes shine even brighter in 2004-05?

“We have everyone of impact back, plus many new people who look to be good. It is too early to tell who will be our top runners. I think that we will definitely be in the battle for the league championships in both the boys and girls,” Cumming said in reference to the upcoming season.

The Mustang boys team had four runners earn All-South Bay League honors: Ernesto Valdez, Matt Danielson, Ricky Pimentel and Ryan Matias.

Valdez was the highest Otay Ranch placer in the Metro Conference boys race at 17th with a time of 17:44 on the 3.1-mile course at Rohr Park. Danielson was 23rd in 18:03, followed by Pimentel (30th, 18:12) and Matias (30th, 18:14). Jesse Matias (40th, 18:49), Ivan Dallet (47th, 19:30) and Andre Negron (57th, 20:08) followed as the team’s fifth, sixth and seventh runners.

Among South Bay League finishers, Valdez took runner-up honors behind four-time league champion Troy Swier of Mar Vista, while Danielson was third, Pimentel was sixth and Ryan Matias was seventh. Among the top seven league place-finishers, no other school had more than one placer.

Impressive, indeed.

The Mustangs’ young guns continued to produce the following week at the division finals as both Valdez (sixth, 17:53) and Danielson (12th, 18:15) engineered top 12 finishes to lead Otay Ranch to a state finals qualifying berth. The Mustangs finished 15 points behind team champion La Jolla Country Day and 12 points ahead of third-place finisher Coronado in a battle to secure second place.

All seven Mustangs finished in the top half of the race at Balboa Park’s Morley Field. Following were Pimentel (14th), Ryan Matias (15th), Jesse Matias (28th), Negron (31st) and Dallet (41st). A total of 85 runners finished the race.

At the state championships in Fresno, Valdez capped a standout season by placing third among section runners and finishing among the top 10 sophomores in the state in the division with his time of 17:31 on the 5K course, officially placing 82nd out of 181 finishers.

Danielson once again followed Valdez across the finish line, placing 91st and fourth among section runners in the division. Pimentel was 11th among section runners in the division while Ryan Matias was 12th among section qualifiers.

As a team, Otay Ranch was right behind LJCD in the team standings. Both Valdez and Danielson finished ahead of the Torreys’ top placer (Brian Sedwitz, 101st place).

“Everyone ran very close to their best races of the season which says a lot about the team’s ability to perform well in pressure situations,” Cumming said at the time.

Jasmine Leija, Natalie Dygert and Jennifer Amos paced the Mustangs girls team with All-South Bay League finishes at the conference finals. Leija (11th overall) finished fourth among league runners, followed by Dygert (29th overall, seventh in league) and Amos (35th overall, 10th in league). Rachael Medina was fourth on the course for the Mustangs (41st overall), followed by Jazmin Schoonmaker (44th overall) to round out the race’s top 50 finishers.

Leija was also the team’s top finisher at the CIF finals with a 13th place showing, followed again by Dygert (20th) and Amos (21st). Schoonmaker was fourth on the team (29th), followed by Medina (32nd), Kasiani Mechalpoulos (53rd) and Michelle Flores (56th). Sixty-seven runners finished.

As a team, Otay Ranch finished behind LJCD and Coronado and ahead of nearest challengers Francis Parker and Mountain Empire.

The battle for supremacy once again looks to be tight.

Last year, the Mustangs finished ahead of Hilltop, Mar Vista, Castle Park, Marian Catholic and Southwest, in that order, in the final boys standings and placed behind Hilltop and ahead of Marian Catholic, Mar Vista, Castle Park and Southwest in the girls standings.

“Hilltop should be strong in both. I think Castle Park will do well in the girls also with Marian having some top runners and a chance to be very good if they add depth. San Ysidro could do well in the boys based on what they had last year as well as Hilltop. Even though Mar Vista lost Troy Swier, Benny (Mariner coach Benny Holt) always puts together a good team,” Cumming said.

Regardless of the final order of finish, expect the Mustangs to strive for the gold with talent, class and dignity.