Mesa League preview:

Red Devils look to be especially competitive this season

By Phillip Brents

Posted Oct. 4, 2005

Photo: Azael Gomez, left, and Alan Gudino set the pace in the Red Devils' Mesa League opening dual meet against Eastlake.

Goal setting is the first step toward success. One cannot have improvement  unless one sets goals to achieve. Such is the case with this year’s Sweetwater High cross country team. By employing such a strategy, the Red Devils hope to reap success.

Quite a bit of it, in fact.

"We look to be a very competitive team with a goal of each of the returners making improvements on last year’s individual performances," SuHi coach Tim Latham said.

The Devils put their collective best foot forward in last Friday’s Mesa League opener against Eastlake at Rohr Park by winning the boys varsity and boys junior varsity dual meets. Up next is Friday’s showdown against defending Mesa League champion Bonita Vista, also at Rohr Park. The boys varsity race steps off at 3 p.m.

Top returners on the Sweetwater boys varsity team include senior Azael Gomez, sophomores Alan Gudino and Raul Isais and junior Martin Macias.

Gomez placed second at last year’s Mesa League finals by one second to champion Eric Avila of Bonita Vista. The SuHi harrier placed seventh at the San Diego Section Division I championship meet to earn First Team All-CIF honors and a trip to the state finals in Fresno. He opened the season by finishing third in the large schools division at the Mustang Invitational and was third at the South Bay Invitational two weeks later (finishing just five seconds off the winning time).

Isais, Gudino and Macias finished 12^th, 14^th and 19^th, respectively, at last year’s Mesa League championships.

Gudino was 11^th at the Mustang Invitational and 12^th at the South Bay Invitational.

Impact newcomers to the lineup include juniors Abraham Alem, Luis Maela, Oscar Suarez and Juan Nunez, and sophomore Joe Corona.

Gudino (16:55) led Gomez(17:04) and Corona (17:12) across the finish line in a 1-2-3 Red Devil showing against Eastlake in last Friday’s 3.1-mile race. Nunez won the boys JV title at the Mustang Invitational while Alem finished first (by a sizable margin) in winning last Friday’s boys JV race against Eastlake.

If individual goal-setting can be met, the team could find itself moving up the standings as well. Sweetwater finished in a second-place tie with Chula Vista in last year’s league standings and was eighth at the ensuing Division I championship meet.

The SuHi girls team, led by All-Mesa League returner Karina Rios, looks to be competitive this season as well, though the Red Devils finished on the short end of a 20-40 dual meet score against league power Eastlake last Friday. Rios finished second at last year’s Mesa League finals. She is joined by impact newcomers Wintana Alem (a sophomore) and Adriana Bush (a freshman).

Rios ran to top individual honors in last Friday’s dual against the Titans by timing 16:51 on the 2.5-mile course. She was a top 30 finisher in both the Mustang and South Bay invitationals.

Hilltop served notice it will aggressively defend its South Bay League girls varsity title after racing past Mar Vista 15-42 last Friday. Freshman sensation Tanya Valenzuela was the top finisher in the South Bay League matchup against the Mariners, finishing 17:29 on the 2.5-mile course. The Lancers recorded the top five finishers in the race. Following Valenzuela across the finish line were teammates Lisa Lane (17:30), Karla Atencio (17:55), Marga Crain (18:19) and Ashley Ledesma (18:51).

Valenzuela finished second to SuHi’s Rios in the combined race involving Sweetwater, Eastlake, Hilltop and Mar Vista. Lane was third in the combined field, followed by Eastlake’s Rachel Naranjo (fourth, 17:46) and Anette De La Rosa (fifth, 17:55). Hilltop placed four runners among the top 10 finishers, with Atencio placing sixth and Crain placing ninth.

Eastlake had five runners place among the top 10 finishers. Tania Andrade was seventh overall in 17:57, followed by Heather Voigt in eighth in 18:12 and Lisa Maria Crimi in 10^th in 18:43. For good measure, Sara McKinney was 11^th in 18:49.

Eastlake will take on Southwest in Friday’s dual meet at Discovery Park.

Other teams getting off to good starts last Friday included Bonita Vista and Chula Vista with Mesa League sweeps. The Barons swept Montgomery in boys (15-45) and girls (24-35) varsity competition while the Spartans did the same against Southwest, winning by identical scores of 15-50.

BV’s Avila made his return to the lineup a successful one by leading runners across the finish line at Discovery Park with a top time of 16:36 (3.0-mile course). Montgomery’s Chelsea Nicklen won the girls varsity race in 14:56 (2.25-mile course).

Chula Vista’s Roberto Hernandez and Elizabeth Arias ran to top finishing honors in the boys and girls varsity races at Luckie Waller Park. Chula Vista and Montgomery will race this Friday at Luckie Waller Park.

In South Bay League openers, Otay Ranch swept visiting San Ysidro while Castle Park swept Marian Catholic in both boys and girls varsity competition in Imperial Beach.

Otay Ranch notched both top individual varsity finishers: Ricky Pimentel (boys) and Jazmine Schoonmaker (girls). Castle Park also finished with the top individual placers in its meet against Marian Catholic: Edgar Medina (boys) and Julia Hernandez (girls).

CP’s Hernandez finished the 2.2-mile course in Imperial Beach in 15:05 in leading the Trojans to a narrow 26-29 win in the girls varsity meet. Medina, last year’s South Bay League individual champion, finished the boys 3.1-mile course in 17:40.

Castle Park will test Hilltop on Friday at Rohr Park, beginning at 3 p.m. The girls race should provide sparks with CP’s Hernandez, last year’s freshman sensation, matched against Hilltop’s Valenzuela, this year’s freshman sensation. Hernandez (fifth, 14:24) bested Valenzuela (seventh, 13:45) at the Mustang Invitational

In other dual meet matchups for Oct 7, Otay Ranch will race Mar Vista at the Imperial Beach pier course while San Ysidro and Marian Catholic will race at Luckie Waller Park.