Time is ticking down to the Metro Conference cross country finals on Nov. 12 and area teams are starting to put their best feet forward, so to speak, on the course. Top runners are stepping forward from the pack to enhance their teams’ chances of placing high in the standings.
Such was the case at last Friday’s (Oct. 22) Jaguar Invitational at Kit Carson Park in Escondido.
Eastlake (ninth), Chula Vista (11th) and Chula Vista High Tech (17th) all competed in the large schools boys division. Eastlake’s Trent Warren (26th, 17:24) led the South Bay contingent, followed by Chula Vista’s Jose Serrano-Flores (27th, 17:26).
The Titans recorded 218 points to finish ahead of the Mesa League rival Spartans, who totaled 277 points. Eastlake’s Zac Zasueta was 37th in 17:37, followed by CV’s Michel Robles (45th, 17:44). Also for the Titans, Sean Stanko was 48th (17:46) while Stevan Perez was 54th (17:55) and Matt Tong was 61st (18:03) to make the top half of the 126-deep field.
Eastlake’s five-man spread was 39 seconds.
CV High Tech’s top runner, Adrian Chipres, finished 102nd in the field.
Mt. Carmel won the division with 41 points, followed by Woodbridge with 66 points and Valley Center with 80 points. La Jolla (fourth, 131 points), Westview (fifth, 151 points), San Pasqual (sixth, 177 points), Monte Vista (seventh, 208 points) and Santa Ana Mater Dei (eighth, 212 points) all finished ahead of Eastlake. The Titans placed ahead of Rancho Bernardo (10th, 260 points) while Chula Vista placed ahead of Poway (12th, 308 points).
Seven South Counth schools competed in the small schools boys division: Mar Vista (sixth, 153 points), Montgomery (ninth, 253 points), Southwest (11th, 310 points), Olympian (13th, 381 points), Mater Dei Catholic (18th, 493 points), Chula Vista Calvary Christian (19th, 532 points) and Lutheran (21st, 617 points).
Mar Vista’s Ernesto Sanchez was the highest South Bay place-finisher, timing 17:47 in 13th place. Mariner teammate Robinson Leland was 15th in 17:52, followed by two other MV harriers who managed to place in the top third of the 148-deep field: Jordan Snyder (28th, 18:19) and Anselmo Fuentes (30th, 18:22).
Montgomery was led by Alejandro Rosario’s 18:25 time on the course (31st place) while teammate David Bobadilla (46th) also finished in the top third of the field in 18:52.
Andrew Palacios (38th, 18:39) led Southwest’s contingent while Olympian’s Jairo Hernandez finished 42nd in 18:45.
Calvary Christian’s Christian Quidang posted a strong finish by taking 40th place in 18:43.
Lutheran’s top finisher was Dylan Brunson (124th, 23:09).
Girls field
Eastlake was 10th, Chula Vista was 14th and Sweetwater was 15th in the large schools race. CV’s Mariza Diaz (26th, 16:49) was the South County’s top place-finisher, followed by Eastlake’s Sarah Garces (32nd, 17:06) and SuHi’s Prisma Mendoza (40th, 17:16).
The race featured 114 finishers. Also making the top half of the field were CV’s Trinity Aguon (44th, 17:22) and Eastlake’s Kayla Lawson (47th, 17:26) and Jenna Garces (55h, 17:45).
Eastlake, with 254 points, finished ahead of Rancho Bernardo (11th, 267 points), Poway (12th, 302 points) and San Pasqual (13th, 305 points) but trailed a talented field comprised of Woodbridge (first, 61 points), Westview (second, 74 points), Clairemont (third, 138 points), Mt. Carmel (fourth, 142 points), Santa Ana Mater Dei (fifth, 145 points), Monte Vista (sixth, 173 points), Mission Hills (seventh, 199 points), University City (eighth, 221 points) and Fallbrook (ninth, 249 points).
Chula Vista totaled 347 points, followed by Sweetwater with 350 points.
Mar Vista, paced by Karley Tena’s sixth-place individual finish in 17:29 placed seventh in the small schools division with 225 points. Other local entrants included Mater Dei Catholic (eighth, 226 points), Montgomery (11th, 275 points), Olympian (12th, 293 points) and Southwest (13th, 332 points).
Besides Tena, 10 other South Bay runners finished in the top half of the 110-deep field. They included: Mater Dei’s Mallory Davenport (36th, 19:10), Valeria Cardenas (42nd, 19:29), Martha Valeria Plasencia (47th, 19:41) and Maria Villar-Martin (54th, 20:02); Mar Vista’s Monica Goodwin (53rd, 19:53); Montgomery’s Kristine Jiao (23rd, 18:36) and Liliana Morales (34th, 19:09); Olympian’s Kioana Smith (13th, 17:51) and Jocelyn Luna (33th, 19:07); and Southwest’s Samantha Marroquin (50th, 19:52).
Canyon Crest Academy won the division with 23 points, followed by Del Norte with 61 points and Our Lady of Peace with 83 points.
Mt. SAC Invitational
Castle Park competed in the Division II race on Oct. 23. Sophomore Miguel Lopez placed third in his varsity race with a time of 16:07 on the 3-mile course. Lopez led the race into the second mile, and then was passed by two runners.
“He finished third, but he is still a very young runner,” Trojan coach Juan Lozano said. “He is getting stronger every week.”
Lopez currently tops South Bay League runners with the fastest times of 16:36 (5K) and 16:07 (3-miles).
The CP boys varsity team placed fifth in its division race — seven points away from placing third and being able to receive a plaque, according to Lozano.
The Trojans top seven varsity boys times included Lopez (16:07), senior Alex Garcia (16:57), sophomores Jesus Ortiz (17:10) and Gabriel Magana (17:21), seniors Jesus Camacho (17:35) and Cristian Flores (17:41) and junior Milton Gutierrez (17:55).
“Those are our fastest times of the season,” Lozano observed. “We are now getting ready to go into league finals, with only two more league meets left of the season. We are 2-0 in our boys varsity, JV, and girls teams.”
Castle Park will compete at Luckie Waller Park this Friday (Oct. 29) against San Ysidro and Montgomery, then end the regular season with match-ups against Sweetwater and Southwest at Rohr Park on Nov. 5.
