The 2020-21 high school cross country season was an abbreviated one with Metro Conference teams competing in just three league dual meets. League champions were determined but no official runners of the year were recognized.
Cross country was the first sport to step off the delayed 2020 sports schedule amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and understandably had to deal with a host of protocols in order to get going.
In retrospect, it was a bummer how cross country was treated considering the wider exposure other Season 1 sports such as swimming, coed tennis, golf and, of course, football received prior to the unveiling of an almost complete Season 2 schedule.
But it was a start at least. The finish line appears to be coming this fall when the traditional 2021 season will hit the running course.
“I’m extremely proud of their perseverance through a pandemic to keep running and making new traditions of excellence for Hilltop cross country,” Hilltop coach Chris Gentry said.
The Hilltop boys went undefeated in their three Metro-South Bay League dual meets, with junior Jimmy Byland setting course records on the new campus course.
Gentry noted it was the first league championship for the Lancers boys team since 1992. Could another be following?
“All of my starting varsity are returning and planning on defending our title,” Gentry said. “I have almost a whole senior starting lineup. Jimmy Byland is ready to go back to state.”
Starting line
It was a season of firsts as runners had to toe the starting line wearing masks. They then had the option of removing them once they were on the course.
The Metro Conference was divided into three leagues for competition purposes: Metro-Mesa, Metro-South Bay and Metro-Pacific.
The Metro-Mesa League included Bonita Vista, Eastlake, Olympian and Otay Ranch while the Metro-South Bay League included Chula Vista, Hilltop, Mater Dei Catholic and Sweetwater. The Metro-Pacific League included Castle Park, Mar Vista, Montgomery, San Ysidro and Southwest.
Metro-Mesa and Metro-South Bay League teams each competed in three league dual meets while Metro-Pacific League teams followed a similar scheme. Otay Ranch and San Ysidro also competed in a non-league dual meet on Feb. 27 to face off the Metro’s abbreviated season.
No conference or section championship meets took place.
Because of pandemic protocols — and the fear of the pandemic itself — many teams competed with incomplete rosters and, in a few instances, even with skeleton lineups.
It wasn’t prime time stuff necessarily each week.
The highlight meet of the Season 1 schedule was the March 19 match-up on between unbeaten Eastlake and Otay Ranch boys teams.
Both the Titans and Mustangs entered the dual encounter with 2-0 records. Eastlake won the league title with a 25-30 victory.
The five-point margin was every bit exciting as final score looked in print, especially for the victors.
Eastlake jammed the finish line with the top two finishers — junior Anthony Martinez crossed first in 16:31.75, followed by senior Edgar Salazar in 17:07.76. It’s difficult for any team to come back from such a disadvantage but Otay Ranch attempted exactly that by scoring the next two runners: junior Aydan Wohlford (third, 17:16.76) and sophomore Jake Shorey (fourth, 17:20.21).
But Eastlake put a monkey wrench into those plans as Titan senior Justin Hoban crossed the finish line in fifth place in 17:27.23 to give Eastlake three of the top five place-finishers.
The Mustangs closed the gap again as junior Ruben Baza Carrillo (sixth, 17:35.56) and senior Dominic Garcia (seventh, 17:41.57) captured the next two place-finishes. But, once again, a Titan runner foiled the Mustangs’ best-laid plans as sophomore Trevor Santiago placed eighth in 17:43.65.
Otay Ranch junior Diego Vizcarra finished ninth in 17:44.08 while Eastlake senior Michael Patron finished 10th in 17:47.79.
Non-scorers included Otay Ranch’s Daniel Kim (11th place, 17:56.17), Grant Bice (12th, 17:59.18) and Jacob Juden (13th, 18:21.18) along with Eastlake’s Erick Rueda Toriz (14th, 18:36.69) and Benjamin Peraza (15th, 19:21.01).
Both teams finished the dual meet with five runners among the top 10 placers, though the 1-2 Titan finish proved too strategically difficult to overcome in this case.
There was a lot of celebrate for Eastlake, which claimed its first Mesa League banner in school history.
“When we won the league championship, it was a surreal moment not only for us seven boys of the varsity team, but for the Eastlake community as well,” Salazar said.
“It had deep meaning to not only one person, but seven hard working, self-motivated boys who decided to go and write history for their school and themselves in a year, that looking back and seeing what others thought, turned out to be a story of underdogs.”
Martinez finished Eastlake’s three league dual meets undefeated. He posted a 16:19.34 time in the Titans’ 15-49 victory against Olympian on March 5 at Eastlake Community Park and timed 16:26.34 in a 26-29 win over visiting Bonita Vista on March 12.
The Titans flooded the finish line in the dual meet against Olympian with the first six place-finishers and edged the Barons with another 1-2 finish by Martinez and Salazar.
The boys junior varsity race between the Titans and Mustangs might have been even more exciting with Otay Ranch nosing out Eastlake 28-29 on the scoreboard behind a 1-2 finish by Mustang sophomores Darin Halverson (18:32.77) and Vance Halverson (18:38.80).
In the girls varsity race, Eastlake defeated Otay Ranch, 23-36, to wrap up a perfect season.
Eastlake freshman Vanessa Vuong captured medalist honors with the top time of 16:37.71 on the 4K course. Otay Ranch juniors Elicia Arredondo (second, 16:41.03) and Leila Fuerte (third, 16:41.43) gave chase but the Lady Titans secured the win with the next four scorers in the dual meet: junior Lake Merrifield (fourth, 16:44.98), freshman Galia Salazar (fifth, 16:45.79), sophomore Cameron Cruz (sixth, 16:46.34) and junior Savannah Kipp (seventh, 16:46.70).
Eastlake placed five of the top seven scorers and seven of the top 10.
Otay Ranch sophomore Salma Franke finished eighth in 16:58.24, followed by Eastlake junior Melissa Mekitarian (ninth, 17:11.85), Eastlake senior Kalena Garcia (10th, 17:44.57), Otay Ranch junior Lauren Medina (11th, 17:55.89), Otay Ranch senior Skylar Pires (12th, 19:16.95), Otay Ranch freshman Vivian Medina (13th, 19:21.16) and Otay Ranch freshman Alicia Parise (14th, 19:48.12).
Galia Salazar (15:41.41) recorded medalist honors in a 15-45 win over Olympian as the Lady Titans rushed across the finish line with the top six runners. Vuong led Eastlake in its 23-38 victory against Bonita Vista while finishing second in 15:24.37 to BV junior Lauren Salt (15:22.97).
Leaders of the pack
Salt finished undefeated in her team’s three dual meets with winning times against Otay Ranch on March 5 (16:44.67) and Olympian on March 19 (15:44).
Bonita Vista edged host Otay Ranch, 27-28, as Salt and senior teammate Sequoia Kriss notched a 1-2 sweep. Salt and Kriss finished 1-2 in their team’s season-ending 24-32 win at Olympian.
Otay Ranch engineered a 1-2-3 finish in an 18-39 win at Olympian on March 12. Arredondo was first across the finish line in 16:06.8, followed by Fuerte in second place in 16:07.4 and Franke in third place in 16:16.8.
Wohlford (17:34.20), Shorey (17:37.16) and Juden (17:42.85) finished 1-2-3 as the Mustangs stepped past Bonita Vista, 22-35, in a boys dual matchup. Junior Pierce Manson led the Barons in fourth place with a time of 17:43.88.
Manson posted the top finish among 15 runners as Bonita Vista defeated host Olympian on March 19 to close out the season. The Barons tallied the top three place-finishers in the encounter.
Olympian junior Nathaniel Loving (17:32.2) scored medalist honors in the Eagles’ March 12 matchup against visiting Otay Ranch. Wohlford (17:41.4) finished second among the 19 individuals for the Mustangs, who placed five of the top six individuals.
Winners circle
Chula Vista finished undefeated in Metro-South Bay League girls duals while San Ysidro swept both the boys and girls league titles in the Metro-Pacific League.
Otay Ranch (2-1) finished runner-up in the Metro-Mesa League boys standings while Bonita Vista (2-1) finished runner-up in the Metro-Mesa League girls standings.
Hilltop (2-1) finished runner-up in the Metro-South Bay League girls standings.
Runners of the Year
Though no official selections were made, it should be noted that Hilltop juniors Nicole and Jimmy Byland, Bonita Vista’s Salt and Eastlake’s Martinez all went undefeated in their three league races.
Go green
Hilltop’s boys team faced off its season with a 15-low score win over visiting Chula Vista on March 5 and followed with an 18-39 win over Mater Dei Catholic on March 12. The Lancers scored the top five place-finishers in their final league dual against Sweetwater on March 19.
Jimmy Byland christened the new 5K Hilltop course with a winning time of 16:34 in the dual encounter against Chula Vista. He set new course records in each of the following two weeks: 16:04 against Mater Dei Catholic and 16:00 against Sweetwater.
Nicole Byland set a new girls course record at 14:41 in the dual meet against Mater Dei Catholic, a 25-31 victory for the Lady Lancers. Byland started the season with a 15:04 time on the 2.31-mile course in a 26-33 loss to Chula Vista. She timed 14:43 in her team’s final dual meet against Sweetwater.
Mustangs have high hopes as 2021 fall cross country season set to step off
The 2021 high school cross country season steps off Aug. 21 with the Vaquero Stampede, followed by the Bronco Round-up on Aug. 28, the Canyon Crest Academy Ravens Fleet Feet San Diego Invitational on Sept. 4, the Ian Cumming/Tim Latham Invitational Sept. 10, the Mt. Carmel/ASICS Invitational on Sept. 18 and the Dana Hills Invitational on Sept. 25.
The dual meet league season starts Oct. 1.
Runners to watch for the Otay Ranch Mustangs this season include Austin Parise (12), Leila Fuerte (12), Aydan Wohlford (12), Salma Franke (11), Chris Harvie (11), Elicia Arredondo (12), Daniel Kim (12), Lauren Medina (12), David Soriano (12), Alyssa Balitaan (12), Diego Vizcarra (12), Alicia Parise (10), Ethan Morales (12), Vivian Medina (10), Jacob Juden (11), Paulina Santana (10), Jake Shorey (11), Sofia Estrada Flores (11), Nathan Nouvong (11), Serena Villalpondo (11), Neil Griffin (11), Rodolfo Baza (11), Ruben Baza (12) and Zach Shorey (10).
“This year will be a challenge for all, trying to work back to normalcy,” Otay Ranch coach Julian Valdez said. “I fully expect both genders to push for championships. However, we are fully aware of the strong competition in the league. There will be no easy wins for any group. Luckily, both the boys and the girls will have strong leadership.
“New invitationals early on will be a good test to see where we truly are as a team. If things fall into place, these kids should be hanging banners in the gym. Together as a family they will work.”
