The best of South County made its presence felt at this year’s San Diego Section cross country finals to punch tickets to this weekend’s state championship meet.
Though no local teams qualified to compete at Saturday’s state finals in Fresno, that did not stop Eastlake senior Joshua Williams, Mater Dei Catholic junior Salvador Rodriguez, Chula Vista High Tech freshman Donovan Prince, Otay Ranch senior Darla Osuna and Eastlake freshman Leyla McFarland from advancing as individual qualifiers.
Osuna was the highest place-finisher among Metro Conference runners by recording a second-place finish in the Division I girls field while McFarland, this year’s Mesa League champion, placed fifth in the same field of 125 runners.
Osuna, who finished second to McFarland at the league finals, timed 16:51 on the 2.78-mile course at Morley Field to become a three-time state meet qualifier. Osuna placed 22 seconds behind race winner Jacqueline Garner, a senior from Torrey Pines.
McFarland timed 17:15 – 24 seconds behind Osuna. The Eastlake frosh sensation finished with the same time as San Marcos sophomore Paige Carter. The pair finished 10 seconds behind San Marcos senior Hailey Morejon, who finished four seconds behind Osuna.
Osuna and McFarland were the only female runners from Metro teams to advance to the state meet.
Rodriguez sewed up his second consecutive trip to the state meet with a fourth-place individual finish in the Division IV boys race. Rodriguez qualified last year along with his team, though the Crusaders weren’t able to duplicate that feat this year. Rodriguez timed 17:14 on the 3.04-mile course. He finished 14 seconds behind race winner Erik Armes, a senior from Coronado. Rodriguez finished 11 seconds behind runner-up Adrian Monzon, a junior from Valley Center, and four seconds behind Valley Center junior Austin Reser, the third-place finisher in the 111-deep race.
Prince finished 12th in the Division IV boys field with a time of 17:38 – good enough to secure the second-to-last individual qualifying berth.
Williams notched the fastest time among Metro male state meet qualifiers at 16:58 to place fourth in the Division I boys race. Williams, the second-place finisher at the preceding Mesa League finals, placed 38 seconds behind race-winner Nathon Williams, a senior from Carlsbad, and 34 seconds behind runner-up Tre Waters, a senior from Mission Hills. Williams tied Carlsbad senior Jack Conklin with a 16:58 time, with Waters awarded third place and Williams awarded fourth place at the finish line.
Top of the class
The fastest boys race of the day was in Division II where Westview senior Trevor Siniscalchi won in 16:03 ahead of classmate Alex Tucker (second, 16:09).
Mesa League champion Olympian finished seventh in the team standings with 161 points – one point behind sixth-place Steele Canyon but 30 points behind fifth-place Mt. Carmel. Four teams overall qualified to advance to the state meet in a power-packed showing. Westview topped the field with 85 points, followed by runner-up La Costa Canyon (89 points) and third-place finisher Rancho Bernardo (105 points) and fourth-place finisher San Pasqual (122 points).
Olympian sophomore Diego Arriola finished 20th among Division II individuals but actually recorded the fastest time (16:57) recorded on the day among all Metro harriers, inclusive of all divisions.
Olympian senior Sydnet Leverett, the Mesa League boys individual champion, finished right behind Arriola in 21st place in 17:02. Two other Eagles teammates managed to break the top third of the 127-deep field: junior Nathan Sanchez (27th, 17:10) and senior Fil Punzalan (32nd, 17:19).
Olympian finished 20-21-27-32-61 in team scoring.
Bonita Vista finished 14th in the Division II boys field with 344 points, followed by Mesa League rival Hilltop (16th, 455 points).
Otay Ranch finished seventh among teams in the Division I boys field with 221 points. The Mustangs, who placed runner-up to Olympian at the Mesa League finals, finished 22-25-47-48-79 in team scoring at the division finals.
Juniors Rodrigo Baza (17:27) and Ryan Velasquez (17:33) were Otay Ranch’s top placers. Chula Vista senior Cristian Baez finished 40th in 17:47 to finish in the top third of the 128-deep race.
Eastlake placed 11th among Division I boys teams with 259 points. The Titans finished 4-52-64-67-72 in team scoring.
Chula Vista finished 16th with 438 points while South Bay League champion Sweetwater finished 19th among teams with 532 points. The Red Devils competed without South Bay League individual champion Carlos Aviles, who injured his foot in helping his team secure the top team finish at the league finals.
Mission Hills (first, 92 points) and Carlsbad (second, 100 points) grabbed the top two state qualifying berths in the Division I boys race.
Three teams advanced to the state meet in the Division IV boys race: Valley Center (first, 23 points), Sage Creek (second, 71 points) and High Tech High (third, 85 points). Mater Dei Catholic placed fifth with 142 points – one point behind fourth-place La Jolla – but well out of the race for state.
The Crusaders totaled four runners in the top third of the field. Sophomore Juan Pablo Villegas was 19th among individuals in 18:13, sophomore Luis Humerto Cerna-Gomez was 24th in 18:24 while junior Joseph Chiappe was 37th in 18:47.
Mater Dei Catholic finished 4-19-24-36-59 in team scoring.
Chula Vista High Tech was 11th among Division IV boys teams, finishing 12-55-75-90-92 in team scoring.
Valley Center finished with a winning five-man spread of 25 seconds.
Other team champions in the boys field included Ramona (Division III) and La Jolla Country Day (Division V).
Southwest senior Sergio Castro was the top Metro place-finisher among Division III boys in 42nd place in 18:10, leading the Raiders to a ninth-place team finish. Mar Vista, led by sophomore Anthony Pimentel (59th, 18:59), finished 12th in the team standings – 72 points behind Southwest.
Girl powered
Six runners from Metro schools finished in the top third of the Division I girls field. Otay Ranch senior Alicia Huerta was 20th in 18:07, followed by the Eastlake trio of freshman Fiona Nielsen (33rd, 18:35), sophomore Emily Bonilla (35th, 18:43) and junior Celiese Zasueta (36th, 18:45).
Mesa League co-champion Eastlake finished sixth in team scoring: 5-33-35-36-67.
Otay Ranch finished seventh in team scoring: 2-20-50-53-60.
Sweetwater finished 18th among Division I girls teams.
Top local finishers in the Division II girls field included Hilltop senior Lorena Mendoza (24th, 17:55), Olympian senior Isabella Fernandez (41st, 18:17) and Bonita Vista junior Marleen Aranda (44th, 18:23).
Mesa League co-champion Bonita Vista finished 11th among teams with 283 points, followed by Olympian (13th, 327 points) and Hilltop (15th, 394 points).
Five teams advanced to the state meet in the talent-laden Division II girls field. Mt. Carmel paced the pack with 67 points, followed by La Costa Canyon (second, 80 points), Steele Canyon (third, 91 points), San Pasqual (fourth, 118 points) and Rancho Bernardo (fifth, 124 points). Mt. Carmel placed its five scorers among the top 22 runners.
Runners from Southwest, Castle Park and Mar Vista competed in the Division III girls race. South Bay League champion Southwest finished 10th among teams with 277 points while Mar Vista was 15th with 440 points.
Top individuals among local teams included Southwest sophomore Fabiola Gonzalez (25th, 19:08), Montgomery junior Karen Murillo (29th, 19:21) and Castle Park sophomore Liliana Hakim (30th, 19:27).
Cathedral Catholic (first, 43 points), Canyon Crest Academy (second, 66 points) and Del Norte (third, 67 points) topped the Division III girls field as state meet qualifiers.
Mater Dei Catholic finished 11th in the Division IV girls field with 285 points, followed by Chula Vista High Tech in 13th place with 371 points.
MDC sophomore Brighid Healy paced local runners with a time of 20:10 in 35th place (out of 104 finishers).
Coronado (first, 32 points) and Mission Vista (second, 90 points) both advanced to the state meet from the Division III girls race.
Chula Vista Learning Academy junior Sandra Loya-Estrada missed qualifying for the state meet by 17 seconds in the Division V girls race. She finished 13th among individuals in 19:16. Classmate Paola Rivera was 27th in 21:29 in the 99-deep field.
