The on-going incredible saga of Eastlake High School freshman Jaelyn Williams continued at last Saturday’s California state cross country championship meet in Fresno with a fourth-place individual finish in the Division I girls race.
Williams, the top female finisher at this year’s Metro Conference finals and the reigning Metro-Mesa League girls varsity champion, was just hoping to qualify for this year’s state meet when she sped past most of the field at this year’s section championship meet on Nov. 12 to indeed accomplish the deed.
Williams traded in her third-place finish at the Division I girls section finals for a fourth-place finish at the ensuing state meet to continue her amazing season.
In turn, Poway junior Tessa Buswell traded in her second-place finish at the section finals for a state championship in the Division I girls race. Buswell timed 17:25.0 on the 5K course at hallowed Woodward Park to finish first in the 177-deep field while Williams’ fourth-place finish in the landed two San Diego runners among the top four individual place-finishers.
Buchanan senior Grace Hutchison placed second in 17:30.3 while Corona Santiago sophomore Rylee Blade was third in 17:36.5.
Williams finished just three seconds out of third place. She timed three seconds ahead of fifth-place finisher Sierra Cornett, a sophomore from state champion Buchanan.
Williams finished as the top freshman in the race.
Overall, three San Diego runners finished in the top 15 as Del Norte sophomore Emily Russo placed 14th in 18:12.6. Russo had placed fourth at the section finals.
“She ran the exact time that she wanted to which we hoped would be good enough to medal,” EHS coach David Koopman said. “Her fourth-place finish is the best for an individual from Eastlake High School. She will be competing in the Nike national cross championships Saturday in Oregon.”
Buchanan, with four of the top 11 finishers, won the Division I girls team championship in runaway fashion with 40 points to runner-up Oak Ridge’s 158 points. Clovis North was third with 161 points while Del Norte was fourth with 166 points.
Torrey Pines finished sixth with 178 points.
Del Norte (54 points), Torrey Pines (60 points), Canyon Crest Academy (100 points) and Eastlake (121 points) were the top four teams at the Division I section race.
The Metro Conference qualified three individuals for last weekend’s state meet. San Ysidro senior Daycia Fielden placed 111th (20:13.6) in the 202-deep Division II girls race while High Tech High Chula Vista senior Aidan Stirk (17:27) placed 112nd in the 201-deep Division V boys field.
Fielden qualified for the state meet as the eighth-place finisher at the Division II section finals was Stirk finished ninth in his division at the section finals.
Number one
Liberty Charter senior Micah Sanchez joined Poway’s Buswell as an individual champion at this year’s state meet to define section royalty.
Sanchez (15:13.8) won the Division V boys race in commanding fashion with an 11-second margin over Menlo senior Justin Petre (15:24.6).
The Liberty Charter runner pulled away on the course’s lone hill with about a mile to go in the race to claim victory without a challenge.
Besides the two division individual champions, the San Diego section also recorded two runner-up individual finishers: La Costa Canyon junior Gioana Lopizzo (17:41.5, Division III girls) and La Jolla freshman Chiara Dailey (17:27.3, Division IV girls).
Cathedral Catholic held off University City 128-30 to engineer a two-three section team finish in the Division III girls race.
Newbury Park senior Lex Young recorded the top boys time inclusive of all divisions in 14:28 in winning the Division II boys race while Ventura sophomore Sadie Englehardt was the top girls performer with a time of 16:58 to win the Division II race.
PHOTO/PHILLIP BRENTS
Eastlake High School freshman Jaelyn Williams has been accustomed to running away from the pack the entire 2022 cross country season.
Metro Conference Cross Country All-League Teams
Boys Varsity
Metro-Mesa League
FIRST TEAM
Angel Cordero (Olympian)
Jake Shorey (Otay Ranch)
Trevor Santiago (Eastlake)
Andrew Campbell (Olympian)
Sebastian Aranda (Bonita Vista)
Christopher Harvie (Otay Ranch)
Neil Griffin (Otay Ranch)
Rodolfo Baza (Otay Ranch)
Brady Albright (Eastlake)
Sinjin Torga Eide (Otay Ranch)
RUNNER OF THE YEAR
Angel Cordero (Olympian)
TEAM CHAMPION
Otay Ranch High School
SECOND TEAM
Ramon Ramirez (Otay Ranch)
Joaquin Gutierrez (Olympian)
Joshua Hoffman (Bonita Vista)
Zachary Shorey (Otay Ranch)
Darin Halverson (Eastlake)
Mason Markham (Bonita Vista)
Diego Navarrete Ocampo (Eastlake)
Anthony Estrella (Olympian)
Alex Callihan (Bonita Vista)
Kaden Williams (Eastlake)
Metro-South Bay League
FIRST TEAM
Joshua Dunphy (Mater Dei Catholic)
Matteo Garcia (Sweetwater)
David Castillo (Sweetwater)
Carlos Aldrete (Mater Dei Catholic)
Javier Lopez (San Ysidro)
Domenico Kelley (Sweetwater)
Adrian Orozco (Sweetwater)
Brandon Guerrero (San Ysidro)
Isaac Noriega (Chula Vista)
Hugo Gutierrez (Castle Park)
RUNNER OF THE YEAR
Joshua Dunphy (Mater Dei Catholic)
TEAM CHAMPION
Sweetwater High School
SECOND TEAM
Oswaldo Pina (Chula Vista)
Diego Flores-Lopez (Mater Dei Catholic)
Luis Romero (San Ysidro)
Luis Mejia (Hilltop)
Bryan Rodriguez Thayer (Sweetwater)
Carlos Navarro (Mater Dei Catholic)
Carlos Chavez (Mater Dei Catholic)
Leonardo Lunam (San Ysidro)
Declan Moore (Mater Dei Catholic)
Benjamin Altamirano (Sweetwater)
Metro-Pacific League
FIRST TEAM
Nathan Lopez (Southwest)
Andrew Lopez (Southwest)
Rael Agraz (Southwest)
Divad Diaz (Southwest)
Ivan Cervantes (Southwest)
Andres Silva (Southwest)
Andres Ramirez (Southwest)
Josh Figueroa Martinez (Montgomery)
Joshua Nungaray Martinez (Chula Vista)
Pedro Aguilar (Castle Park)
RUNNER OF THE YEAR
Nathan Lopez (Southwest)
TEAM CHAMPION
Southwest High School
SECOND TEAM
Sebastian Murtaugh (Mar Vista)
Julio Garcia (Castle Park)
Julian Scharr (Mar Vista)
Ronny Nguyen (Montgomery)
Joshua Gonzalez (Montgomery)
Xavion Ladio (Montgomery)
Jude Gamba (Mar Vista)
Luis Cisneros (Mar Vista)
Sergio Enriquez (Montgomery)
Lucas Huniche (Montgomery)
Girls Varsity
Metro-Mesa League
FIRST TEAM
Jaelyn Williams (Eastlake)
Amanda Chalburg (Eastlake)
Thalia Stach (Eastlake)
Aviva DeVore (Otay Ranch)
Vanessa Vuong (Eastlake)
Rei Fulinara (Bonita Vista)
Renee Khuong (Bonita Vista)
Cameron Cruz (Eastlake)
Leiani Wilson (Bonita Vista)
Solana Kitamura (Eastlake)
RUNNER OF THE YEAR
Jaelyn Williams (Eastlake)
TEAM CHAMPION
Eastlake High School
SECOND TEAM
Alicia Parise (Otay Ranch)
Vanessa Galvan (Olympian)
Zaira Padilla (Otay Ranch)
Isabel Lara (Olympian)
Olympia Jara (Bonita Vista)
Ivanna Ruiz (Olympian)
Aloha Espiritu (Eastlake)
Cadence Jochimsen (Otay Ranch)
Serena Villalpando (Otay Ranch)
Paulina Hornedo (Bonita Vista)
Metro-South Bay League
FIRST TEAM
Daycia Fielden (San Ysidro)
Tamara Cornejo (Hilltop)
Melanie Arzola (Sweetwater)
Savannah DiBenedetto (Hilltop)
Keira Baranski (Mater Dei Catholic)
Giselle Ornelas (Hilltop)
Alexi Montoya (Sweetwater)
Analee Martinez (Hilltop)
Cassidy Muraoka (Chula Vista)
Abigail Costello (Hilltop)
RUNNER OF THE YEAR
Daycia Fielden (San Ysidro)
TEAM CHAMPION
Hilltop High School
SECOND TEAM
Natalia Ramirez (Hilltop)
Lauren Kirkland (Mater Dei Catholic)
Emma Martinez (San Ysidro)
Bianca Ramos (Chula Vista)
Sara Clark (Mater Dei Catholic)
Angelique Vo (Mater Dei Catholic)
Dubhe Motta (Chula Vista)
Yashley Gomez (Sweetwater)
Aadi Simmons (Hilltop)
Glennis Lopez (Chula Vista)
Metro-Pacific League
FIRST TEAM
Diana Loredo (Southwest)
Sonoma Wines (Southwest)
Jazmine Coronel (Castle Park)
Mikenna Grosse (Mar Vista)
Roxana Aguilera Meza (Southwest)
Victoria Daniela Roiz (Southwest)
Emily Tiscareno (Mar Vista)
Sherlyn Gutierrez (Mar Vista)
Alina Gomez (Mar Vista)
Arely Pina (Southwest)
RUNNER OF THE YEAR
Diana Loredo (Southwest)
TEAM CHAMPION
Southwest High School
SECOND TEAM
Marely Ramirez (Southwest)
Fiona Thomas (Mar Vista)
Karen Morales (Montgomery)
Mya Robinson (Mar Vista)
Jessica Hernandez Lopez (Mar Vista)
Angie Tec (Southwest)
Lauren Jacobo (Montgomery)
Team champion
Hilltop High School
