At midseason, the Bonita Vista Barons, Olympian Eagles and Otay Ranch Mustangs were ranked among the top three San Diego Section’s Division I boys teams. The Mustangs defeated both the Barons and Eagles in Mesa League dual meet competition and bested both hard-charging teams again at last Friday’s conference finals at Rohr Park to spirit away this year’s league championship.
Otay Ranch appears to be running its best as the season heads into the home stretch. Upcoming are Saturday’s San Diego Section finals (Nov. 19), followed the next week (Nov. 26) by the state championship meet in Fresno.
“We didn’t do so well at our own invitational (to face off the season in September) but after that, with the team’s hard work, it turned into a league championship,” Mustang head coach Ron Moore explained.
Otay Ranch finished with the top three individuals at last Friday’s league finals. Jeremiah Suzara captured first place with a time of 15:58 in the 5K race, followed by teammates Justin Mulvany (second, 16:04) and Cale Parise (third, 16:05). Suzara and Parisi are seniors; Mulvany is a sophomore.
Bonita Vista junior Isaiah Labra, a strong contender to win this year’s race, finished fourth in 16:20 while Olympian senior Diego Arriola finished fifth in 16:35.
A trio of Bonita Vista runners followed across the finish line to tighten up the score: junior Toshin Agbede was sixth in 16:52, junior Armando Campos was seventh in 16:57 and sophomore Jonathan Kelly was eighth in 16:58.
Olympian junior Nicholas Albro (ninth, 17:00) and Bonita Vista sophomore Christian Mason (10th, 17:02) rounded out this year’s All-Mesa League First Team.
The top 15 runners received all-league honors. Otay Ranch and Bonita Vista each finished with six all-league runners. The Mustangs’ 1-2-3 finish was too strong for the Barons to overcome as Otay Ranch claimed the league title 31-35 in the scoring column.
Olympian finished third with 76 points, followed by Eastlake in fourth place with 98 points, Mater Dei Catholic in fifth place with 144 points and Hilltop in sixth place with 169 points.
Medalists also included Eastlake senior Joshua (11th, 17:11), Otay Ranch senior Harold Thomas (12th, 17:12), Otay Ranch junior Giovanni Stone (13th, 17:17), Otay Ranch senior Evan LeDesma (14th, 17:29) and Bonita Vista senior Skyler Sherman (15th, 17:31).
All five of Bonita Vista’s scorers finished with first-team all-league honors.
Labra had finished in first place in the Barons’ 24-31 dual meet loss to Otay Ranch on Oct. 7 and had finished in second place to teammate Ethan Lamprecht in the boys junior race at September’s Dana Hills Invitational.
Chula Vista High School’s boys team also turned in an undefeated dual meet and league finals campaigns to secure the South Bay League championship.
The Spartans placed four runners among the top eight finishers to claim a 33-53 scoring edge over San Ysidro.
Chula Vista senior Cristian Alcantar (16:55) placed runner-up in the field to Southwest junior Jacob Fierro (16:48). The Spartans’ top five scorers also included senior Felix Torres (fourth, 17:54), junior Jose Jaques Payan (fifth, 18:01), senior Dante Covarrubias (eighth, 18:24) and junior Eduardo Flores (14th, 18:43).
Chula Vista recorded five all-league runners and four first-team all-league runners.
San Ysidro had four all-league runners and two first-team all-league runners. Junior Victor Raygoza placed third in 16:58 while senior Oswaldo Felix finished sixth in 18:04, followed by senior Joshua lares (12th, 18:34) and freshman Daniel Rodriguez (15th, 18:43).
Southwest, led by individual league champion Fierro, finished third in the team standings with 80 points.
Sweetwater, buoyed by first-team all-league runners Francisco Romero (seventh, 18:20) and Edwin Mejia (ninth, 18:25), finished fourth with 92 points.
Mar Vista senior Anthony Pimentel finished 10th in 18:29 to round out this year’s South Bay League First Team.
Medalists also included Montgomery senior Brian Rodriguez (11th, 18:33) and Sweetwater senior Jonathan Galvan (13th, 18:41).
Girls varsity
Eastlake ran to its fourth consecutive Mesa League title by out-pointing a talented Olympian team 41-50.
The result remained in doubt for some time as the top four runners who crossed the finish line were from different schools.
Olympian sophomore Mariana Beltran-Picos emerged as the top girl in Metro Conference — and the Mesa League individual champion — by finishing the 2.5-mile course in 15:28. Next across the finish line was Eastlake freshman Patricia Miessner in 15:36. Bonita Vista senior Natalie Medina finished third in 16:05, followed in fourth place by Hilltop senior Brianna Smith in 16:10.
The next group of four runners featured two more Olympian finishers but Eastlake charged hard from there by placing four runners in the top 10 compared to three for Olympian and five in the top 14. Olympian’s fifth scorer finished 20th.
“Olympian is a very talented team,” EHS program coach David Koopman said. “We did just enough to win.”
Eastlake junior Leyla McFarland finished sixth as her team’s second scorer in 16:24, followed by freshman Pia Davila (ninth, 16:29), senior Emily Bonilla (10th, 16:42) and Ana Manriquez Graf (14th, 17:12).
Olympian freshman Aylette Cisneros finished fifth in 16:20, Otay Ranch sophomore Yllana Casim finished seventh in 16:24 and Olympian junior Aly Martinez finished eighth in 16:25 to round out Mesa League First Team runners.
Medalists also included Otay Ranch freshman Micshilee Resendiz (11th, 16:54), Otay Ranch freshman Isabella Carvajal (12th, 16:56), Bonita Vista junior Milla Padilla (13th, 17:01) and Otay Ranch sophomore Adriana Horne (15th, 17:20).
Beltran-Picos said she set a goal on winning this year’s race.
“Coming down the hill I heard people yelling ‘Go Eastlake!’ and I knew I had to run faster,” she said.
Olympian finished third in team points with 75, followed by Bonita Vista in fourth place with 91, Hilltop in fifth place with 120 and Mater Dei Catholic with 153.
Castle Park senior Liliana Hakim won her third consecutive South Bay League title by completing the course in 16:21 – well ahead of Southwest senior Fabiola Gonzalez (second, 17:14) and Chula Vista sophomore Mya Thomas (third, 17:17).
Sweetwater, however, won the team championship by out-pointing runner-up Chula Vista 25-51 on the strength of placing all five of its scorers on the South Bay League First Team (all in order from fourth through eighth).
The Red Devils running rampage featured senior Ashley Barajas (17:45) in fourth place, freshman Gabriela Rodriguez (17:46) in fifth place, senior Dariela Herrada (18:08) in sixth place, freshman Monica Lona (18:24) in seventh place and sophomore Nicole Moran (18:38) in eighth place.
“We hadn’t won a banner in about eight years, so it was time to not just want it but to make it happen,” Barajas said.
Chula Vista freshman Cassandra Sanchez (ninth, 18:47) and Montgomery junior Jazmine Hernandez (10th, 18:57) rounded out the South Bay League First Team.
Medalists also included Southwest junior Maria Verdugo (11th, 18:57), Southwest freshman Galilea Palencia (12th, 19:04), Chula Vista junior Jessica Gracia (14th, 19:05), Southwest freshman Karen Valenzuela (14th, 19:09) and Chula Vista junior Aletse Sarabia (15th, 19:22).
Southwest finished in third place in the team standings with 52 points, followed by Montgomery in fourth place with 97 points and Mar Vista in fifth place with 127 points.
Junior varsity
Bonita Vista (boys) and Eastlake (girls) ran to Mesa League junior varsity team titles while Chula Vista swept both gender races in the South Bay League.
Eastlake freshman Nathalie Garcia captured top individual honors in the Mesa League JV race in 17:46 while Otay Ranch senior Juan Camacho won the Mesa League boys race in 17:36.
San Ysidro freshman Danielle Osuna won the South Bay League girls JV race in 18:36 while Chula Vista sophomore Kenneth Perez won the South Bay League boys JV race in 18:39.
The Mesa League boys JV race featured 152 finishers.
Breaking news:
Metro Conference state meet qualifiers/San Diego Section finals
Teams
Division I boys: 1. Otay Ranch, 2. Bonita Vista
Individuals
Division I girls: 4. Patricia Miessner (Eastlake) 16:59, 5. Mariana Beltran-Picios (Olympian) 17:01
Division III boys: 9. Jacob Fierro (Southwest) 16:52
