The Metro Conference cross country championship meet proved quite eventful last Friday for a quartet of teams vying to cement league titles. All four teams won their respective races to emerge on top of the field.
Bonita Vista captured the Mesa League boys team championship by scoring a meet low 30 points. The Barons placed all five of their scorers among the top 10 finishers, led by race winner Isaiah Labra, a senior.
Labra timed 16:02.34 to set a personal record on the on the 3.1-mile Rohr Park course. He let others do the work for the first half of the race, then took charge.
“When the opportunity presented itself, I took the lead,” he said. “Once you take the lead, you don’t want to relinquish it, you don’t want to let go or ease up. Once I took the lead, it was let’s push it all the way out, there was no room for doubt or fear.”
Labra finished two-and-a-half seconds ahead of Otay Ranch junior Justin Mulvany (16:04.92), who finished in second place, and six seconds ahead of Olympian senior Nicholas Albro (16:07.58), who finished third.
Four of the remaining top 10 slots were filled by Labra’s teammates: senior Armando Campos (fourth, 16:16.27), junior Mario Barone (fifth, 16:25.35), junior Christian Mason (seventh, 16:46.79) and junior Jonathan Kelly (10th, 16:48.53).
The top 10 finishers comprise the all-league first team.
Olympian freshman Justin Hoban (sixth 16:45.90), Eastlake senior Jeffrey Page (eighth, 16:47.97) and Otay Ranch senior Giovanni Stone (ninth, 16:48.37) rounded out this year’s Mesa League First Team.
Bonita Vista will be out to secure its second consecutive trip to the state meet at Saturday’s upcoming San Diego Section finals by placing among the top two teams in the Division I race.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” BVHS head coach Matt Seat explained. “We have an experienced squad in our top seven. We’ve had some success in the races we’ve really been keying for. We’ve been putting a big emphasis on the end of the season. Every race from now on is getting more exciting and faster. They’re going to be letting loose in the next couple weeks. We’re looking to make a big statement at CIF again.”
Southwest senior Jacob Fierro captured his second consecutive South Bay League individual boys championship by finishing in front of the field in 16:22.84. He was among three Raiders to earn all-league first team honors as Southwest won its first league championship since 1979.
“I’ve been training with these guys since my freshman year and have seen my team improve a lot,” Fierro said. “We’ve got some first-year runners; it’s good to see them improve a lot since July, even June. It’s feeling pretty great.”
San Ysidro sophomore Joshua Talamantes finished second among South Bay League runners in 16:48.91.
Southwest junior Esteban Magana finished third in 16:57.26, followed by Castle Park senior Andre Berry (fourth 16:59.23), Chula Vista senior Jose Jaques Payan (fifth, 17:30.92), Chula Vista senior Eduardo Flores (sixth, 17:35.16), Sweetwater sophomore Isai De Leon (seventh, 17:42.51), Mar Vista sophomore Sebastian Pimentel (eighth, 17:51.21), Sweetwater junior Lorenzo Martinez (ninth, 17:55.19) and Southwest senior Luis Lopez (10th, 17:57.42).
Girl power
Eastlake sophomore Patricia Miessner won the Mesa League individual girls title in 15:01.08 on the 2.5-mile course. She placed 31 seconds ahead of runner-up Mariana Beltran-Picos, a junior from Olympian, who timed 15:32.91.
Beltran-Picos beat Miessner for last year’s league title.
Olympian placed five runners among the top 10 finishers to claim the league championship to complete an undefeated season.
The Lady Eagles topped Otay Ranch 30-47 in the scoring column at the league finals.
Olympian’s all-league first team runners also included freshman Mia Silva (fifth, 16:05.58), sophomore Aylette Cisneros (sixth, 16:19.76), sophomore Rosanna Javier (eighth, 16:38.89) and freshman Keerstin Augustin (ninth, 16:41.70).
Otay Ranch junior Yllana Casim finsihed third in 16:02.68, followed by Eastlake sophomore Pia Davila in fourth place in 16:04.17.
South Bay League team champion Chula Vista placed all seven of its runners among the top 10 finishers to make a statement for dominance.
Junior Mya Thomas led the group in 17:02.56, followed by freshmen Elvia Lara (second, 17:14.28), Kelly Garcia (third, 17:18.64) and Clarissa Hoffas (sixth, 18:06.82), seniors Jessica Gracia (seventh, 18:07.64) and Emely Gracia (ninth, 18:18.41) and junior Cassandra Sanchez (10th, 18:35.63).
