The cross country season stepped off last Saturday on an opportunistic note for Otay Ranch High School as the Mustangs swept a non-league dual meet at San Ysidro High School.
“After 350 days of no competition, the Mustangs competed against a strong San Ysidro program,” Otay Ranch coach Julian Valdez said with an air of pride in his voice.
Indeed, it’s been a long time in returning to the competition course.
The Mustangs defeated the Cougars, 19-43, in the boys dual and 18-39 in the girls dual.
Aydan Wohlford clocked 17:27 to win the 3.28-mile boys race while Elicia Arredondo ran 16:15 over 2.46 miles to win the girls race.
Both are juniors and varsity returners.
It was an exceptionally strong season debut for the Mustangs in both gender fields.
Otay Ranch recorded five of the top six finishers in the boys race, including three of the top four. Overall, the Mustangs placed eight runners among the top 10 finishers.
Following Wohlford across the finish line were sophomore Jake Shorey (third, 17:40), junior Daniel Kim (fourth, 18:08), sophomore Jacob Juden (fifth, 18:21), senior Grant Bice (sixth, 18:30) and junior Diego Vizcarra (seventh, 18:33). Junior David Soriano finished ninth in 19:15, followed by sophomore Christopher Harvie (10th, 19:17) and senior Dominic Garza (11th, 19:17).
Thirteen runners competed in the race. Senior Jacen Salvador finished 13th in 20:20 to round up the 10 Mustangs on the course.
San Ysidro runners placed second, eighth and 12th in the scoring column. Senior Misssael Felix was the top finisher for the Cougars.
The girls race featured a 14-deep field, with Otay Ranch scoring the top four finishers and six of the top 10.
The top four place-finishers included Arredondo, sophomore Salma Franke (second, 16:25), junior Lauren Medina (third, 16:34) and senior Autumn Filson (fourth, 16:48).
Senior Skylar Pires finished eighth in 17:36. Otay Ranch placed the final five runners in the race. Junior Alyssa Balitaan finished 10th in 18:07, followed by freshman Vivian Medina (11th, 18:17), sophomore Serena Villapando (12th, 18:40), freshman Alicia Parise (13th, 18:57) and junior Allison Balitaan (14th, 19:59).
Valdez said the pandemic has united his team in spirit.
“Different year, but united we go as a family,” he said.
Chula Vista stepped off its season against west side rival Sweetwater last Friday at Otay Ranch High School. Sweetwater and Chula Vista both did not have enough runners to score in the boys meet but the CV girls did have enough numbers to score against a depleted Sweetwater team.
The Spartans are set to collide with a strong Hilltop team this Friday on the Lancers’ home course as the teams vie for supremacy in the South Bay League.
