The high school cross country season stepped off in a very positive way for South County teams at trhe Vaquero Stampede held Aug. 20 at El Capitan High School. Teams continued their success the following week at the Wolf Pack Invitational at West Hills High School.
Some highlights:
Bonita Vista High School’s frosh/soph team won the Division 2 race with a low score of 26 points, well ahead of runner-up Southwest’s 70 points. Sweetwater finished third with 80 points in an impressive 1-2-3 South County finish.
Sophomores Sebastian Aranda (first, 10:43), Julian Valdivia (fourth, 11:00), Adan Hurtado (eighth, 11:25), Dylan Funk (ninth, 11:28) and Joshua Hoffman (10th, 11:40) were the Barons’ five scoring runners in the two-mile race.
Overall, eight Metro Conference harriers placed among the top 10 finishers. Sweetwater sophomores Adrian Orozco (third, 10:55) and Matteo Garcia (fourth, 11:56) led the Red Devils while Southwest sophomore Andrew Lopez (sixth, 11:02) rounded out the South County contingent in the top 10.
Bonita Vista placed all five scorers in the top 10.
Chula Vista freshman Isaac Noriega (14th, 11:57), Bonita Vista sophomores Alex Callihan (16th, 11:58) and Aaron Tighe (17th, 12:00), Southwest sophomore Giancarlo Sison (18th, 12:12) and Bonita Vista freshman Mason Markham (19th, 12:12) all posted top 20 times in the 68-deep field.
The Barons continued their early season success by winning the sophomore boys race at the Wolf Pack Invitational with another good performance.
Additionally, Jose Godinez ran well in the junior/senior race at the Vaquero Stampede by finishing fifth with a time of 10:47, just ahead of Sweetwater senior David Castillo (10:56).
In other notables at the Vaquero Stampede:
Bonita Vista won the Division 2 girls frosh/soph division with a low score of 30 points. Olympia Jara (first, 13:14), Leiana Wilson (second, 13:19), Renee Khoung (seventh, 13:53), Morgan Murphy (11th, 14:23) and Ahryanna Leon (33rd, 18:02) comprised the Lady Barons’ scoring contingent in the 42-deep race.
Bonita Vista also won the Division 2 girls junior/senior race with a low score of 31 in a tight duel with Sweetwater (37 points) and Chula Vista (58 points). Rei Fulinara was the top finisher in the BV group in seventh place with time of 13:44. Hilltop junior Savannah diBenedetto (13:40) and senior teammate Tamara Cornejo (13:43) finished fifth and sixth, respectively, while Sweetwater junior Melanie Arzola (13:57) was eighth.
Rounding out Bonita Vista’s five scorers were senior Marena Lopez Martin (11th, 14:15), senior Kassidy Wakefield (20th, 15:46) and juniors Diana Contreras (25th, 17:12) and Sophia Chullino (28th, 17:38).
“We are a very young team with a lot of talented runners in the ninth and 10th grades, so if they keep keep training well and keep improving, the next few years should be good for us,” BVHS coach Dan Kettlehake said. “The Ian Cumming/Tim Latham Invitational (Sept. 9 at Rohr Park) will be a more competitive meet, so it will be good to see how our runners fare against some stronger teams.”
Off and running
The Vaquero Stampede featured three divisions divided into frosh/soph and junior/senior races. All races were two-mile distances.
Teams in the Black Division included Canyon Springs, Del Norte, Eastlake, El Capital, Grossmont, Liberty Charter (11/12), Otay Ranch, Patrick Henry, Poway, San Pasqual, Steele Canyon, Valhalla, Valley Center and Westview.
Teams in the Gold Division included Bonita Vista, Chula Vista, High Tech High San Diego, Hilltop, Liberty Charter (9/10), Mar Vista, Monte Vista, Mt. Miguel, Ramona, Santana, Southwest and Sweetwater.
Teams in the White Division included Army-Navy Academy, Bayfront Charter, Borrego Springs, Brawley, Castle Park, Christian, High Tech High Chula Vista, Holtville, Imperial, Julian, Mission Vista, San Ysidro, Santa Fe Christian and Southwest El Centro.
Eastlake won the Division 1 girls frosh/soph division with a low score of 51 points to runner-up Del Norte’s 64 points. The Lady Titans proved hard to beat by placing the top two scoring runners in the race: freshman Jaelyn Williams (first, 11:19) and sophomore Thalia Stach (second, 11:39). Eastlake additional scorers included sophomore Alexis Sepulveda (10th, 13:03), freshman Solana Kitamura (11th, 13:04) and freshman Andrea Prado-Tamayo (27th, 13:52). The field included 105 runners.
San Ysidro won the Division 3 boys junior/senior division with a seven-point edge over Mission Bay. High Tech High Chula Vista placed third.
HTH-CV senior Aidan Stirk finished third among the 59 individuals in the race with a time of 10:48. Bruins classmates Landon Eberly placed 13th in 12:16 while Adam Ramirez finished 20th in 12:44.
San Ysidro’s five scorers included senior Brandon Guerrero (fifth, 11:03), junior Javier Lopez (sixth, 11:04), senior Leonardo Luna (14th, 12:20) and seniors Sebastian Gomez (17th, 12:33) and Andres Orihela (18th, 12:38).
Southwest finished second in the Division 2 boys junior/senior division, followed by Hilltop (third), Bonita Vista (fourth), Sweetwater (fifth), Chula Vista (sixth) and Mar Vista (seventh). Ramona topped the South County-heavy field with a 12-point scoring margin over runner-up Southwest.
Senior Andres Ramirez (10th, 11:08) led Southwest in the 69-deep race while senior Malachi McCoy (11th, 11:24) was Hilltop’s top finisher. Overall, 10 South County runners finished in the top 20. They included Sweetwater junior Domenico Kelley (12th, 11:25), Southwest senior Rael Agraz (14th, 11:41), Southwest junior Divad Diaz (15th, 11:49), Hilltop senior Ivan Mendoza (17th, 11:51), Mar Vista junior Issac Guerrero (18th, 11:55) and Chula Vista junior Oswaldo Pina (20th, 12:19).
Hilltop finished second in the Division 2 girls frosh/soph division with 40 points — 10 points behind division winner Bonita Vista – while Chula Vista finished third with 55 points.
Sweetwater freshman Alexi Montoya (13:46) placed fourth as an individual, followed by Hilltop sophomores Carolina Villalpando (sixth, 13:51) and Abigail Costello (eighth, 14:04) and Chula Vista sophomores Cassidy Muraoka (ninth, 14:07) and Izabella Vargas (13th, 14:31).
Eastlake finished fifth in the Division 1 girls junior/senior division ahead of Mesa League rival Otay Ranch (eighth). Senior Amanda Challburg (11:54) led Eastlake with a second-place individual finish in the 73-deep field. Overall, the Lady Titans placed three runners among the top 10 individuals as junior Galia Salazar (12:04) finished fourth and junior Vanessa Vuong (12:34) finished eighth.
Otay Ranch finished fifth among the 12 scoring teams in the Division 1 boys frosh/soph race, followed by Eastlake in ninth place. Sophomore Xavier Jaramillo was Otay Ranch’s top finisher in 11th place in 11:05 while sophomore Dylan Peraza was Eastlake’s top finisher in 15th place in 11:14. The field included 127 runners.
Mar Vista finished sixth in the Division 2 boys frosh/soph division while Hilltop was seventh. Mar Vista sophomore Elias Samaha (13:09) finished 28th while Hilltop sophomore Leonardo Gonzalez Sandoval (13:22) finished 34th as the top runners from those two schools.
Eastlake finished eighth in the Division 1 boys junior/senior division while Otay Ranch was 10th among the 12 scoring teams paced by team champion Patrick Henry, runner-up Steele Canyon and third place Grossmont.
Junior Diego Navarrete Ocampo (25th, 10:29) was the top finisher for Eastlake in the 134-deep race while junior Ramon Ramirez (49th, 11:13) was the top finisher for Otay Ranch.
Though on non-scoring teams in the Division 3 girls/frosh/soph division, San Yisdro sophomore Emma Martinez (14:09) finished sixth among 46 individuals while High Tech High Chula Vista freshman Isabella Nazario (14:10) finished seventh.
Mustangs looking to impress on both sides in 2022
The Otay Ranch High School cross country program is coming off high-water marks from the 2021 season. The boys team captured the elite San Diego Section Division I championship title in the fall while the girls team regrouped to earn a share of the Mesa League track and field championship in the spring.
But it’s a new season and, in some instances, a new beginning.
“I’m very excited to see what these upper junior varsity boys and girls do to earn top seven spots on the team,” Mustang coach Julian Valdez said. “Our boys were section champions last year and many of our JV runners would have been impact runners on other teams, so we were very lucky to have that depth,” Valdez said. “This year will be a battle for them as to who earns those spots.
“On the girls side, they wrapped up the best season they have had since 2012 and return some impressive talent. The reality is that these girls want to compete and build on what they accomplished last season.
“The goal is always to be competitive and for these kids to fight for one another. Specifically, the boys hope to repeat their season they had last year and make a run at a third section championship in seven years, and with that earn another berth to the state meet.
“On the girls side, they hope to earn the school’s first cross country championship since the 2012 season, though they fully recognize the challenges that await. This program is much more than simply running. They have truly created a family within the school.”
Top returners on the boys team include seniors Jacob Juden, Jake Shorey, Ruben Baza, Neil Griffin, Chris Harvie, Nate Nouvong and Sinjin Torga Eide and juniors Zach Shorey, David Castellon, Kai Charles, Ramon Ramirez and Allen Soriano.
Jake Shorey finished third at last year’s varsity finals while Juden was seventh and Zach Shorey was 12th.
Harvie finished first at last year’s JV finals while Baza was fourth, Nouvong was eighth Castellon was ninth, Ramirez was 10th, Torga Eide was 13th, Charles was 14th and Soriano was 22nd.
Griffin has run 18:21 at the 5K distance.
The girls team remains young with three seniors: Giselle Guillen, Serena Villalpando and Cadence Jochimsen.
Top runners include juniors Paulina Santana, Ali Parise, Celeste Espinoza, Elizabeth Hernandez and Vivian Medina along with sophomore Aviva Devore.
Devore finished third at last year’s varsity finals while Santana was 15th and Parise was 22nd.
Villalpando finished ninth at last year’s JV finals while Medina finished 10th.
Espinoza is new to the team while Jochimsen is new to the school. Hernandez is new to the team from track and field. Guillen was a top 10 runner for the team last season.
“Celeste Espinoza, Elizabeth Hernandez and Cadence Jochimsen all will be in the running for top seven spots on the girls side,” Valdez said. “They have been pleasant additions to the program and have brought a lot to the table.
“On the boys side, we had one newcomer, Aiden Sparks, who transferred to us from Rhode Island. Aiden has made a seamless transition and we are very excited to see what he is able to do for us this upcoming season.”
