Hilltop High School freshman Noah Rosenberg received the school’s first student-athlete of the week award after recording a 12th-place finish in the Division II boys frosh/soph race at the season opening El Capitan Vaquero Stampede on Aug. 25 in Lakeside.
Rosenberg recorded the second-best time of 9:07 in the 1.65-mile race for a Metro Conference runner, trailing Bonita Vista freshman Samuel Hernandez (fifth, 8:43) in the 159-deep field.
For his effort, he received a printed certificate and mention on the Hilltop Athletics Facebook site.
“It felt really nice to receive the award,” Rosenberg said. “I was surprised, to be honest. I didn’t even know they had the award. I was really proud to get it. I want to keep pushing myself from here.”
The Hilltop freshman proved his first race was no fluke by finishing fifth overall among 141 freshman runners in the ensuing West Hills Wolf Pack Invitational on Aug. 31. Rosenberg timed 8:40 on the 1.5-mile course, trailing Southwest’s Ivan Gomez (third, 8:39) for top honors among South County runners in the race.
Rosenberg continued to impress after recording a meteoric 13th individual place finish in 19:03.3 in the 2.95-mile Division II freshman race at last Saturday’s Mt. Carmel/Asics Invitational at Morley Field. He was the top Metro Conference finisher in the 211-deep field.
Rosenberg, whose father Rodger is a marathon runner, began running at Hilltop Middle School. “It’s been mostly me running on my own; I have a passion for it,” the Hilltop freshman said. “This is my first time being on a team. Running at middle school, my goal was to go fast, get a PR every day. But these seniors are a lot faster. My goal now is to try to pick them off one by one.”
Hilltop coach Chris Gentry sees the younger Rosenberg challenging for a state-qualifying berth by his junior and senior years.
“As a freshman, he probably has the best time at Hilltop in the last 10 years,” Gentry assessed. “Right now, he’s our No. 4 runner — there are two seniors and one junior ahead of him.
“He’s a good role model (for the team). He’s pushing the other freshmen. In two or three years, this team will be dynamite.”
Though Rosenberg fell back early due to an injury in Friday’s 45th annual South Bay Invitational at Rohr Park, it was time for Hilltop’s team to shine by posting a third-place team finish in the boys frosh/soph division.
Hilltop finished with 133 team points in the standings, trailing team champion Francis Parker (73 points) and runner-up Point Loma (79 points). Santana finished fourth with 150 points.
Rosenberg covered the course in 19:05 to place 25th among 274 individuals in the 5K race, still outstanding by any standard. However, the young Lancer squad proved it was not a one-man team as four freshman finished among the team’s top five scorers in the race.
Freshman Miguel Tisnado led the Lancers with a solid sixth-place finish among individuals in 18:14, followed by sophomore Oscar Cornejo (17th, 18:39), Rosenberg, freshman Jimmy Blyland (33rd, 19:19) and freshmen Eddie Castaneda (57th, 19:54) to round out the team’s five scorers.
Olympian (183 points) edged Otay Ranch (184 points) by one point to secure a sixth-place team finish in the race.
The Sept. 21 meet also featured 5K boys junior varsity and varsity races and 2.5-mile girls junior varsity and varsity races.
Hilltop is scheduled to return to the race course with a Sept. 28 Mesa League dual meet at Otay Ranch High School.
SOUTH BAY INVITATIONAL AWARDS:
- Varsity Races: Team trophies to 1st-2nd-3rd place teams (boys and girls divisions).
- Medals to top seven runners on 1st-2nd-3rd place teams.
- Medals to first 35 individual runners.
- Junior Varsity Races: Team trophy to 1st-2nd place teams (boys and girls divisions).
- Medals to top seven runners on 1st-2nd place teams.
- Medals to first 35 individuals in boy’s race and 50 in girl’s race.
- Frosh-Soph Boys Race:
- Medals to top 7 runners on the 1st-2nd place teams.
- Medals to first 35 runners.
Add Mt. Carmel Invitational
Defending San Diego Section Division I champion Bonita Vista returned to the Morley Field course with a 14th-place finish out of 28 teams in the Division I senior boys race, ninth-place finish out of 23 teams in the junior boys race, 23rd-place finish out of 25 teams in the sophomore boys race and 16th-place finish out of 21 teams in the freshman boys race.
“This format, races by grade, doesn’t suit us as well as the normal format, which is probably true for most teams,” BVHS coach Dan Kettlehake said.
Among senior boys, Jonathan Kelly placed 34th on the 2.95-mile course in 16:40, while teammates Christian Salt placed 39th in 16:47 and Christian Mason placed 90th (out of 262 runners) in 17:52.
The Division I junior boys race featured 222 runners. BV leaders included Gustavo Vazquez (19th in 17:10) and Noah Nafarrete (20th in 17:10).
The Division I freshman boys race included 211 runners. For the Barons, Enrique Aranda finished 17th in 18:35.
Among Division I sophomore girls on the 2.75-mile course, BV’s Sequoia Kriss finished 19th in 18:47 in the 155-deep field. Meanwhile, Lauren Salt finished 27th in 19:07 in the field of 135 freshman girls runners.
Otay Ranch finished ninth among Division I freshman boys teams while Eastlake was 10th. Otay Ranch was 12th in the sophomore boys race.
Sweetwater finished fifth among Division I junior boys teams, followed by Otay Ranch in sixth place.
Among Division I individuals:
Sweetwater’s Jose Galvan finished 11th in the Division I junior boys race in 16:50.9, followed by Otay Ranch’s Colby Parise in 18th place in 17:09.5.
San Ysidro’s Missael Felix finished 19th in the Division I sophomore boys race in 17:32.6.
Hilltop finished fifth among teams in the Division II freshman boys race while Southwest was 10th among teams in the Division II senior boys race.
Among Division II individuals:
Southwest’s Esteban Magana finished ninth in the senior boys race in 16:54.2 while High Tech High junior Drake Prince was 11th in 17:02.7.
Hilltop’s Miguel Tisnado was 14th in the freshman boys race in 19:10.1, just a second behind teammate Rosenberg.
Otay Ranch finished sixth among Division I junior girls teams while Eastlake finished eighth among sophomore girls teams. Otay Ranch finished 10th among senior girls teams.
Among Division I individuals:
Olympian’s Mariana Beltran-Picos finished fifth overall among senior girls in 16:21.9 while Eastklake’s Luz Mercado place 10th in 16:38.2 in the 159-deep field.
Eastlake’s Meg Bailey finished 19th in the junior girls race in 18:13.2 while Olympian’s Rosanna Javier was 20th in 18:16.0.
Hilltop finished ninth in the Division II freshman girls team standings while Castle Park finished ninth among junior girls teams.
Among Division II individuals:
Mater Dei Catholic’s Natalie Chavaria finished 11th in the senior girls race in 18:38l.1.
Mater Dei Catholic’s Amalia Koch placed 16th in the sophomore girls race in 18:57.4.
Mater Dei Catholic’s Christine Carey placed 20th in the junior girls race in 18:21.0 while Castle Park’s Estela Bustillos finished 23rd in 18:36.3.
