Six South County runners qualified to compete in this year’s California state cross country championships Nov. 30 at Woodward Park in Fresno. Five of them took the course, with three recording personal record times.
Two finished as the top San Diego Section runner in their respective races to earn extra accolades.
High Tech High Chula Vista senior Drake Prince, a three-time state meet qualifier, came away highly decorated with a third place medal in the Division V boys race after completing the 5K course in 15:44.2.
Prince qualified for the state meet after placing fifth at the San Diego Section finals Nov. 23 at Balboa Park’s Morley Field.
He didn’t finish far from winning the race in Fresno.
St. Margaret’s junior Jackson Adelman captured the top time in the 202-deep race in 15:39.9, followed by College Preparatory senior Jacob Lehmann Duke in second place in 15:43.0.
Prince finished 1.2 seconds out of second place and just 4.3 seconds off the winning time. Prince’s 5K time was a personal record.
“My goals were to go top 10 and earn a medal and break 16 minutes — I ended up preforming at lot better than expected,” Prince said. “The first mile I ran very relaxed. The second mile I tired to work my way to the front pack.
“While I worked my way up, most of that pack dropped off leaving only four of us, with me in third.”
Needless to say, Prince made history at the school.
“We are extremely proud of Drake,” said HTH Chula Vista cross country coach Dan Prince, the runner’s father. “His work ethic and dedication are second to none. He has not missed a workout in over two years. No excuses … rain or shine.
“If he had a schedule conflict and has to wake up at 3:30 a.m. to get the workout in, he will … Fun, crazy and determined are three words that describe him.”
The Division V boys race proved to be a highlight for the San Diego Section with a 3-4-5 finish by county runners. Francis Parker sophomore Kenan Pala finished fourth in 15:46.1 while Maranatha Christian senior Riley Burns finished fifth in 15:48.7.
The three runners finished a stride apart at the finish line.
Pala won the Division V race at the section finals while Burns finished second.
Prince made up significant ground on both adversaries at the state meet after placing 38 seconds behind Pala and 24 seconds behind Burns at the division finals.
The Chula Vistan also made up significant ground on his previous forays in Fresno. He finished 82nd at the state meet as a junior and 119th as a sophomore.
Prince made the trek to Fresno with Bruins teammate Aiden Ramirez, a fellow senior. Ramirez finished 70th in 17:09.4.
Ramirez had finished ninth at the section finals to qualify for the state meet.
The younger Prince said it was great having a teammate to compete alongside.
“Having him at practice the week leading up to state helped me work even harder,” Prince said. “It was amazing to have someone to share the experience with, and I am so proud of him and his hard work.
“This overall performance motivates me for the track season because it shows that I can preform well at a high level meet. I am so excited to get back to training. My goal is to win the 800m state title. It will take a lot of work, but I am ready for the challenge.”
Red alert
Sweetwater senior Jose Galvan, who finished fifth at the section finals to qualify for the state meet, also upped his local competition by recording the top time among Division I boys qualifiers at the state meet.
Galvan finished 18th in the 178-deep field in Fresno as the top San Diego Section runner with a time of 15:26.6.
He won a duel at the finish line with Mira Mesa junior Jyden Schmid (19th, 15:26.6). Schmid had finished third at the section finals.
El Camino senior Antonio Dinis, who finished second at the section finals, crossed the finish line at the state meet in 31st place in 15:37.0.
San Diego senior Henry McClish, this year’s Division I section champion, finished 33rd at the state meet in 15:37.3.
Galvan had a very good day in Fresno, posting an 11-second win over McClish, who had bettered the SuHi runner’s time at the section finals by 16 seconds. Galvan’s time for a 5K was a personal best.
“He ran phenomenal, super race,” Sweetwater coach Craig Balsley said of Galvan. “I think he proved to San Diego that he is the top runner. There were some races where he had a hiccup, such as at CIF, where he expected to be first or second. Both at state and Foot Locker, he ran an amazing 4:57 pace. He peaked at the right time.”
Galvan and McClish dueled one more time before their season was finally over by competing in last Saturday’s Foot Locker West Region championships in Walnut.
Galvan was again the local hero on the course by engineering a 28th place finish — tops among section entrants. Galvan timed 15:22.8 on the 5K course. McClish finished 29th — one spot back — in 15:23.4.
The top 10 finishers in the regional race qualified for this Saturday’s Foot Locker Nationals at Morley Field.
Portland’s Mateo Althouse, a junior at Lincoln High School, won the regional race in 14:53.2 — one-tenth of a second ahead of Portland rival Charlie Robertson, a junior at Franklin High School.
State of mind
Metro Conference runners also qualifying for this year’s state meet included Hilltop sophomore Jimmy Byland in the Division II boys race, Eastlake freshman Amanda Challburg in the Division I girls race and Castle Park senior Estela Bustillos in the Division III girls race.
Byland finished 45th in 15:53.5 after placing fourth at the section finals. However, the time at state was a personal record in a 5K race.
Challburg finished 90th in 19:17.0 in the first 5K race of her high school career.
Bustillos did not compete at the state meet, though she did post a fifth-place finish at October’s regional draw Mt. SAC Invitational.
Highlights for the San Diego Section included Canyon Crest senior Carlie Dorostkar winning the Division I girls state title in 16:45.4 and Sage Creek repeating as Division IV girls team state champions.
Dorostkar’s time was the fourth-fastest in state meet history; the Bobcats scored a division low 44 points with four runners placing among the top nine finishers.
Foot Locker Nationals
Forty runners in each gender field — the top 10 placers from each of four regionals across the United States — will take the Morley Field course on Saturday in the bid to be crowned national champion.
The girls race steps off at 9:15 a.m., followed by the boys race at 10 a.m.
Sage Creek senior Skyler Wallace, who finished second at last weekend’s regional meet to advance as the only San Diego County runner for this weekend’s national championship race.
Wallace finished second in 17:06.3 to trail regional champion Mia Barnett (17:02.4) from La Crescenta by a whisker.
A total of five section runners placed among the top 25 finishers in the girls race.
San Marcos junior Bella Longo, the section’s Division III champion, finished 15th in 17:34.4, followed by Wallace’s younger sister Stormy, a sophomore, in 16th place in 17:35.4. Del Norte freshman Hannah Riggins was 17th in 17:38.5, followed by Christian junior Alaina Zamorano in 25th place in 17:48.3.
Stormy Wallace finished second to her older sister in the section Division IV finals while Riggins was third at the section Division I finals.
