Otay Ranch senior Justin Mulvany and Eastlake sophomore Patricia Miessner definitely put their best feet forward at last Saturday’s California high school state cross country championship meet at Woodward Park in Fresno.
Mulvany finished 16th among individuals in the Division I boys race while Miessner finished 17th among individuals in the Division I girls race.
The two standouts set the pace for the sizable contingent of South County runners at last weekend’s state finals.
Miessner, who finished as this year’s San Diego Section Division I girls individual champion, finished second among section runners at the state meet.
El Camino junior Liliana Prieto, who placed 20 seconds behind Miessner at the section meet, finished 15th at last Saturday’s state finals in 18:11.0 to lead section runners across the finish line.
Miessner came in two place-finishes later in 18:15.4. Her goal was to better last year’s time of 18:45 and 49th place-finish, which she did on both counts.
Both girls and boys ran 5K at the state meet.
Olympian junior Mariana Beltran-Picos, who finished fifth at the section finals, placed 38th at the state meet in 18:47.0.
She had hoped to better her time from last year’s state meet appearance when she timed 18:35.2 to place 38th overall.
Mulvany, who placed third at the preceding section finals, timed 15:33.6 on the 5K course in Fresno. He finished as the top San Diego Section finisher in the 195-deep race.
El Camino senior Mario Trasvina, who won the Division I boys race at the section finals, finished 105th at the state meet in 16:35.6. Mira Mesa senior Stefen Rasmuson, who finished second at the section finals, finished 34th at the state meet in 15:50.8.
Mulvany had finished four seconds behind Trasvina at the section finals and two seconds arrears of Rasmuson.
He won personal bragging rights at the state finals.
This was Mulvany’s second consecutive appearance at the state meet. He made the trek last year as a member of Otay Ranch’s team qualifier. He improved 30 seconds on the course this year after placing 27th in 15:53.2 last season.
Olympian senior Nicholas Albro, who plced fifth at the Division I section finals, finished 46th in 16:03.9 as the third fastest section finisher at the state finals.
South County schools sent seven individual qualifiers to last weekend’s state meet.
Southwest senior Jacob Fierro finished 57th in the 196-deep Division II boys race in 16:23.3. He finished eighth in the division at the section finals.
Castle Park senior Andre Berry finished 111st in the Division III boys race in 17:12.3 after finishing 13th at the section finals.
A transfer from Lompoc, Berry said he enjoyed the switch to San Diego this season.
“The competition has been good,” he said. “Running against new schools has been exciting.”
High Tech High Chula Vista sophomore Drake Prince finished 119th in the Division IV boys race in 17:46 after placing 13th at the section finals.
Baron Nation
Bonita Vista made headlines at the San Diego Section finals by winning the Division I boys team title to advance to the state meet for the second consecutive year. Head coach Matt Seat had hoped to match or even exceed the Barons’ eighth place finish at the 2005 state finals — the top finish posted by the program.
Bonita Vista, running with a tight pack time of 29.8 seconds, finished 13th in the team standings at this year’s state meet — up from last year’s 20th-place finish.
Despite failing to crack the top 10 leader board, the Barons, with 342 points, did finish as the top San Diego Section team in the race.
Torrey Pines, which finished second to the Barons at the section finals, finished 19th at the state meet with 470 points.
Great Oak, with five runners in the top 20 scoring positions, won the Division I boys team title with 75 points. Roosevelt, also from the Southern Section, finished second in the team standings with 90 points, followed by Dana Hills, another Southern Section team, in third place with 127 points.
El Camino Real senior Justin Hazell finished first among individuals in the 5K race in 15:03.8.
Great Oaks’ five-man spread was 18.9 seconds.
Bonita Vista’s top five individuals included senior Armando Campos (57th, 16:13.1), senior Isaiah Labra (73rd, 16:21.6), junior Jonathan Kelly (90th, 16:27.5), senior Toshin Agbede (110th, 16:37.2) and junior Christian Mason (120th, 16:42.9).
Additionally, non-scorers for the Barons included juniors Christian Salt (133rd, 16:56.7) and Mario Barone (156th, 17:12.2).
Labra had placed fourth among individuals at the section finals. He finished last year’s state course in 15:59.8 in 36th place.
Around the section
Granite Hills senior Brady DeHaven led San Diego Section runners in the Division II boys race with an 13th individual finish in 15:38.3.
Mt. Carmel was fifth in the team standings while Del Norte was 13th, Scripps Ranch was 19th and Grossmont was 20th. The teams finished in that same order at the section finals — first through fourth.
La Costa Canyon finished second among Division III boys teams to lead the San Diego Section; El Capitan was 13th while San Dieguito Academy was 22nd among the 24 scoring teams.
LCC finished first at the San Diego Section finals, followed by Cathedral Catholic, El Capitan and San Dieguito Academy.
Cathedral Catholic senior Joaquin Martinez de Pinillos led section runners at the state meet with a second-place finish in the 204-deep field in 15:11.2. Martinez de Pinollos won the preceding section finals by 17s second over LCC junior Jacob Stanford.
Twins Jacob and Garrett Stanford finished fourth and fifth among individuals at the state meet to pace the Mavericks. Jacob Stanford finished in 15:31.5; Garrett Stanford finished in 15:35.0
Both finished ahead of Serra senior Anthony Benitez (sixth, 15:42.6)
El Capitan junior Matthew Machnov was fourth best among section runners at the state meet with a 14th place-finish in 16:03.6.
Division II section champion Steele Canyon finished 13th at the state meet, still in the lead among the four San Diego Section team qualifiers. Top individual finishers included senior Carlene Masar (47th, 19:09.5), junior Janelle Shallal (63rd, 19:24.8), junior Jessica Manzuk (97th, 19:47.9), junior Beyonce Wright (129th, 20:32.8) and freshman Ileana Hernandez (132nd, 20:34.3).
Valhalla freshman Peri Kraft finished 60th in the 195-deep field in 19:23.2.
