Though South County was shut out as far as team qualifiers go for this weekend’s state championship cross country meet in Fresno, the region did qualify six individuals, including a pair of runners from High Tech High Chula Vista.
Seniors Drake Prince and Aiden Ramirez will represent the small private school nestled in eastern Chula Vista after placing among the top 10 finishers at last Saturday’s San Diego Section Division V boys championship race at Balboa Park’s Morley Field.
Prince finished fifth in 16:10.5 on the 2.96-mile course while Ramirez placed ninth in 16:29.6.
The pair of talented harriers made school history in the process. Prince became a three-time state meet qualifier while the two runners are the first multiple qualifiers in the same year from the school, which has an enrollment of approximately 600 students.
“It feels good,” said Prince, who also was a state meet qualifier in track and field last spring. “The Division V race was filled with good competition, especially the first group. I had to run fast.”
Prince and Ramirez are the first duo from HTH Chula Vista to place among the top 10 runners in their division at the section finals.
“I’ve worked hard for this since my first year,” Ramirez said. “It’s really satisfying to be going to the state meet with a teammate.”
The top three teams in the Division V boys raced qualified to compete at this Saturday’s state meet at Woodward Park in Fresno. Francis Parker finished first with 45 points, followed by Santa Fe Christian with 79 points and Pacific Ridge with 129 points.
Maranatha Christian finished fourth with 133 points, followed by HTH-CV in fifth place with 141 points.
Francis Parker sophomore Kenan Pala was the race’s top individual in 15:32.7, followed by Maranatha senior Riley Burns in 15:46.2 in second place and Parker junior Spencer Seay in 16:08.4 in third place.
SFC sophomore Alex Bobowski finished in fourth in 16:08.8 — two seconds ahead of Prince in the 167-deep race.
Burns won last year’s division title.
“We were all running in a group around Riley, since he won last year’s race,” Prince said.
Bayfront Charter and Chula Vista Learning Community Charter also competed in the Division V boys race.
HTH Chula Vista senior Naliyah Bailey finished 13th in the Division V girls race in 20:26.3. She finished five places away from qualifying for the state meet as an individual.
Santa Fe Christian and Bishop’s and Pacific Ridge were the team qualifiers in the division.
Christian junior Alaina Zamorano won the race in 18:14.7 to become a three-time champion in the division.
Red alert
Four runners from Metro Conference schools qualified to participate in this weekend’s state finals: Hilltop sophomore Jimmy Byland finished fourth in the Division II boys race, Sweetwater senior Jose Galvan finished fifth in the Division I boys race, Eastlake freshman Amanda Challburg finished seventh in the Division I girls race while Castle Park senior Estela Bustillos finished 16th in the Division III girls race.
Galvan finished as this year’s Mesa League boys champion and the top male finisher in the conference while Bustillos earned her second/third consecutive South Bay League top individual award.
It was likely Byland and Challburg, however, who stole the limelight among runners from Sweetwater Union High School District schools at last Saturday’s section finals.
Byland, this year’s Mesa League runner-up, bolted out to challenge the lead runners from the onset and managed to hang with the top pack for the duration of the race.
Byland (15:32.6) finished just 11 seconds off the winning time of 15:21.2 posted by La Costa Canyon senior Andy Pueschel.
The Hilltop runner never wavered throughout the race, finishing four seconds behind Point Loma junior Jake Richardson (third, 15:28.2) and two seconds ahead of Scripps Ranch junior Giancarlo da Silva (15:34.0).
Steele Canyon senior Richard Cleaves snared the final state qualifying position among individuals in the race with his 10th-place time of 15:56.6.
Byland’s top five individual finish is believed to be the best by a Hilltop runner since 1992.
“I just wanted to keep pace with the leaders — I didn’t want to fall back and give up,” said Byland, who earned honors as the top sophomore finisher. “It’s amazing going to state as a sophomore. It’s crazy.”
Hilltop finished eighth in the team standings
Challburg timed 18:32.7 — 10 seconds behind Torrey Pines sophomore Annika Salz (18:22.3) and six seconds ahead of Rancho Bernardo freshman Emma George (18:38.9).
Canyon Crest Academy senior Carlie Dorostkar won the Division I girls title with a breakaway time of 16:28.8 — a whopping 79 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher (CCA junior Elizabeth Emberger in 17:47.7).
Canyon Crest won the team title with 46 points while Del Norte finished second with 78 points. Rancho Bernardo finished third with 103 points while Eastlake finished fourth with 120 points.
The fourth-place finish by Mesa League champion Eastlake ranks among the best in school history, according to coach Ruben LeDesma, who earned honors as the 2019 Mesa League Girls Coach of the Year at the preceding week’s league finals.
Challburg finished undefeated at the middle school level in moving up to place second at the 2019 Mesa League finals as a freshman. Her goal was to win this year’s league finals, though she finished two seconds off.
“I’m excited,” the EHS frosh said. “I just wanted to run my hardest. My goals now are to win league and go to state again.”
The top 20 finishers received medals. The top 10 finishers are considered members of the all-division first team while runners who place 11th through 20th are considered members of the all-division second team.
On an impressive note, four local runners earned medals in the Division I girls race.
Eastlake sophomore Savannah Kipp finished 17th in 19:17.0 while Otay Ranch senior McKenzie Kelly, the reigning Mesa League champion, finished 19th in 19:25.9. Chula Vista junior Clarissa Hoffas finished 20th in 19:30.9.
Eastlake senior Patricia Miessner finished just seven seconds short of earning a medal with a time of 19:37.9 in 21st place.
Eastlake’s other two scorers included sophomores Melissa Mekitarian (28th, 19:59.7) and Lake Merrifield (47th, 20:31.6).
Otay Ranch finished ninth in the division team standings while Olympian was 10th. Sweetwater finished 16th while Chula Vista finished 18th among the 20 scoring teams.
Sweetwater won this year’s South Bay League championship.
Final cut
Both Galvan and Bustillos wrapped up the final state qualifying positions in their respective races.
They had to run fast to keep up with an elite field.
San Diego senior Henry McClish won the Division I boys race in 15:15.8, followed by El Camino senior Antonio Dinis (15:23.6), Mira Mesa junior Jyden Schmid (15:26.9) and Del Norte senior Rohan Dahlke (15:31.7).
Galvan finished a fraction of a second out of fourth place; he secured the final state qualifying berth by three seconds over Patrick Henry junior Aiden Davis, who finished sixth in 15:34.4
“I’m definitely happy, I’m satisfied,” said Galvan, who improved his time by 50 seconds on the course from last year. “I didn’t come in with any expectations. I just wanted to run the race. I’m glad I got in the top five to go to state.”
“I thought he was struggling a bit at the two-mile mark,” SuHi boys coach Craig Balsley said. “He let the top guys set the pace. He just hung in there and let them do all the work.”
A total of 141 runners finished the race.
Torrey Pines won the team title with 100 points while San Marcos finished second with 130 points. Patrick Henry finished third with 137 points.
Mesa League champion Otay Ranch finished ninth while South Bay League champion Sweetwater was 11th.
Bustillos finished the Division III girls race in 19:39.1 to place 16th.
With four team qualifiers in the division, that opened up slots for individual qualifiers who finished farther down the list.
This is the second time Bustillos will run the course at Woodward Park.
“I think it’s great,” Bustillos said. “I’m glad I can represent my school, make my teammates happy. I’m looking forward to it.”
Mission Vista junior Bella Longo won the Division II girls race in 17:39.9 while Cathedral Catholic won the team title with 39 points by placing all five scorers among the top 11 finishers.
All that glitters
Three Metro runners finished among the top 16 finishers in the Division I boys race. All received medals.
Olympian’s Carter Stuhlmacher, the reigning individual Mesa League champion, finished 11th in 15:54.9 as the top freshman runner in all five divisions.
“It was a great race,” said Stuhlmacher, who finished undefeated in middle school while competing for Rancho del Rey. “High school is a lot harder. We did a lot more miles than in middle school. The races in middle school are 1.5 miles and 5K in high school. There’s a big difference. Now I know what to do.”
Sweetwater finished with two medalists in the race as senior Alberto Barraza finished 16th in 16:06.4. As a team, the Red Devils finished 11th.
As a team, Olympian finished 13th in the Division I boys team standings.
Southwest sophomore William Wines (14th, 16:28.6) and Mar Vista senior Sebastian Pimenetel (16th, 16:30.5) both earned medals in the Division III boys race.
Bonita Vista finished seventh in the Division II girls race while Hilltop was 12th. Sweetwater finished 16th in the Division I girls standings.
Save Creek scored a perfect 15 points by placing all seven runners, in order, atop the Division IV girls standings.
A total of 1,235 varsity runners competed at last Saturday’s section finals — 667 in the five boys divisions and 568 in the five girls divisions.
Photo Gallery by Phillip Brents
El Capitan boys and girls teams, East County runners heading to state cross country finals
East County high schools will be sending three teams and six additional individual qualifiers to this weekend’s state cross country championship meet in Fresno following spirited competition at last Saturday’s San Diego Section finals at Morley Field.
El Capitan High School qualified both its boys and girls teams for the Nov. 30 state meet while West Hills High School’s boys team also qualified.
Christian High School junior Alaina Zamorano highlighted the area’s individual qualifiers by winning her third consecutive San Diego Section Division V title with a breakaway time of 18:14.7 on the 2.96-mile course.
Zamorano won by a 29-second margin over runner-up Eloise Martenson, a sophomore from team champion Santa Fe Christian.
Zamorano also bested Martenson to win last year’s division title.
“It feels great,” said Zamorano, who finished 10th in her division at last year’s state championships and sixth as a freshman. “I wanted to go out and get a good time; I wanted to qualify for state again. I definitely want to put up a good time to win state.”
Zamorano is clearly moving up the rankings. She bettered her time by 23 seconds from last year’s section finals. Prior to last weekend’s division finals, she set a new meet record at September’s Coach Downey Cross Country Classic.
She finished second in her division at October’s 72nd annual Mt. SAC Invitational, which is considered the largest cross country meet on the planet.
Despite her success, she admitted she still gets butterflies before some races.
“I felt pretty good (at the section finals) but I got pretty nervous before the race,” she said. “My knees were hurting. That was a bummer. But it felt good to win again.
“I want to keep getting faster and faster. I want to be the first Division V girl to win four CIF championships.”
Christian senior Madelynn Worley finished 20th in 21:01.8 in the 123-deep field to complement her teammate with an upper tier finish.
Vaquero pride
El Capitan swept both boys and girls Division III championships at last year’s section finals but had to contend with an especially strong Cathedral Catholic team at this year’s meet en route to posting runner-up finishes.
The Lady Dons placed their five scorers among the 11 finishers in the 108-deep girls race to finish with 39 points. El Capitan out-pointed Ramona 72-73 to finish in second place.
In the boys race, Cathedral Catholic recorded the top two individuals en route to posting a division best 64 points. El Capitan finished second with 125 points, followed by West Hills with 127 points.
El Capitan coach Jeff Hines said the pair of second-place team finishes was still very satisfying this year.
“We beat Ramona by one point to take second place in the girls race,” Hines said. “Anything could have happened at any time in the race. It was a really big deal to beat them.”
El Capitan freshman Amber Chase led the charge for her team with a meteoric second-place individual finish with a time of 18:14.6. Senior Carolinh Calvert finished seventh in 19:16 while freshman Samantha Mauzy finished 17th in 19:42.6.
Senior Dayana Lopez (24th, 20:06.8) and junior Ashley Boinus (28th, 20:16.8) rounded out El Capitan’s top five scorers in the girls race.
The top 20 finishers in the race earned medals.
Santana freshman Mikayla Hornung finished fifth in 18:54.6 to buoy East County with three finishers among the top seven runners, and qualify as an individual state qualifier.
Six Grossmont Conference runners finished among the top 20 individuals in the Division III boys field.
West Hills senior Dylan Shubert finished third with a time of 15:51.1 while chasing Cathedral Catholic senior Max Wilson (first in 15:38.8) and Dons sophomore Blake Levy (second in 15:47.8) on the course.
Junior Parker Dixon led El Capitan with a seventh place individual finish in 16:15.5. El Capitan senior Andrew Sager finished 10th in 16:19.8, followed by West Hills sophomore Mark McCowin in 16:23.7.
El Cajon Valley junior Daniel Monganga finished 15th in 16:30.3Santana junior Jack McMackin finished 19th in 16:31.8 to also earn medals.
El Capitan’s five scorers in the 123-deep field also included sophomore Ryan Quamina (30th, 16:52.4), freshman Trey Dixon (38th, 17:06.9) and junior Dominic Romero (40th, 17:10.8).
The top four girls teams and the three boys teams in Division III qualified to advance to the state meet.
West Hills out-pointed fourth place San Dieguito Academy by 16 points to secure third place in the boys field while Santana missed the team cut by 18 points with a fifth place finish.
West Hills’s five scorers also included senior Aiden Calcutt (22nd, 16:36.6), junior Sean Willweber (44th, 17:17.3) and junior Landon Morales (47th, 17:22.1).
Santana finished eighth in the girls field with 226 points; West Hills finished ninth with 236 points.
Also famous
Other East County individual state meet qualifiers included Grossmont senior Devin Provence (sixth in Division II boys in 15:36.9), Steele Canyon senior Richard Cleaves (10th in Division II boys in 15:56.6), Grossmont junior Madeline Minutelli (sixth in Division II girls in 18:21.0) and Steele Canyon senior Trinity Birdwell (seventh in Division II girls in 18:27.1).
Helix senior Jaden Forester finished ninth among Division I boys individuals in 15:45.4. However, only the top five individual finishers qualified for the state meet.
Also earning CIF medals were Steele Canyon freshman Graziella Mineo (18th in Division II girls, 19:09.2) and Valhalla junior Kate Branksi (19th in Division II girls, 19:13.7). Mountain Empire senior Jose Arredondo finished 14th in the Division V boys field in 16:41.9.
The top three teams in the Division II boys race advanced to the state meet. Steele Canyon finished sixth while Grossmont was 10th and Valhalla was 11th.
The top three teams in the Division II girls race qualified for the state meet. Steele Canyon finished fifth while Valhalla was ninth and Grossmont was 10th.
Steele Canyon swept the field at this year’s Grossmont Hills League finals, winning championship titles in the boys and girls varsity divisions and also the boys and girls junior varsity divisions.
“It was a good day for us,” commented coach Gary Stathus.
This weekend’s state championship meet is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 30, in Woodward Park, Fresno. For a time schedule and results, visit the website at www.cifstate.org.
