More than 1,100 runners competed in last Friday’s 45th annual South Bay Invitational cross country meet at Rohr Park. The spotlight shone on the Metro Conference in particular.
Olympian won the boys junior varsity division team title, with Bonita Vista coming in second place, while Otay Ranch placed second overall in the girls JV race.
Among varsity teams, Bonita Vista finished third to San Pasqual and El Capitan in the boys division while Olympian senior Mariana Beltran-Picos finished as the top individual in the girls race.
“Both boys teams ran well,” BVHS head coach Dan Kettlehake explained. “The JV boys finished second to Olympian and the varsity boys finished third to San Pasqual and El Capitan, two high quality programs.
“With the varsity boys, I was pleased to see our top five relatively close together with a gap of only 55 seconds between them. Anything under one minute is pretty good.”
The defending Division I champion Barons placed all five scorers among the top 40 finishers in the 182-deep boys varsity race. Jonathan Kelly (11th, 16:34) led the group on the 5K course, followed by teammates Mario Barone (14th, 16:38), Gustavo Vasquez (29th, 17:13), Christian Mason (39th, 17:28) and Christian Salt (40th, 17:29).
The top seven finishers on first-, second- and third-place teams received medals while the top 35 individuals overall earned medals.
Metro Conference medalists in the boys varsity race also included Southwest senior Esteban Magana (ninth, 16:33), Otay Ranch senior Joel Talamayan (22nd, 16:58), Sweetwater junior Jose Galvan (23rd, 16:59), San Ysidro senior Edgar Jimenez (28th, 17:12) and Otay Ranch junior Colby Parise (33rd, 17:18).
Junior Alberto Rosas (66th, 18:03) and freshman Enrique Aranda (91st, 18:41) also received medals as part of Bonita Vista’s third-place trophy winners.
Otay Ranch finished eighth in the team standings.
San Pasqual senior Franky Varela was the top finisher in 15:20, placing 21 seconds ahead of San Diego junior Henry McClish.
On the girls side, Beltran-Picos, a two-time state meet qualifier, broke away from the lead pack of runners down the hill en route to a top finish of 15:24 on the 2.5-mile course, winning by a 16-second margin over runner’s Carolinh Calvert, a junior from El Capitan.
“I’m satisfied with my time because it was a PR — 10 seconds faster than my sophomore year,” Beltran-Picos beamed. “I’m happy with the results.
“I was able to pace myself with the girl in front of me, who pushed me at the end.”
Calvert set a school record on the course with her time of 15:40 in nabbing her runner-up finish.
“I was trying to stay with the top runners and get back down the hill as fast as I could, so I could break the school record,” the two-time state meet qualifier from El Capitan said. “I didn’t win the race but I did break the school record (by seven seconds).”
Otay Ranch finished in fourth place while Olympian finished in sixth place in the team standings.
Medalists from Metro schools also included Olympian junior Rosanna Javier (21st, 16:55), Otay Ranch senior Yllana Casim (23rd, 16:55), Otay Ranch senior Alexyia Hernandez (24th, 17:01), Bonita Vista sophomore Sequoia Kriss (27th, 17:06), Castle Park junior Estela Bustillos (29th, 17:07), Olympian junior Virginia Javier (30th, 17:08) and Mater Dei Catholic junior Christine Carey (32nd, 17:13).
“With the varsity girls, our younger runners are starting to show real improvement,” Kettlehake explained, noting that sophomore Isabella Reichard finished 42nd, freshman Lauren Salt finished 48th and junior Gloria Ing finished 68th in the race.
“We are working hard over the fall break getting ready for the Metro Conference dual meet season, which starts Friday with our race against Eastlake,” Kettlehake said. “We’re still focusing our training on being at peak for the Metro Conference and CIF meets in November.”
JV pride
Olympian won the boys JV team title with 63 points, followed by Bonita Vista with 89 points. Otay Ranch finished fourth with 117 points while Sweetwater was sixth with 165 points.
Bonita Vista junior Abraham Zepeda was the top conference finisher with a second-place time of 17:54, followed by teammates Rene Espinosa, a senior, in fifth place in 18:21, and Ethan Gamboa, a junior in sixth place in 18:27.
Olympian’s top runner, senior Marko Alvarez, finished seventh in 18:28, while junior teammate Joshua Quinones finished 11th in 18:33. The Eagles placed all five of their scorers among the top 23 finishers in the 197-deep race with a pack time of just 26 seconds.
The top two teams in junior varsity races received trophies.
The top 35 individuals in the JV boys race received medals while the top 50 finishers in the girls JV race received medals.
Otay Ranch freshman Elicia Arredondo finished second in 17:18 in the girls race, trailing race winner Sophie Compton, a freshman from Point Loma, by 21 seconds.
It was the first invitational race for Arredondo.
“I went into the race with an open mind and passion,” she said. “I just tried to take it one step at a time and not worry about the whole thing. I had never run cross country before. It felt unreal.”
Otay Ranch, which finished second to Point Loma, placed all five of its scorers in the top 20. Sophomore McKenzie Resendiz finished eighth in 18:25, followed by junior Alexandra Dickey (ninth, 18:30), junior Mckenzie Kelly (14th, 18:45) and sophomore Kayla Masangya (19th, 19:03).
Frosh kings
Bouyed by three runners placing among the top 25 individuals, the Lancers managed a third-place finish among the 22 scoring teams in the boys frosh-soph division at last Friday’s 45th annual South Bay Invitational at Rohr Park.
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.
Freshman Miguel Tisnado led Hilltop with a solid sixth-place finish among the 274 individuals in the 5K race in 18:14, followed by sophomore Oscar Cornejo (17th, 18:39).
Freshman standout Noah Rosenberg, battling an injury early in the race, covered the course in 19:05 to place 25th among individuals, still outstanding by any standard.
The young Lancer squad proved it was not a one-man team as four freshmen finished among the team’s top five scorers in the race.
Freshmen Jimmy Blyland (33rd, 19:19) and Eddie Castaneda (57th, 19:54) rounded out the team’s five scorers.
Santa Fe Christian sophomore Ryan Todd won the race in 17:11, followed by a pair of Francis Parker runners, freshman Kenan Pala in 17:38 and Spencer Ruff in 17:42.
Point Loma sophomore Jyden Schmid finished fourth in 17:45, followed by Calexico sophomore David Aguilar in 17:59.
Tisnado recorded the second-fastest time among freshmen in the race with his sixth-place finish.
Olympian sophomore Andrew Garcia finished ninth in the field in 18:19 as the second-fastest Metro Conference runner.
Tisnado placed 14th at the Mt. Carmel Invitational in 19:10.1, just a second behind teammate Rosenberg. Tisnado 36th (9:37) at the Vaquero Stampede and 13th (9:03) at the Wolf Pack Invitational.
Vaqueros among front-runners in 2018 cross country season
The El Capitan Vaquero Stampede officially faced off the 2018 high school cross country season Aug. 25 at Lakeside’s Lindo Lake.
Top East County female runners included Valhalla sophomore Peri Kraft (first in the Division II girls frosh/soph race with a time of 9:43), Christian sophomore Alaina Zamorano (first the Division III frosh/soph race in 9:38), El Capitan junior Carolinh Calvert (second in the Division II girls junior/senior race in 9:37) and Christian sophomore Leah Kunde (fourth in the Division III frosh/soph race in 10:14).
Top East County male runners included El Capitan senior Matt Machnov (second in the Division II boys junior/senior race in 10:36), Granite Hills sophomore Manuel Garcia (fourth in the Division II boys frosh/soph race in 8:38) and Santana sophomore Jack McMackin (fifth in the Division III frosh/soph race in 8:51).
All girls races were contested at 1.65 miles. Boys races were 2.15 miles for juniors and seniors and 1.65 miles for freshmen and sophomores.
Fast-forward to last Friday’s 45th annual South Bay Invitational at Chula Vista’s Rohr Park and El Capitan runners once again were challenging at the front of the pack.
Calvert, a two-time state meet qualifier, finished second among girls varsity runners with a time of 15:40 on the 2.5-mile course to set a school record.
The Vaquero distance standout runner finished 16 seconds behind race winner Mariana Beltran-Picos, a senior from Olympian High School, and 18 seconds ahead of Point Loma senior Brooke Rodi, who finished in third place among the 173 runners in the race.
Calvert is someone who is running with a lot of confidence at the moment.
“I’m hoping to get to state again and win conference,” she said matter-of-factly.
Calvert finished 37th in the Division III girls race at last year’s state championship meet after placing 53rd in the division as a freshman.
She has helped set the pace in the races in which she has competed this season.
Calvert finished first in her division at the Aug. 31 West Hills Wolf Pack Invitational; she placed sixth in her 135-deep division at the Mt. Carmel/Asics Invitational Sept. 15 at Morley Field.
Grossmont sophomore Madeline Minutelli (fourth, 16:10) and West Hills senior Katy Willweber (seventh, 16:23) both joined Calvert with top 10 place-finishes at this year’s South Bay Invitational.
Calvert bettered the school record for the course of 15:47 by seven seconds.
“I was trying to stay with the top runners and get back down the hill as fast as I could, so I could break the school record,” the El Cap runner said. “I didn’t win the race but I did break the school record.”
Machnov is another contender to earn postseason accolades.
He finished sixth in the 182-deep boys varsity field at last Friday’s South Bay Invitational with a time of 16:26 on the 5K course.
San Pasqual senior Franky Varela captured the top time of 15:40, followed by San Diego junior Henry McClish in second place in 16:01. Grossmont senior Jonathan Rodriguez-Gomez finished in third place, also in 16:01, followed by Point Loma senior Hunter Sweet in fourth place in 16:11 and San Pasqual senior Mathis Woulters in fifth place in 16:15.
Machnov crossed the finish line with a one-second lead on Point Loma senior Joshua Bauer, who finished seventh in the race.
“My personal goals are to win CIF Division III and have a top 10 finish at state,” said Machnov, who finished 14th among Division III individuals in last year’s state championship meet after placing sixth at the section finals. “My team goals are to win Division III as a team and finish top 10 at state, and win league.”
Machnov and his teammates appear to be on course to accomplish those goals.
The Vaqueros, buoyed by three finishers among the top 20 individuals (four among the top 26), finished second among the 27 scoring teams in the division at this year’s South Bay Invitational.
El Capitan’s five scorers totaled 101 points, placing the Lakeside team place just three points behind team champion San Pasqual (98 points).
For the runner-up Vaqueros, junior Andrew Sager finished eighth overall in 16:32 while senior Joeseph Hart was 19th in 16:51. Additionally, sophomore Parker Dixon placed 26th in 17:10 while senior Leland Hayley finished 42 in 17:32.
El Capitan finished 58 points ahead of fifth place Grossmont in the division standings and 108 points ahead of seventh place Granite Hills. West Hills finished ninth in the division with 249 points.
“Everything is going well right now,” assessed Machnov, who won his division at the Wolf Pack Invitational. “Everyone on the team is maturing real well. We have had a lot of guys step up. The guys have bonded well as a team.”
Grossmont posted a third-place team finish among JV boys teams while West Hills finished fourth among JV girls teams.
