SD Prep Sports:

2006 Fall Sports
Grossmont Conference

Cross Country

East Country runners to storm state cross country finals

Posted Nov. 22, 2006
The Monte Vista boys, Christian boys and West Hills girls teams, along with seven individual qualifiers, will work off Thanksgiving dinners at this weekend’s state championship cross country meet in Fresno after earning qualifying berths at this year’s San Diego Section divisional finals Nov. 18 at Balboa Park’s Morley Field.

It was a spectacular performance on a very hot day.

Monte Vista, Christian and West Hills all qualified as team entries by finishing among the top three teams in their divisions. Monte Vista (Division II) and Christian (Division IV) both finished second in their respective divisions while West Hills finished third among Division II girls teams.

The state meet is Saturday, Nov. 25.

Division II boys
Monte Vista finished with 123 points to trail Division II boys team champion San Pasqual (99 points) while University City finished in third place with 127 points. The teams completed the same order of finish the previous year.

The Monarchs entered the section meet unranked despite finishing second at last year’s division finals. The reigning Grossmont South League champions let their feet do the talking on the course by placing their five scorers among the top 42 runners in a field of 146 finishers.

Senior Muluken Beressa recorded the top time of the day (including all five divisional races) with a mark of 15:51 on the 3.04-mile course. Monte Vista’s next four runners to cross the finish line included seniors Juan Lepe (25th, 17:37), Andrew Owens (29th, 17:47), Darius Nocon (30th, 17:48) and sophomore Misikir Mentose (42nd, 18:06). Non-scorers included senior Joaquin Llamas (80th, 18:53) and sophomore Mark Wassmer (101st, 19:33).

Monarch head coach Bob Muschek was understandably elated by the team’s trophy-winning performance but not surprised.

“I felt we were pretty strong but we didn’t run against the North County teams, so it was hard to compare schools (for rankings purposes),” Muschek said. “We felt like we were a competitive team. It (the lack of a ranking) served as a motivator to go out and proved we belonged. But I told the kids it’s who wins the race, not who is predicted to win. I told the team to start the season that we could be a state-bound team. I didn’t know if we could be first or second but I knew we’d be in that (top three qualifying) group.”

Beressa, who finished fifth at last year’s Division II state championship meet, won this year’s Division II section title by a 19-second margin against Westview senior Travis Kuhlman (16:10). University City sophomore sensation Mac Fleet finished third in 16:22, followed by Valhalla senior Tony Bareno (fourth, 16:29) and Steele Canyon junior Adrian Sherrod (fifth, 16:49).

The top five individuals among the top 14 runners not on one of the three qualifying teams also earned the right to advance to the state finals on an individual basis. Thus Bareno and Sherrod qualified as individuals.

Mar Vista junior Edgar Lopez, who finished eighth in the race, grabbed the final No. 5 individual berth with a time of 16:59 — one second ahead of San Pasqual junior Rus Mundae (17:00) in ninth place.

El Capitan junior Kyle Phipps, who entered the meet as the reigning Grossmont North League champion, finished 12th in 17:11.

The meeting between Beressa and Bareno was the fourth this season. Bareno won the initial duel at the season-opening West Hills Wolf Pack Invitational by a narrow one-second margin. Beressa won the next three matchups, including those at the teams’ dual meet encounter, Grossmont South League finals and at the San Diego Section Division II finals.

Beressa topped Bareno by 24 seconds to win the Grossmont South League title Nov. 10 at Steele Canyon High School.

Bareno finished sixth at last year’s state meet.

Sherrod had finished fourth at the Grossmont South League finals the previous week, timing one minute behind Beressa.

Clearly, the Monte Vista front runner was in a league of his own.

Beressa recorded the best time at this year’s section meet by eclipsing the 15:58 turned in earlier in the day by Division I winner Eric Avila of Bonita Vista. Anything under 16:00 is considered outstanding on the rugged Morley Field course.

The Grossmont Conference finished with nine top 25 finishers in the Division II boys race as Valhalla junior Brian Randlett finished 13th in 17:15, Steele Canyon senior Kyle Fox finished 17th in 17:30, West Hills junior Tommy Dolan finished 18th, also in 17:30, Valhalla junior Brett Johnson finished 24th in 17:37 — a time matched by Monte Vista’s Lepe in 25th.

The Monarchs won the league title by out-pointing talented Helix and Valhalla teams.

Valhalla finished eighth in the Division II team standings (behind sixth-place Steele Canyon and seventh-place El Capitan) while Helix finished 10th in the Division I field.

Division IV boys
Led by sophomore Jesse Beason’s sixth-place time of 18:03, Christian took the second and final team qualifying berth in the Division IV boys race (only the top two teams advance in Division IV).

The Patriots had three top 20 finishers in the field of 113. Joining Beason near the front of the pack were junior Josh May (11th, 18:38), senior Spencer Winston (12th, 18:39) and sophomore Cole Reese (20th, 19:06). Sophomore Jacob Cruz (40th, 19:56) and senior Cameron Greenlaw (45th, 20:02) also managed top half finishes.

Christian finished just 13 points behind team champion La Jolla Country Day.

The Division IV boys race produced two additional East County individual qualifiers, both from Mountain Empire: juniors Morgan Smith (fifth, 17:56) and Cory Jameson (seventh, 18:07).

Division I boys
Granite Hills senior Alex Guaderrama finished sixth in the Division I boys field to qualify as an individual for the state finals. His time of 16:36 placed him fourth out of the five individual qualifiers in the division.

This will be his first trip to the state meet.

The Eagles front runner finished six seconds off the pace last year (in 12th place) and said that was enough to motivate him this year. “I definitely trained for it,” he said.

Helix had two top 15 finishers in the Division I field of 159 finishers: sophomore Chase Roberts (11th, 16:49) and senior Josh Vargas (13th, 16:53).

Division II girls
West Hills, with 120 points, finished third behind Division II girls team champion University City (44 points) and runner-up Mt. Carmel (87 points). El Capitan finished fourth with 132 points.

Three Grossmont Conference runners finished among the top 10 individuals in the race but none from West Hills. El Capitan senior Stephanie Cook placed eighth in 17:32 on the 2.75-mile course while El Capitan sophomore Katie Martin was ninth in 17:33 and El Cajon Valley sophomore Deidra Spinler was 10th in 17:39.

Cook (this year's Grossmont North League champion) and Martin advanced to the state meet as the last two individual qualifiers in the division.

The Wolf Pack finished third based on its five-person spread of 58 seconds. West Hills’ fifth runner placed 37th among individuals while El Capitan’s fifth runner was 43rd in the 143-deep field. The Vaqueros five-person spread totaled 1:32.

The two Grossmont North League juggernauts finished just as they had been ranked in the division -- third and fourth.

For the Wolf Pack, Samantha Espindola led the group with a 15th-place finish in 18:00, followed by Kelsey Hall (16th, 18:02), Nicole Anderson (27th, 18:41), Carrie Saccone (30th, 18:46), Samantha Timanus (37th, 18:58), Kelly McNulty (61st, 19:35) and Jordan Thomas (71st, 20:01). Espindola is a senior while Anderson, Saccone and Timanus are juniors. Hall and McNulty are both sophomores while Thomas is a freshman.

For Espindola, this will be her third trip to the state meet. Last year she and her teammates qualified as the first-place team in the division (while El Capitan was third, also qualifying).

West Hills coach Bill Cleves said he was most pleased by his team’s ability to persevere through adversity. “We’d been battling a lot of injuries and sickness like a lot of teams at this point of the season,” he said. “We don’t have a true front runner on the team. This team did it through depth.”

University City junior Sarah Vitug won this year’s individual title in 16:52. Steele Canyon junior Megan Meyer finished 25th in 18:36 and Valhalla sophomore Lauren Carlton finished 32nd in 18:48. Other top 40 finishers included El Capitan junior Jamie Ferguson (35th, 18:55), El Cajon Valley senior Leena Norwarekar (36th, 18:57) and Grossmont junior Sablle Scheppmann (39th, 19:01).

Steele Canyon (eighth, 220 points), Valhalla (11th, 308 points), Grossmont (12th, 334 points), El Cajon Valley (13th, 373 points) and Monte Vista (15th, 431 points) rounded out the East County entries in the division.

CIF notepad
Juniors Gabriella Black (31st, 18:13) and Danielle Jones (32nd, 18:20) were the top two finishers for Granite Hills in the 153-deep Division I girls race.

Santana sophomore Nicole Labriola finished 23rd in the Division III girls race in 19:04.

Christian freshman Taryn Dunton finished 12th among individuals in the Division IV girls race with a time of 19:37.

Mt Miguel freshman Dylan Marx finished 19th (out of 89 finishers) in the Division III boys race with a time of 18:14.

Foothills Christian junior Skylar Cunningham placed 19th (out of 38 finishers) in the Division V boys race with a time of 22:42.

CIF finals up next for East County runners

Posted on Nov. 14, 2006
East County runners will be putting their best foot forward at Saturday’s San Diego Section division cross country championships at Balboa Park’s Morley Field with the hope of continuing down the path to this year’s state championship meet.

El Capitan, West Hills, Monte Vista and Steele Canyon will also be out to score high in the team standings in their respective divisions. As a general rule, the top three teams in each enrollment division qualify for the state finals.

El Capitan topped West Hills 24-45 to finish as the top boys team at last week’s Grossmont North League finals at Steele Canyon High School. Grossmont followed in third place with 82 points, while El Cajon Valley was fourth (100) and Santana (111) was fifth.

Top individuals on the 3.1-mile course included El Capitan’s Kyle Phipps (first, 16:37), West Hills’ Marcus Nelson (second, 17:04) and Tommy Dolan (third, 17:11), El Capitan’s Mike Poffenbarger (fourth, 17:26), Chris Torres (fifth, 17:29) and Nick Bedrosian (sixth, 17:31), Grossmont’s Barrett Barrett-Tilley (seventh, 17:42), El Capitan’s Jarred Atkinson (eighth, 17:42) and Miles Segni (ninth, 18:03) and El Cajon Valley’s Freddi Martinez (10th, 18:05).

West Hills topped Grossmont North League girls teams on the course with a meet-low 39 points, followed by chief rival El Capitan (43), then El Cajon Valley (73), Grossmont (85) and Santana (no score).

Top individuals on the 2.53-mile course included El Capitan’s Stephanie Cook (first, 15:45), El Cajon Valley’s Leena Norwarekar (second, 16:02), El Capitan’s Katie Martin (third, 16:05), El Cajon Valley’s Deidra Spinler (fourth, 16:17), West Hills’ Carrie Saccone (fifth, 16:18), Samantha Espindola (sixth, 16:20) and Nicole Anderson (seventh, 16:27), Grossmont’s Sablle Scheppmann (eighth, 16:29), West Hills’ Kelly McNulty (ninth, 16:36) and El Capitan’s Sarah McBride (10th, 16:37).

Monte Vista led Grossmont South League boys teams in meet scoring with 46 points, followed by Helix and Valhalla, both with 65 points, Steele Canyon with 75 points, Mt. Miguel with 112 points and Granite Hills with 161 points.

The Monarchs were crowned this year's league champions.

Monte Vista’s Muluken Beressa recorded the top time of 15:44 among all Grossmont Conference runners, followed by Valhalla’s Tony Bareno in second place in 16:08 and Granite Hills’ Alex Guaderrama in third place in 16:10.

Steele Canyon’s Adrian Sherrod finished fourth among Grossmont South League runners in 16:44, followed by Helix’s Josh Vargas (fifth, 16:50) and Chase Roberts (sixth, 16:51), Valhalla’s Brian Randlett (seventh, 16:57), Monte Vista’s Darius Nocon (eighth, 17:06), Valhalla’s Brett Johnson (ninth, 17:10) and Monte Vista’s Juan Lepe (10th, 17:12).

El Capitan’s Phipps had the fourth-fastest time among conference boys runners in the Nov. 10 meet.

The order among Grossmont South League girls teams was as follows: Steele Canyon (43), Granite Hills (64), Helix (75), Valhalla (77), Monte Vista (107) and Mt. Miguel (180).

Helix’s Ashley Schramm (15:52) and Steele Canyon’s Megan Meyer (15:57) both broke 16:00 on the course to finish as the league’s top two individuals. Following were Granite Hills’ Danielle Jones (third, 16:01), Monte Vista’s Heather Mayer (fourth, 16:07), Helix’s Raquel Lastra (fifth, 16:20), Monte Vista’s Hailey Mayer (sixth, 16:31), Granite Hills’ Gabriella Black (seventh, 16:41), Steele Canyon’s Kayla Mollon (eighth, 16:43) and Brittany Hutchison (ninth, 16:44) and Granite Hills’ Rebecca Judd (10th, 16:47).

El Capitan’s Cook had the fastest girls time on the day, followed by Schramm and Meyer.

In the City Conference Central League finals held Nov. 9 at Morely Field, Christian finished second in the girls competition and third in the boys competition. The Patriots had six runners finish among the top 15 boys individuals: Spencer Winston (seventh), Josh May (eighth), Cole Reese (ninth), Jesse Beason (10th), Jacob Cruz (13th) and Cameron Greenlaw (15th). Christian had five runners finish among the top 15 individuals in the girls race: Devin Marshall (second), Taryn Dunton (sixth), Hannah Pearl (eighth), Kaylyn Sofranko (12th) and Ashley Naugle (14th).

Dual meets
In the final round of dual meet competition on Nov. 3, El Capitan swept El Cajon Valley by scores of 15-45 (boys) and 18-44 (girls) while Helix swept Mt. Miguel. Valhalla edged Steele Canyon, 27-30, in a highly anticipated boys showdown while Monte Vista topped Granite Hills, 20-39, in another Grossmont South League boys dual meet. Steele Canyon defeated Valhalla, 18-42, and Granite Hills edged Monte Vista, 27-32, in a pair of Grossmont South League girls duals.

Steele Canyon helped cement its league championship with a 5-0 dual meet record.

Section rankings
The final regular season San Diego Section coaches poll failed to list any East County teams among its top 10 schools, though both West Hills and El Capitan were ranked 12th and 13th, respectively, in the girls poll. Both Grossmont North League powers will compete in the Division II race. Among Division II schools, West Hills and El Capitan were ranked third and fourth, respectively, behind University City (second overall in the section) and Mt. Carmel (sixth overall in the section).

Top Division I boys teams, according to the poll, included Rancho Buena Vista, Fallbrook, Vista, Torrey Pines, Bonita Vista, Otay Ranch, Rancho Bernardo, El Camino, Sweetwater and Eastlake.

Top Division II boys teams included San Pasqual, University City and Ramona while Valley Center topped Division III boys teams.

Top Division I girls teams included Torrey Pines, Vista, La Costa Canyon, Carlsbad, Rancho Bernardo, El Camino, and Rancho Buena Vista.

Top Division II girls teams included University City, Mt. Carmel, West Hills, El Capitan and Westview. La Jolla and Our Lady of Peace topped Division III girls teams.

CIF race day
The section finals step off Saturday, Nov. 18, beginning at 8:30 a.m. with the Division IV boys race and continues with the Division V boys race (9 a.m.), Division IV girls race (9:30 a.m.), Division V girls race (10:05 a.m.), Division I boys race (10:40 a.m.), Division II girls race (11:10 a.m.), Division III boys race (11:445 a.m.), Division I girls race (12:15 p.m.), Division II boys race (12:50 p.m.) and Division III girls race (1:20 p.m.).

Award ceremonies start at 10 a.m. and continue through 2 p.m.

Top runners starting to separate from the pack

The best in the San Diego Section will gather at Morley Field in Balboa Park on Saturday, Nov. 18, to determine the top teams and individuals who will advance to the state meet the following Saturday in Fresno.

The Division V boys race steps off the competition at 8:30 a.m. The meet concludes with the Division III girls race at 1:20 p.m.

East County runners expect to be well represented once again.

Monte Vista senior Muluken Baressa finished second in the varsity boys large school division in the Jaguar/Road Runner Sports Invitational Oct. 20 at Kit Carson Park in Escondido. Baressa timed 16:13 on the three-mile course in placing runner-up to Westview senior Travis Kuhlman (15:55).

Overall, five Monarchs posted top 25 finishes in the 83-person race: junior Darius Nocon (14th, 17:42), senior Joaquin Llamas (16th, 17:47), senior Juan Lepe (19th, 17:49) and sophomore Mark Wassmer (24th, 17:57). Also placing among the top half of runners for Monte Vista were senior Andrew Owens (33rd, 18:16) and sophomore Misikir Mentose (41st, 18:27).

West Hills senior Samantha Espindola was the top Grossmont Conference finisher in the girls varsity large schools race, completing the 2.5-mile course in 27th place in 17:10.

West Hills sophomores Marcus Nelson (17:29) and Jerry Fiser (18:17) finished as the top two runners in the boys junior varsity large schools race (freshmen and sophomores only) while Wolf Pack teammate Samantha Timanus (17:29) won the girls JV race.

Christian sophomore Jesse Beason finished 16th in the boys varsity small schools race, followed by teammates Spencer Winston (24th, 18:56) and Josh May (25th, 18:59) in the 118-strong field.

Monte Vista’s Heather Mayer placed 10th in the girls varsity small schools race with a time of 17:59 for 2.5 miles while teammates Hailey Mayer was 20th in 18:23 and Hanna O’Hara was 24th in 18:43 among the 94 finishers on a hot day.

Both Monte Vista and Steele Canyon’s boys teams have been pushing to make the San Diego County coaches top 10 poll. The teams met in Grossmont South League dual competition on Oct. 13, with the Monarchs holding off the Cougars 23-35.

Ditto for the West Hills and El Capitan girls teams. The team also met on Oct. 13, with West Hills edging El Capitan, 25-33, for midseason supremacy among Grossmont North League girls squads.

In a rare tri-meet on Oct. 27, Steele Canyon’s boys team defeated Mt. Miguel, 17-41, and West Hills, 24-31, while the Wolf Pack emerged victorious in an inter-league battle of top girls teams, 27-28, against Steele Canyon. The top individual finishers in each race were from Steele Canyon: Adrian Sherrod (boys) and Megan Meyer (girls).

Steele Canyon defeated Granite Hills on the sixth runner tiebreaker in a Grossmont South League girls dual meet on Oct. 6 after the teams had battled to a 28-28 deadlock through the first five scoring positions.

Elite showdown
More than 24,000 runners competed in the nationwide-draw Mt. SAC Invitational Oct. 20-21 in Walnut. Steele Canyon athletes can be proud of their second-place finish in the varsity boys race No. 45. The Cougars finished second to Fairfield in the 26-team race that featured 150 runners. Sherrod, a junior, was second overall in 15:51, followed by Steele Canyon teammates Evan Anderson (20th, 16:53), Tim Buckmaster (22nd, 16:56), Devan Caddell (23rd, 16:57), Vince Cirello (32nd, 17:12), Anup Patel (33rd, 17:13) and Kyle Fox (36th, 17:18) among the top 40 finishers.

In other out-of-area high profile meets, Valhalla senior Anthony Bareno finished third at the Stanford Invitational with a time of 15:47. El Capitan junior Kyle Phipps (16:20) was 18th in the same elite field while Steele Canyon’s Fox (16:40) and Sherrod (16:43) were 34th and 39th, respectively. El Capitan sophomore Nick Bedrosian made the top 50 cut in 49th place in 16:49. The 5K race featured 320 runners.

Final regular season dual meets are scheduled for Friday, Nov. 3. The Grossmont Conference Finals are scheduled Friday, Nov. 10.

As a general rule, the top three teams in each division at the section finals advance to the state meet.

Top boys teams to watch at the section finals include Rancho Buena Vista, Fallbrook, Vista, San Pasqual, Torrey Pines, University City, Bonita Vista, Rancho Bernardo, Valley Center, Otay Ranch, Eastlake and Ramona.

Top girls team to watch include Torrey Pines, University City, Vista, La Jolla, Rancho Bernardo, Carlsbad, Mt. Carmel, El Camino, Our Lady of Peace Academy, Valley Center and Rancho Buena Vista.

League duals step off: Cougars, Wolf Pack go up 2-0

Grossmont South League
Steele Canyon High School’s cross country team has stepped off Grossmont South League dual meet competition with a 2-0 record following wins against Helix and Granite Hills while Vahalla has followed suit with a pair of league wins against Granite Hills and Mt. Miguel.

Steele Canyon opened the 2006 dual meet season by sweeping Helix on Sept. 27, winning 25-34 in the boys competition and 23-38 in the girls competition. The Cougars followed that up by sweeping Granite Hills on Oct. 6, winning the boys dual meet by a 20-41 score and claiming a 28-28 tiebreaker win in the girls dual meet.

Valhalla defeated Granite Hills 26-29 in boys competition on Sept. 27 and took a 28-29 win in the girls dual meet. The Norsemen swept Mt. Miguel on Oct. 6 by 23-38 and 16-47 scores in boys and girls competition, respectively.

Valhalla’s Brian Randlett earned medalist honors with a 15:58 time on the 3.1-mile Mt. Miguel course while Valhalla’s Tony Bareno was the top boys finisher in 16:07 on the 5K Valhalla High School course in the dual against Granite Hills.

Steele Canyon will next meet Monte Vista on in dual competition Oct. 13 at Steele Canyon High School while Valhalla will host Helix.

Grossmont North League
West Hills has gone undefeated to step off Grossmont North League competition. The Wolf Pack swept El Cajon Valley by scores of 15-50 (boys) and 20-41 (girls) on Sept. 27 and ran past visiting Grossmont by scores of 20-40 (boys) and 18-43 (girls) on Oct. 6.

Grossmont’s Barrett Tilley won the Oct. 6 boys race on the 5K course at West Hills High School with a 17:53 time while the Wolf Pack’s Samantha Espindola captured the top time in the 2.1-mile girls race in 13:39.

Santana’s Anthony DeBarrows led Santana’s boys team to a 22-33 victory against El Cajon Valley on Oct. 6 by timing 17:47 on the 3.1-mile course at Santee Lakes. El Cajon Valley won the girls meet by a 15-50 score.

East County teams excel at South Bay Invitational

The first San Diego Section cross country coaches rankings for the 2006 season were released Sept. 19. A slight reordering seems in order among East County teams after the last runners crossed the finish line in the 33rd annual South Bay Invitational Sept. 22 at Rohr Park in Chula Vista.

The El Capitan Vaqueros entered the gathering of teams from around the section ranked ninth among the section’s boys teams and finished fourth deep in a field that included San Pasqual (first, 69 points), Otay Ranch (second, 82 points) and Monte Vista (third, 93 points). El Capitan finished with 99 points — well ahead of fifth place Valley Center (142 points).

Prior to the encounter, Rancho Buena Vista had been ranked first in the section, Fallbrook ranked second, followed by Otay Ranch, Rancho Bernardo, University City, Eastlake, Torrey Pines, San Pasqual, El Capitan and Ramona. Monte Vista and Steele Canyon had been considered among “others.”

Monte Vista, paced by race-winner Muluken Beressa’s lead, placed its remaining scorers 12th, 13th, 33rd and 34th in the 147-deep race to petition for moving up the next coaches poll. The Monarchs are the defending Grossmont South League champions and return quite a bit of the firepower that led them to a second-place finish at last year’s II championship meet.

Kyle Phipps keyed the Vaqueros with a fourth-place individual finish behind Muluken, Alexander Avilez of Valley Center and Mike Denman of Otay Ranch. Phipps timed 16:38 behind Baressa (16:03), Avilez (16:08) and Denman (16:10).

Nick Bedrosian (14th, 17:13), Mike Poffenbarger (18th, 17:18) and Miles Segni (22nd, 17:23) followed Phipps across the finish line in the 3.1-mile race as El Capitan placed three runners among the top 20 finishers, four runners among the top 25 finishers, six runners among the top 45 runners and all seven runners among the top 50 finishers.

Jarred Atkinson (41st, 17:47), Patrick Green (45th, 17:53) and Chris Torres (46th, 17:54) rounded out the Vaqueros’ contingent.

Grossmont’s Barrett Tilley just missed a top 10 individual finish with an 11th-place time of 16:56.

West Hills (249 points) was ninth and Grossmont (251 points) was 10th among the 12 scored teams in the race.

On the girls side, West Hills (93 points) finished first ahead of Our Lady of Peace (111 points) and third place El Capitan (122 points). Steele Canyon finished fifth in the field with 141 points, trailing fourth place San Pasqual (133 points).

All three East County teams finished ahead of Valley Center (seventh, 188 points), which had entered the meet ranked seventh among girls teams in the section. Thus, a reordering of the rankings seems in order.

East County runners dominated the race with four of the top five finishers and seven of the top 11 finishers.

El Capitan’s Stephanie Cook won the 2.5-mile race in 15:56, followed by San Pasqual’s Alicia Park in 16:00, El Capitan’s Katie Martin in 16:34 and Monte Vista’s Heather Mayer in 16:35.

West Hills ran as a pack with a 36-second spread among its top five runners). Samantha Espindola led that pack with an eighth-place finish in 16:50, followed by teammates Carrie Saccone (14th, 16:58), Jordan Thomas (17th, 17:01), Nicole Anderson (25th, 17:14) and Samantha Timanus (29th, 17:26). The Wolf Pack placed its top five scorers among the top 30 runners.

For El Capitan, Jamie Ferguson was 13th in the 150-deep field in 16:57 while Steele Canyon had two runners place among the top nine finishers (name tags fell off during the race and individual results were not available for the Cougars).

Among standout individuals, El Cajon Valley’s Leena Norwarekar was 11th in 16:56.

East County notepad
Monte Vista’s Connor Breen was second among individuals in the boys JV race while El Capitan’s Kyle Moran and Monte Vista’s Mark Wassmer were second and third, respectively, in the boys frosh/soph race.

West Hills finished second in the girls JV race while Steele Canyon was third. Top individuals included West Hills’ Carrie Gedeon (11th, 18:38) and Steele Canyon’s Lisa Wu (13th, 18:32). A total of 234 runners competed in the race.

Steele Canyon harriers aiming for state meet

When the Steele Canyon High School boys cross country team gathered to admire the first-place trophy it had captured at this year’s 11th annual Mustang Invitational, team members excitedly raised the metal prize above their heads and belted out one word in unison: “State.”

The Cougars finished fourth in the Division II standings at last year’s San Diego Section championship meet — one place away from qualifying for the elite state championship meet in Fresno. Since that November day last year, Steele Canyon has had a goal of moving up the team standings on the road to fabled Woodward Park in the Central Valley.

“We want to be league champions and qualify for state — those are our goals for this season,” Cougars senior captain Kyle Fox said.

This is the fifth year for the varsity program at the Rancho San Diego school and this year’s team looks to be its best. Early season results seem to vindicate that. Steele Canyon finished atop the boys varsity silver division standings with 28 points at the Sept. 8 cross country meet at Chula Vista’s Rohr Park, well ahead of second place Montgomery (45 points) and third place La Jolla (89 points).

Among individual finishers on the 3.0-mile course, Fox was second in 16:39 while junior teammate Adrian Sherrod was third in 16:41. Juniors Tim Buckmaster (17:15) and Matt Corey (17:25) were eighth and ninth, respectively, while senior Anup Patel (17:35) rounded out the team’s top five scorers in 14th place.

Junior Evan Anderson (17:39) and senior Devan Caddell (17:41) finished 16th and 17th among the race’s 81 runners to round out the Cougars’ seven-man contingent.

Montgomery’s fifth runner finished in 21st place while La Jolla’s fifth runner was 26th.

Steele Canyon’s boys and girls junior varsity teams also placed first in their division at this year’s Mustang Invitational. The boys JV team scored a meet low 30 points to place ahead of runner-up St. Augustine (57 points) and third place Montgomery (60 points). In the girls JV silver race, the Cougars won a narrow battle with traditional power La Jolla, 32-33, for the team title. Our Lady of Peace Academy finished third with 67 points.

Sophomore Eli Aguirre placed second in the boys JV race, timing 12:06 for 2.22 miles. He was followed across the finish line by sophomore teammates Dustin Degler (fourth, 12:17), Kyle Greenhalgh (fifth, 12:15) and Evan Corrales (eighth, 12:40) and junior teammate Carson Cooper (11th, 12:43). The Cougars had five of the top 11 finishers, six of the top 15 finishers and eight of the top 18 finishers in a tremendous show of force.

Freshman Christie Hendel (10:41) was second in the girls JV silver race to lead another talented young pack. Steele Canyon had three of the top six finishers and five of the top 11 finishers in the 1.55-mile race. Sophomore Amber McFall was fourth in 10:50, junior Lisa Wu was fifth in 10:57, freshman Jennifer Hughes was eighth in 11:00, junior Gillian Hughes was 11th in 1:02, sophomore Candy Gonzalez was 19th in 11:24 and freshman Kayla Mollon was 21st in 11:26.

The girls JV silver race featured 146 runners while the boys JV silver race had 136 finishers.

Steele Canyon finished fourth in the varsity girls silver division, trailing La Jolla, Our Lady of Peace and Hilltop. Junior Megan Meyer was the Cougars’ top finisher in the 2.22-mile race (ninth, 13:27). Junior Brittany Hutchison was 14th in 14:02, followed by senior Aubrey Sever (23rd, 14:50), junior Bethany Rangel (28th, 15:10), senior Amanda Foster (29th, 15:16), junior Ali Kasmedo (31st, 15:33) and sophomore Summer Moss (48th, 16:26) in the 65-person race.

“We’re trying to build a foundation for the future,” said Fox, who finished third among senior boys in the preceding week’s Wolf Pack Invitational. “We only have three seniors in our top seven. We should do well for many years to come.”

Sherrod was the Cougars’ top finisher at last year’s section championship meet, placing 19th (fifth among sophomores) while Caddell was 28th, Fox was 30th, Ernesto Martinez was 40th, Patel was 50th and Buckmaster was 60th in the field of 140 runners. Steele Canyon finished with 126 points to trail third place University City (102 points). Monte Vista advanced to the state finals with a second place team finish. The Cougars finished ahead of West Hills (sixth), Valhalla (seventh) and El Capitan (eighth).

Steele Canyon’s girls team placed 11th at last year’s Division II section finals, led by Rangel (40th) and Hutchison (47th).

Mustang Invitational notepad
In the boys varsity blue division race, Granite Hills senior Alex Guaderrama was seventh in 16:09 while Helix senior Josh Vargas (ninth, 16:23) and Highlanders sophomore Chase Roberts (11th, 16:29) also ran to top end finishes in the field of 87 runners.

Helix freshman Ashley Schramm managed an 11th place finish in the girls varsity blue division race, timing 13:55 for 2.22 miles. Junior Gabriella Black was Granite Hills’ top girls finisher in the race in 16th with a time of 14:11.

Granite Hills sophomore Danielle Jones won the girls junior varsity blue division race with a time of 10:10 for 1.55 miles as the Eagles finished sixth in the division.

11th Mustang/Movin Shoes Invitational
Rohr Park at Friday, Sept. 8, 2006

Boys Varsity Silver Division
Top individuals (3.0 miles): 1. Edgar Lopez (Mar Vista) 16:23; 2. Kyle Fox (Steele Canyon) 16:39; 3. Adrian Sherrod (Steele Canyon) 16:41; 4. Noah Sloan (Julian) 16:59; 5. Ben Enowitz (Coronado) 17:00; 6. Christian Kaeg (Montgomery) 17:06; 7. Jonathan Alcala (Montgomery) 17:06; 8. Tim Buckmaster (Steele Canyon) 17:15; 9. Matt Corey (Steele Canyon) 17:25; 10. Jehovahnni Sandez (Montgomery) 17:26; 11. Alejando Medina (Montgomery) 17:26; 12. Trevor Dorne (La Jolla) 17:28; 13. Michael Davies (Coronado) 17:32; 14. Anup Patel (Steele Canyon) 17:35; 15. Edgar Taqueda (St. Augustine) 17:35; 16. Evan Anderson (Steele Canyon) 17:39; 17. Devan Caddell (Steele Canyon) 17:41; 18. Jonathon Westman (La Jolla) 17:46; 19. Joe Binder (La Jolla) 17:54; 20. Name unavailable (Hilltop) 17:58.
Team standings: 1. Steele Canyon 28; 2. Montgomery 45; 3. La Jolla 89; 4. Coronado 108; 5. St. Augustine 135; 6. Christian 169; 7. Castle Park 206; 8. Hilltop 240; 9. Brawley 240; 10. Mountain Empire 241; 11. Point Loma 303.

Boys Varsity Blue Division
Top individuals (3.0 miles): Top individuals: 1. Mac Fleet (UC) 15:38; 2. Austin Jett (EL) 15:41; 3. Eric Avila (BV) 15:42; 4. Mike Denman (OR) 15:57; 5. Alex Scherling (UC) 16:03; 6. Mathew Seat (BV) 16:08; 7. Alex Guaderrama (Granite Hills) 16:09; 8. Brandon Velasquez (OR) 16:19; 9. Josh Vargas (Helix) 16:23; 10. Eric Fujikawa (EL) 16:28; 11. Chase Roberts (Helix) 16:29; 12. Jeff Welch (EL) 16:33; 13. Joshi Ankyr (Indio) 16:38; 14. Alan Gudino (Sweetwater) 16:39; 15. Brian Randlett (Valhalla) 16:40; 16. David Morningstar (Valley Center) 16:40; 17. Juan Hernandez (Indio) 16:49; 18. Jonathon Limon (Otay Ranch) 16:49; 19. Jesse Matias (Otay Ranch) 16:56; 20. John Mahon (Escondido) 16:57.
Team standings:1. Otay Ranch 88; 2. Bonita Vista 100; 3. University City 102, 4. Eastlake 111; 5. Sweetwater 160; 6. Helix 168; 7. Scripps Ranch 181; 8. Indio 189; 9. Escondido 190; 10. Valley Center 230; 11. Valhalla 240; 12. Mission Hills 258; 13. Granite Hills 286.

Girls Varsity Silver Division
Top individuals (2.22 miles): 1. Sallie Privett (Coronado) 12:35; 2. Sammy Silva (Our Lady of Peace) 12:48; 3. Nihal Kayali (La Jolla) 13:16; 4. 13:26; 5. Margot Hedlin (La Jolla) 13:23; 5. Tanya Valenzuela (Hilltop)13:26; 6. Tess Plant-Thomas (La Jolla) 13:27; 7. Courtney Avvampato (La Jolla) 13:30; 8. Maya Gamble (La Jolla) 13:34; 9. Megan Meyer (Steele Canyon) 13:37; 10. Maria Barrett (Our Lady of Peace) 13:43.
Team standings: 1. La Jolla 23; 2. Our Lady of Peace 52; 3. Hilltop 86; 4. Steele Canyon 95; 5. Point Loma 148; 6. Montgomery 168; 7. Christian 184; 8. Julian 204; 9. Brawley 244.

Girls Varsity Blue Division
Top individuals (2.22 miles): 1. Sarah Vitug (University City) 12:31; 2. Aisha Coons (Mission Hills) 12:50; 3. Tiffany Duffy (Escondido) 13:04; 4. Sheree Shea (University City) 13:22; 5. Name unavailable #1332 (Mission Hills) 13:36; 6. Katie Sanger (Valley Center) 13:38; 7. Dayna Anderson (University City) 13:47; 8. Amber Throop (Valley Center) 13:48; 9. Rochelle Coulson (University City) 13:48; 10. Christina Buckley (University City) 13:53.
Team standings: 1. University City 31; 2. Escondido 88; 3. Mission Hills 100; 4. Eastlake 138; 5. Otay Ranch 158; 6. Valley Center 175; 7. Scripps Ranch 207; 8. Valhalla 219; 9. Indio 225; 10. Helix 229; 11. Granite Hills 234.

JV Girls Silver Division
Team standings: 1. Steele Canyon 32; 2. La Jolla 33; 3. Our Lady of Peace 67; 4. Montgomery 123; 5. Point Loma 141; 6. Hilltop 199; 7. Holtville 201; 8. Brawley 226.

JV Girls Blue Division
Team standings: 1. Scripps Ranch 77; 2. University City 84; 3. Otay Ranch 99; 4. Mission Hills 105; 5. Valhalla 106; 6. Granite Hills 156; 7. Escondido 174; 8. Bonita Vista 188; 9. Eastlake 191; 10. Helix 260; 11. Valley Center 303; 12. Sweetwater 348; 13. Indio 374.

JV Boys Silver Division
Team standings: 1. Steele Canyon 30; 2. St. Augustine 57; 3. Montgomery 60; 4. La Jolla 79; 5. Coronado 154; 6. Christian 182; 7. Olympian 197; 8. Foothills Christian 237.

JV Boys Blue Division
Team standings: 1. Otay Ranch 41; 2. Scripps Ranch 66; 3. University City 71; 4. Valhalla 93; 5. Escondido 146; 6. Helix 199; 7. Valley Center 212; 8. Eastlake 222; 9. Bonita Vista 269; 10. Granite Hills 284; 11. Mission Hills 288; 12. Sweetwater 289.

El Capitan runners looking for breakthrough season

Don’t be surprised if the El Capitan Vaqueros cross country team posts a breakthrough season in 2006. “We have what looks to be a solid team,” El Capitan coach Anthony Garcia said. “This is the best boys team I have had.”

The Vaqueros leader is junior Kyle Phipps who ranked as the third-best sophomore at last year’s San Diego Section Division II championships and finished 15th overall.

The runners who follow have already demonstrated an ability to pack after posting a two-through-six gap of 12 seconds at the Vaquero Stampede Sept. 2 at Lindo Lake.

The team’s senior leaders are Patrick Green and Jarred Atkinson, both of whom have developed into solid runners after four years of hard work, according to Garcia.

Chris Torres and Miles Segni, both juniors, have improved after a great off-season to lead this pack, Garcia said.

“Torres is a tough front runner who doesn’t mind setting the pace while Segni is a runner who comes on late,” Garcia said.

Phipps, Segni,senior Mike Poffenbarger, Atkinson and Green all return from last year’s eighth-place squad at the section finals.

Sophomore Nick Bedrosian is “the baby” of this group, according to Garcia, but someone who already has posted some great times and efforts.

Garcia said other runners expected to contribute to this year’s team include Poffenbarger, a 9:59 3,200-meter runner, and Chris Ertz, a 1:59 800-meter runner, as well as Mike Devan, someone who Garcia said may not have great track credentials but has logged some quality miles and appears ready to challenge for a varsity position.

“I am not sure how good this team is going to be this year, but I believe that they could do some special things come the end of the year,” Garcia said.

At the least, El Capitan’s boys team has already left its calling card if one judges by the outcome of this year’s Vaquero Invitational.

Bedrosian won the boys Division II frosh/soph race with a time of 8:43 for 1.65 miles while Phillips matched Mar Vista’s Edgar Lopez with the best time of 10:56 in the 2.15-mile boys Division II junior/senior race.

In the latter race, the Vaqueros filled five of the top seven berths and had seven runners place among the top 13 finishers. Following Phipps’ lead were Green (third, 11:23), Torres (fifth, 11:28), Atkinson (sixth, 11:31), Segni (seventh, 11:35), Poffenbarger (12th, 11:55) and Ertz (13th, 11:57).

In the frosh/soph Division 2 boys race, freshman Kyle Moran (fourth, 9:06) joined Bedrosian with a top five finish.

El Capitan’s girls team, meanwhile, will look to build on the momentum of its third-place finish at last year’s San Diego Section finals that included a trip to the state championship meet in Fresno.

The Vaqueros entered this season ranked sixth in the state but Garcia the loss of a key runner has made the team, in his words, “a mystery team.”

“I still think we will be a good team, but it is going to take us a little time to figure out how good we are,” Garcia said.

In the meantime, team leaders are senior Stephanie Cook and sophomore Katie Martin, both of whom finished in the upper half the field at last year’s state meet (Cook was 65th while Martin was 67th in the field of 188 individuals).

As a team, El Capitan finished 13th – nine points ahead of 14th-place West Hills (last year’s Division II section champion).

At the section finals, Martin (13th) was the team’s No. 2 runner behind Christy James (fifth). Cook was 22nd in the field of 140 runners.

Other returners last year’s state-qualifying team include juniors Jamie Ferguson and Kelsee Ramsey.

Ferguson was 38th while Ramsey was 56th at last year’s CIF section championships.

Garcia characterized this year’s girls squad as an experienced group that has experience in top level competition and that can work together well to excel late in the season like last season.

Junior Ashley Kearney, who saw a lot of varsity action throughout last season, adds quality experience to the team. Seniors Jillian Zavadil and Sarah McBride finished second and fourth, respectfully, at last year’s Grossmont junior varsity league finals and, according to Garcia, appear ready to take the next step.

Recent surprises, according to Garcia, include freshman Meghan Willis and senior Brittaney Bellgardt, both of whom have limited running behind them but appear to be able to help the team in the near future.

The 2006 Vaquero Stampede proved to be a showcase for the girls team, as it was for the boys team.

Cook won the girls Division II junior/senior race (1.65 miles) in 9:57 while Martin won the freshman/sophomore race (1.65 miles) in 9:58.

The Vaqueros had three of the top six finishers in the girls junior/senior race. Joining Cook with top finishes were Ferguson (fourth, 10:50) and Ramsey (sixth, 11:05).

Vaquero Stampede notepad
Granite Hills senior Alex Guaderrama was sixth in the boys Division I race with a time of 10:45 for 2.15 miles while Eagles junior Gabriella Black finished 12th in the girls Division I race with a time of 10:24 for 1.65 miles.

Christian junior Hannah Pearl was seventh in the girls Division II junior/senior race, timing 11:09 on the 1.65-mile course, while Santana sophomore Nicole Labriolla was seventh in the girls Division II freshman/sophomore race with a time of 11:02 for 1.65 miles.

Santana junior Anthony DeBarrows was 11th in the boys Division II race in 11:43 (2.15 miles).

Wolf Pack Invitational steps off 2006 season
The 2006 high school cross country season stepped off Sept. 1 at West Hills High School with the Wolf Pack Invitational. Races were conducted in freshman, sophomore, junior and senior formats for both boys and girls.

Valhala’s Tony Bareno (10:37) and Monte Vista’s Muluken Baressa (10:38) finished first and second, respectively, in the boys senior race while Steele Canyon’s Kyle Fox (11:25) was third. Grossmont’s Barrett Tilley was sixth in 11:32 while Helix’s Josh Vargas was eighth in 11:34 in the 2.1-mile race. Other top 25 finishers included Monte Vista’s Joaquin Llamas (13th, 11:46), West Hills’ Blake Caricato (15th, 11:51), Steele Canyon’s Anup Patel (16th, 12:01), Monte Vista’s Juan Lepe (17th, 12:02), Helix’s Antonio Torres (20th, 12:11), Monte Vista’s Andrew Owens (21st, 12:19) and Drake Rivera (22nd, 12:21), Steele Canyon’s Devan Caddell (23rd, 12:27), Grossmont’s Chris Root (24th, 12:34) and Valhalla’s Michael Meza (25th, 12:39). There were 92 finishers total.

Steele Canyon’s Adrian Sherrod placed third in the 117-strong boys junior race in 11:34, followed by Valhalla’s Brian Randlett (fifth, 11:41) and Brett Johnson (10th, 11:53), Monte Vista’s Darius Nocon (11th, 11:54), West Hills’ Tommy Dolan (13th, 11:59), Steele Canyon’s Matt Corey (14th, 12:00), Steele Canyon’s Tim Buckmaster (16th, 12:11), West Hills’ Mike Gonia (17th, 12:14), Helix’s Cameron Sundin (18th, 12:16) and Noah Brandt (19th, 12:17), Steele Canyon’s Vince Cirello (20th, 12:19) and Evan Anderson (22nd, 12:25) and Grossmont’s Mitchel Dominguez (24th, 12:42).

Top 10 finishers in the boys sophomore race included Helix’s Chase Roberts (second, 11:15), Valhalla’s Adam Steinert (sixth, 12:18), Monte Vista’s Misikir Mentose (seventh, 12:22), Grossmont’s Parry Thorton (eighth, 12:27) and Valhalla’s Chris Roberts (10th, 12:32) while Helix’s Francisco Zavala (9:01) placed 10th in the 1.6-mile boys freshman race.

There were 122 finishers in the boys sophomore race and 109 finishers in the boys freshman race.

Top East County finishers in the girls junior race (1.6 miles) included Steele Canyon’s Megan Meyer (fifth, 9:50) and Brittany Hutchison (eighth, 10:02), West Hills’ Nicole Anderson (ninth, 10:03), Grossmont’s Sablle Scheppmann (12th, 10:11), West Hills’ Carrie Saccone (13th, 10:12) and Samantha Timanus (18th, 10:23) in the 103-person field.

Top East County finishers in the girls senior race (1.6 miles) included Monte Vista’s Heather Mayer (eighth, 9:47), West Hills’ Samantha Espindola (ninth, 9:52), El Cajon Valley’s Leena Norwarekar (11th, 9:59), Valhalla’s Sarah Laine (12th, 10:05), Helix’s Raquel Lastra (15th, 10:18), Valhalla’s Roxanne Sebeney (17th, 10:21) and Steele Canyon’s Amy Hendel (19th, 10:24). There were 82 finishers total.

Top 10 sophomore finishes were turned in by West Hills’ Kelsey Hall (sixth, 9:36) and Valhalla’s Lauren Carlton (10th, 10:14) while top 10 freshman finishes were turned in by Helix’s Ashley Schramm (third, 9:58), Valhalla’s Whitney Johnson (sixth, 10:26) and Steele Canyon’s Christie Hendel (eighth, 10:39) and Kayla Mollon (ninth, 10:47).

There were 106 finishers in the girls sophomore race and 98 finishers in the girls freshman race.

Preview: Valhalla Norsemen
The Valhalla Norsemen have a positive outlook for the 2006 high school cross country season, according to coach Carter Yarbrough.

“A couple of athletes who were injured are healthy and ready to go,” Yarbrough said. “A team goal is to take the conference title. We feel it could have been ours for the past couple of years. With that success and, if we can stay healthy, our goal is to then qualify for the state finals as a team.”

Top returners include senior Tony Bareno and junior Brian Randlett. A Grossmont League champion and All-San Diego Section runner, Bareno finished sixth in last year’s boys Division II state finals while Randlett (a 9:53 two-miler) earned all-league honors and qualified for last year’s state meet.

Impact newcomers include sophomore Adam Steinert and senior Brian Rickards, both all-league performers last year at the junior varsity level.

Freshman Whitney Johnson is a newcomer to watch for on the girls team, Yarbrough noted.