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Barons sweep Red Devils

To view the Bonita Vista-Sweetwater dual meet photo album, click here

By Phillip Brents

CHULA VISTA, Oct. 5, 2001 -- The Bonita Vista High cross country team lent proper meaning to the word team — or rather, teams — in its Metro Conference dual meet against Sweetwater at Rohr Park. The Barons swept all three races — boys and girls varsity and boys junior varsity — to continue the 2001 campaign on both a victorious and thrill-seeking note. Bonita Vista captured both boys races each by dramatic one-point margins.

"I’m obviously happy with the performance today of all three teams," noted Baron head coach Ian Cumming, whose varsity boys squad nipped the Red Devils by a 27-28 score and whose JV boys team edged SuHi 28-29.

The Bonita Vista girls, placing the top eight individuals, finished with a dominating 15-49 win.

The Barons boys varsity team continued its resurgent season. Bonita Vista finished a disappointing eighth in the season-opening Baron Invitational run on the same course, trailing fifth-place Sweetwater by 42 points. However, Bonita Vista quickly began its rise thereafter, placing seventh at the South Bay Invitational two weeks later at Rohr Park ahead of the ninth-place Red Devils.

Fittingly in this duel between Mesa League powers, the key moment in the race occurred on the final straightaway when the Barons’ fourth runner, Nick Amalfitano passed two Sweetwater runners and nearly passed a third, Dustin Boyer, at the finish line. Both teams placed their top five scorers among the top 10 finishers. The Red Devils finished 1-4-6-8-9 in the 3.1-mile race while Bonita Vista secured the victory with a tighter spread (28 to 37 seconds) at 2-3-5-7-10.

"We expected it to be close. I think both teams ran very, very well. It was inches at the line," Cumming said. "We were fortunate to have the upper hand today."

The high profile matchup produced personal-record times among most of the Bonita Vista finishers, according to Cumming, who while praising the effort of all team members, specifically lauded the efforts of Sven Meza, James Serratos and Amalfitano for key performances in securing the victory.

Serratos (16:48) and Meza (16:52) finished third and fifth overall in the race as the Barons’ second and third runners behind teammate Ryan Becijos (16:42), who placed second to Sweetwater’s race winner, Abdirizak Abdi (16:27). With three of the top five finishers belonging to Bonita Vista, that left little margin for error for the Red Devils. Boyer held off the hard-charging Amalfitano at the finish line to grab sixth place but Amalfitano’s finish ahead of the Devils’ Cesar Torres (eighth) and Jose Guardado (ninth), both of whom timed 17:10, proved the key turning point, as the Barons followed with the next three runners to cinch the final scoring spot.

The place-finish for Guardado was a disappointment after the SuHi runner had placed second overall among individuals the previous week in a double dual meet against Eastlake and Montgomery.

"We’re just happy we survived," explained Sweetwater coach Tim Latham in a moment of reflection. "We’ve been having our problems with injuries in training and only got a couple guys back running the last two weeks."

The improving Barons now set their sites on preseason favorite Chula Vista when the teams show down Oct. 25 at Rohr Park.

"We’re obviously very happy with our progression," Cumming said. "They put in a lot of work during the summer. They have a great attitude and are believe in themselves."

The Bonita Vista girls could be headed for a busy postseason if they keep up their current pace. The Barons, who entered the week ranked among the San Diego Section's top Division I schools, finished the 2.2-mile race with 13 of the top 14 runners. The team’s top five scorers included Kate Branson (first, 13:22), Tiffany Caddell (second, 13:26), Kristen Gonzalez (third, 13:35), Morgane Sigaud (fourth, 13:40) and Kayleigh Knudson (fifth, 14:07). Rounding out the team’s top eight finishers were Kiersten Dolby (sixth, 14:17), Julie Buettner (seventh, 14:31) and Angel Torres (eighth, 14:38).

Cumming said the team is taking nothing for granted and is focusing on the tasks that lie ahead. "The Chula Vista meet is sitting out there for us, the league meet is sitting out there, the CIF meet is out there. Hopefully, we can do well enough to qualify for the state meet and do something there."

The day ended as it had begun — with a nail-biter for parents and coaches and an otherwise strategist’s dream. Sweetwater owned the top two individual finishers in the boys JV race — Robert Isais (17:27) and Rogelio Gonzalez (17:28) but the Barons managed to place six runners among the top 10 finishers. A key move, according to Cumming, was breaking up the Red Devils’ top three pack as Bonita Vista’s Ryan Groth (third, 17:31) and Nick Raue (fourth, 17:32) finished ahead of SuHi’s third man, John Cleveland (fifth, 17:39). Baron sophomore Jared Purkey (17:59) was sixth to lead a pack of four consecutive BV runners across the finish line before Sweetwater could counter with the race’s 10th and 11th place finishers.

Cumming remained extremely complimentary of the opposition. "I was very, very impressed with their JV. I knew they had gotten better since the South Bay Invitational and had seen their result from their last race with Eastlake and Montgomery. I was very impressed with what they had done. We were fortunate to hang on," he said.

Spartans place third at Huntingon Beach Invitational

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Oct. 6, 2001 -- The Chula Vista boys cross country team finished third in the Division I standings at Saturday’s Central Park Invitational in Huntington Beach. Andres Padilla was the Spartans’ top finisher in 16th place, timing 16:00 on the course. Ysmael Miranda (16:22) followed Padilla’s lead in 24th place while teammate Apolinar Mariscal (16:34) finished 42nd overall among individuals. Eduardo Mariscal (57th, 16:53) and Daniel Medrano (61st, 16:54) rounded out the team’s top five scorers.

Chula Vista (199 points) finished behind Santa Ana Valley (171) and Upland (178) in the team standings.

The Chula Vista boys junior varsity team finished fifth in its division. The Spartans were led by James Groves, who finished seventh in 17:27, and Juan Jauregui, who finished eighth in 17:30. Victor Mariscal was 10th (17:45) in the boys Division I freshman race.

The Chula Vista girls team, which placed seventh in the Division I race, was led by Nelly Hernandez (36th, 20:00), Johanna Suasa (42nd, 20:06), Darla Reader (51st, 20:20), Cynthia Garay (61st, 20:38), Jackie Mandy (68th, 20:48) and Lynn Hernandez (74th, 20:55). Liliana Acevedo (23:14) was 28th in the girls Division I JV race.

For complete race results, visit the Web site at http://home.socal.rr.com/naturewink.

Top individuals (3.1 miles): 1. Abdirizak Abdi (SuHi) 16:27; 2. Ryan Becijos (BV) 16:42; 3. James Serratos (BV) 16:48; 4. Hector Arreola (SuHi) 16:49; 5. Sven Meza (BV) 16:52; 6. Dustin Boyer (SuHi) 16:54; 7. Nick Amalfitano (BV) 16:55; 8. Cesar Torres (SuHi) 17:04; 9. Jose Guardado (SuHi) 17:04. Others: 10. Zamora (BV) 17:10; 11. Valdez (BV) 17:29; 12. Berdeski (BV) 17:30; 13. Zapata (SuHi) 18:17; 14. Sanchez (SuHi) 20:45.

Top individuals (2.2 miles): 1. Kate Branson (BV) 13:22; 2. Tiffany Caddell (BV) 13:26; 3. Kristen Gonzalez (BV) 13:35; 4. Morgane Sigaud (BV) 13:40; 5. Kayleigh Knudson (BV) 14:07; 6. Kiersten Dolby (BV) 14:17; 7. Julie Buettner (BV) 14:31; 8. Angel Torres (BV) 14:38; 9. Lizette Villasana (SuHi) 14:41; 10. Kelly Milliken (BV) 14:47; 11. Dolores Rodriguez (BV) 14:57; 12. Evelyn Andrade (BV) 15:02; 13. Denise French (BV) 15:15; 14. Priscilla Garcillanosa (SuHi) 15:15.

Top individuals (3.1 miles): 1. Robert Isais (SuHi) 17:27; 2. Rogelio Gonzalez (SuHi) 17:28; 3. Ryan Groth (BV) 17:31; 4. Nick Raue (BV) 17:32; 5. John Cleveland (SuHi) 17:39; 6. Jared Purkey (BV) 17:59. Others: 7. A. Alvarez (BV) 18:06; 8. P. Zubkis (BV) 18:09; 9. J. Hillery (BV) 18:09; 10. N. Diaz (SuHi) 18:10; 11. R. Beltran (SuHi) 18:23; 12. S. Suarez (SuHi) 18:25; 13. Chris Wymer (BV) 18:25; 14. M. Kirkwood (BV) 18:32; 15. C. Leon (BV) 18:37; 16. J. Victoria (BV) 19:14; 17. R. Isais (SuHi) 19:20; 18. M. Morales (BV) 19:26; 19. P. Bordenave (BV) 19:48; 20. E. Yang (BV) 19:58; 21. J. Ochoa (SuHi) 20:25; 22. G. Luna (SuHi) 20:25; 23. E. Reiser (BV) 20:52; 24. P. Raue (BV) 21:09; 25. O. Michel (BV) 21:50; 26. W. Penny (BV) 22:11; 27. L. Wallace (BV) 22:22; 28. J. Guardado (SuHi) 24:30; 29. O. Michel (BV) 24:40; 30. J. Borik (BV) 24:42; 31. T. Straum (BV) 30:42.