SD Prep Sports: Cross Country

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The Bonita Vista cross country team enjoyed a season of plenty last year — running to Mesa League titles in both the girls and boys varsity and junior varsity divisions by the time the final race time was logged at the Metro Conference championship finals. With minimal losses across the board, the Barons have to be considered favorites to repeat their titles of a year ago.

The defending Mesa League champion Baron girls lost just two of their top seven runners from a season ago — Kate Branson (to graduation) and Morgane Sigaud (moved to Temecula). Back to lead an imposingly strong 2002 squad is two-time league champion Kristen Gonzalez, a senior, who placed 11th at the Division I finals as a junior and just missed garnering All-CIF honors. Supporting Gonzalez at the front of the pack are sophomore Tiffany Caddell and senior Kayleigh Knudson. In an impressive performance, Caddell finished second to Gonzalez at last year’s finals as a freshman (posting a top 20 CIF place-finish) while Knudson earned all-league status (top 10 finishers) as the 10th-place runner in the league.

Bonita Vista coach Ian Cumming said his top three runners look solid.
“Kayleigh has put in a lot of hard miles this summer and stayed right up there with the top two in workouts,” Cumming said.

The Barons’ lineup is fleshed out by a deep corps of up-and-coming runners, keyed by seniors Evelin Andrade, Kristen Milliken, Ashley Boyd and Emily Lewis and juniors Julie Buettner and Breanna Kelley, as well as several freshmen who, according to Cumming, "look very good at this point."

The Bonita Vista boys team returns a deep though still young lineup that expects to challenge once more for the Mesa League title. The Barons finished as co-champions with Chula Vista last season and return much of their championship roster. Junior Ryan Becijos finished as the Mesa League’s No. 2 individual at last year’s finals, third overall in the combined conference field. He is joined by all-league returner Nick Amalfitano, a senior who finished 11th overall in the conference field (ninth in league) at last year’s cross country finals and is the reigning half-mile track and field champion. The Barons are further but tressed by a pair of runners who just missed gathering all-league honors: juniors James Serratos (11th in league) and Julian Zamora (12th in league).

A slew of talented runners attest to the team’s expansive depth chart: seniors Daniel Valdez, Justin Hillery and Phillip Chipounov, juniors Ryan Groth, Chris Wymer and Jared Purkey and sophomores Abraham Alvarez, Michael Valdez and Mike Morales. Michael Valdez is the returning league junior varsity cross country champion; Groth finished third in the JV race, followed by Hillery in fifth place, Purkey in eighth place and Daniel Valdez in 10th place to complete the Barons’ unit of five all-league JV runners returning to the program (and fighting to move up within its ranks).

Cumming believes both his boys and girls varsity teams have the desire to complement the talent to take the lead the chase for this year’s league titles. "I have to believe that both teams want to battle for the league championship. Since the boys are co-champs and the girls are champions and we didn’t lose too many to graduation, one would have to consider us as the favorite," Cumming said.

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Sweetwater Red Devils

The Devils’ top returners on the boys side include junior Edgar Llanez and senior Hector Arreola. Llanez finished fifth overall in last year’s combined conference championship field (fourth among Mesa League runners) and rates as the No. 2 runner returning in the league. Arreola also earned All-Mesa League honors last season after finishing seventh overall in the conference, fifth in league. They are joined by a host of talented runners making the jump from last year’s junior varsity team, among them, juniors Rogelio Gonzalez, Robert Isais and Greg Luna and seniors Ramces Beltran, Fernando Sepulveda and Miguel Diaz. Gonzalez finished second at last year’s JV league finals, followed by fellow all-league teammates Isais (sixth) and Sepulveda (ninth). Two runners who will be making the jump to cross country from last spring’s track and field season are junior Javier Diaz and sophomore Francisco Villasana.

"We’re kind of in a rebuilding year. We’ve got a lot of kids to replace. We’re building for the future but we expect to be competitive if the kids can pick up where they left off last year and meet our expectations of them," said SuHi boys coach Tim Latham.

Sweetwater’s girls team rates, on paper, better than last year’s squad but does not appear yet to be in a position to challenge the league’s heavyweights, though head-to-head races should certainly be more competitive. Top returners include senior Lizette Villasana and Kenya Caro, both seniors, and sophomore Brenda Diaz. Villasana was the Devils’ top place-finisher at last year’s conference finals, 13th in league. Top prospects include senior Paola Diaz, freshman Savannah Size, Priscilla Garcillanosa and Aidette Romero.

Chula Vista Spartans

The Spartan boys team shared last year’s Mesa League title with Bonita Vista by edging the Barons 37-41 in the conference finals meet after dropping an earlier dual meet encounter. This year’s CV squad will be relying more on top prospects than returners in an effort to once again hang at the top of the league standings. The Spartans lost five of their top seven runners to graduation. Leading the way this season are seniors Juan Jauregui and James Groves, junior Daniel Medrano, sophomores Ivan Villareal and Victor Mariscal. Jauregui finished fourth at last year’s JV league finals while Mariscal was 18th. Medrano, the team’s fifth man at the varsity level last year, finished 17th overall in the varsity finals. Groves was the team’s seventh runner on varsity. First-year runner Sergio Ortiz, a senior, is also expected to contribute. This year’s team remains young in terms of competition (and will receive quite a bit in out-of-town invitationals) and will be pushed by a good crop of freshmen. "We have good hard-working kids. It’s pretty much in their hands. Bonita’s tough. Sweetwater is always tough and Eastlake is in our league now. There’s no telling," Spartan coach Art Johnson said.

The Chula Vista girls team is in similar circumstances, having lost five seniors and four of its top seven runners from a year ago. Top returners include Johanna Suasa, an all-league performer last season (10th in the conference, ninth in league), and fellow senior Kenia Rosete, who had a promising season cut short by knee surgery last year. Four juniors should add their share of punch in helping take up the slack: Irene Bueno, Cindy Garay, Brenda Sandoval and Carlene Belin. Garay finished 17th in last year’s combined conference varsity field while Bueno is coming out from cross country after competing in the high jump event during last spring’s track and field season. At the moment, 200- and 400-meter Mesa League track and field champion Jackie Mandy is foregoing the cross country season to concentrate on next year’s track season. As with the boys’ team, a sizable number of freshmen show promise. "Bonita’s got the horses. They’re going to be an awesome team. Bonita’s a good rivalry. Our kids always get up for that one. We got some talent and train hard but lack depth and experience. It’s going to be crazy no matter who has the horses," Johnson said.

Montgomery Aztecs

Junior Hector Mardueno is entering his third year on the varsity team. He finished 10th overall in the combined conference field at last year’s finals, eighth in Mesa League, to earn all-league status last season. He rates to be pushed once again by a pair of soccer players, seniors Alex Cerda and Jonathan Delgado, who helped fill out last year’s top three runners on the team. Junior Lawrence Walker and senior Brandon Meza both have shown promise in early workouts, as had freshman Isaac Kose, from Sudan.

The Aztecs have a good deal of experience returning on the girls side and optimism reigns. Senior Yenissa Kaeg, a four-year varsity performer, finished fifth in last year’s conference field and is coming off a strong track and field season during which she averaged 5:30 in the mile and 12:15 in the two-mile events. She is joined by top returners Priscilla Flores, a junior who is entering her third year in cross country, and Johanna Barnes. Flores is also coming off a strong track season during which she posted times of 5:50 in the mile and 12:52 in the two-mile events. A pair of freshmen, Chelsea Nicklen and Wendy Covarrubias, are pushing for top five spots. "If we can get this group to within 20 seconds, we’ll have a pretty strong team," Montgomery coach Ruben Ledesma said. "We have some experienced guys. We might surprise a lot of people, especially with the girls."