SD Prep Sports

SD Prep Sports: Cross Country

Mar Vista's Swier runs to glory, Division II CIF title

By Phillip Brents

SAN DIEGO, CA, Nov. 16, 2001 -- Call it cross country’s "Year of the Underclassmen" for the exploits delivered at last Friday’s San Diego Section divisional championship meet at Morley Field.

On a day when a freshman, Rancho Bernardo’s Lindsay delaMontaigne, won the girls Division I race and a sophomore, Torrey Pines’ Danielle Schuster, finished second in that same large schools division, it was left to Mar Vista sophomore Troy Swier to upstage the boys field by employing a final kick to score an inspired come-from-behind victory in the Division II race.

Swier joins Mar Vista alumnus Matt Clayton as only the second Mariner runner to ever win a division championship in the school’s long history and joins a list of individual state qualifiers that includes recent Fresno invitees Hector Hernandez and older brother Blake Swier.

After the first mile, however, it looked like the South Bay’s Male Runner of the Year might be destined for just yet another ho-hum finish at the division finals — an experience as a freshman that left him with a whole offseason of motivation not just in his feet but in his soul.

But it was more with relief than ecstasy that Swier held his post-race court.

The soft smile and handshake spoke volumes for the effort and determination put into the history-making performance.

And for the keen runner’s mind on his shoulders.

After the first 800 meters, Helix standout Babey (pronounced "Bobby") Wagnew and El Capitan’s Benny Gandolfo were stride for stride in the lead, with Gandolfo running tight off Wagnew’s right shoulder.

When the runners emerged around the same bend at the two-mile mark, it was Swier who was alone in second place — and gaining — on the leader, Wagnew, with Helix teammate Taylor Williams poised in position for a possible strike an equal distance behind Swier. The lead order abruptly changed within 200 meters when Swier overtook Wagnew as the pair headed up the final hill. Wagnew’s reaction was almost immediate and the African transplant quickly challenged Swier for the lead at the top of the hill. However, that challenge was brief as Swier decided it was the time to finally give it all he had in a last-ditch effort to win the race. The Mar Vista runner held a 10-yard lead coming around the final turn to the straightaway and though Wagnew closed the gap toward the finish line, Swier managed to hold on unbeknownst to himself. Since regaining the lead, Swier had thought Wagnew was just two yards behind him all along.

"My strategy was to run my race — if everyone was at 4:40, I’d be at 5:00 — and to stick with Wagnew. I really didn’t save anything. I went all out. At the end, all I had left was guts. It was not easy," Swier explained.

The finish was indeed close: Swier crossed the finish line into school history at 15:38; Wagnew was right behind at 15:42. The push felt by Swier propelled him to what turned out to be the fastest time of the day on the course by a male runner.

"He’s a really strong runner. I was hoping to break him but it didn’t work," Swier said of Wagnew "He caught me at the hill. He was starting to get away from me. I knew then that was it. I was using my kick. I never felt I had it won until I passed that finish line. I felt he was right behind me and he was."

Mar Vista coach Benny Holt was a bit nervous after seeing Swier’s position around the first half-mile — well back in a tangle of runners behind the two Grossmont Conference leaders. But Holt also knew his star runner and the resolve he had added to his repertoire his sophomore season. The shocking scene at the two-mile mark bore that out.

"It’s just perfect," Holt said. "He knows how to pace himself. I wanted him to keep 10 yards behind at the beginning and I thought he had gone out too slow. But those guys just were really fast. But Troy is a smart runner. The two-mile mark is the secret. That’s where you want to be."

With the victory, Swier moves on to Saturday’s state championship meet in Fresno. Besides the top two teams in each division at last Friday’s section finals, the top five runners not affiliated with either of those two teams, but who finished among the top 12 individuals, also qualified to compete at the state finals.

El Capitan’s Gandolfo, running in step with Wagnew the first mile, finished sixth in the race to nail down the final individual qualifying berth. The division’s other three individual state qualifiers included Wagnew, Pt. Loma’s Eric Dunn (fourth, 16:03) and Helix’s Taylor Williams (fifth, 16:14). Hoover won the team championship with a low score of 71 points, followed by Scripps Ranch in second place with 114 points. Both Hoover and Scripps Ranch qualified their teams for the state finals as the top two team finishers in the division.

Joining Swier in Fresno will be Castle Park junior Mandy Johnson and Marian Catholic’s Daniel Cervantes. The South Bay League’s Female Runner of the Year, Johnson became the first-ever female runner from the school to qualify for the state cross country championships when she managed an 11th-place finish in the girls Division II race. Cervantes placed eighth in the boys Division IV race to qualify as an individual entry.

"I knew it was possible. I knew there was a chance. I didn’t know how real it was," said Johnson, whose time of 17:26 gave her the fifth and final individual state qualifying berth

Johnson, who finished among the top 20 runners in last year’s division finals, said she began to realize the goal of qualifying for the state meet was within her grasp about halfway through the race. "About the middle of the race, I felt fine. I tired to keep my mind straight and not slow down," she said.

With five San Pasqual runners ahead of her, Johnson knew she could manage a finish among the lower top 12 individuals in the race. The Eagles easily won the team title with 21 points, followed by Helix with 74 points. That left five individual berths open to the top 11 finishers and Johnson secured that with a comfortable finish. San Pasqual’s Claire Rethmeier won the individual title in 16:16.

Marian Catholic’s Cervantes also qualified as the fifth individual with his time of 18:01, edging out the 18:04 posted by Bishop’s Shane Fitch for the final state qualifying berth. La Jolla Country Day’s Tyler Middleton won the division title in 17:09 with Holtville’s Edel Lopez (2nd, 17:24), Palo Verde’s B.J. Swanner (4th, 17:43) and Taylor Searles (6th, 17:53) and Matt Smith (7th, 17:54), both from Bishop’s, filling the remaining individual state qualifying slots. La Jolla Country Day and Coronado finished first and second, respectively, in the team standings.

The Bonita Vista girls team had hopes of qualifying as one of the top two teams in its division but a fourth-place finish behind division champion Fallbrook, runner-up Carlsbad and at-large entrant Torrey Pines in third dashed those hopes. Mesa League Runner of the Year Kristen Gonzalez just missed earning All-CIF honors with an 11th-place finnish in 17:01 behind RB’s delaMontaigne (16:03). The top five individual state qualifiers went only six deep in the final order of finish. Tiffany Caddell managed a top 20 divisional finish (18th, 17:19) as the Barons’ second runner.

In the boys Division I race, Mesa League Runner of the Year Andres Padilla suffered the same fate as his female counterpart — an 11th-place finish. He finished two spots and 11 seconds from the final individual state qualifying berth.

Claudio Melvin (28th, 17:26) was Hilltop’s top finisher in the boys Division II race while Vernon Ng (31st, 17:27) was Eastlake’s top finisher in the same field.

For updates and results on the state championship meet, please visit the Web site at www.cifstate.org.

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