Once again, a local coach has stepped up and offered to help give insight to what’s going on in cross country. This comes from Glendora assistant coach Bob Ramsey
Said Ramsey: East SGV athletes had a great week 6, winning individual honors at two invites, and doing it in conditions that ranged from driving rain to high heat. Senior Jayson Perez (South El Monte) and soph Kristy Hebb (St. Lucy’s) were the top individual performers.Kristy ran a strong second place in the rain in the tough Sierra League on Tuesday, while Jayson was easily the overall winner at Saturday’s Bell Gardens Invite, where junior Lauren Justus (Glendora) was the girls winner. — To continue, click thread
Rosemead was the area’s lone representative at the Santa Clarita Invite, and senior Brittnie Munoz was alone at the end of the race, winning in a fine time of 18:41 on this flat, 3 mile course. This was her second Invite win of the year. She and her teammates finished 6th in the team competition. Christopher Le (17:10) was once again the Panther’s top boy.
In the cluster meets, the Glendora boys, led by Austin Goodheart’s winning effort, dropped a dominating 17 points on the Sierra League, while St. Lucy’s took the top spot to set up a show down at finals with Ayala. In the Montview, La Puente (b) and Sierra Vista repeated their wins from the first meet. In the Valle Vista, the Covina girls continued roll, while Northview made the jump to first after finishng third in the first meet.
East San Gabriel Valley Top Performers – Week 6 It is notoriously difficult to compare cross country performances over differing terrain, surfaces, distances and weather conditions.The lists below are a rough attempt to rank performances while trying to account for these differences.Your mileage may vary. Note: Weather conditions were not accounted for in this list.
Boys
1. 15:02 Jayson Perez – South El Monte – Bell Gardens, 3 miles, flat
2. 15:30 Israel Orosco – Azusa – Bell Gardens
3. 16:19 Austin Goodheart – Sierra #2 – 5000 meters, rolling hills, in heavy rain
4. 15:36 Paul Balderas – Diamond Ranch – Bell Gardens
5. 16:21 Anthony Castro – Glendora – Sierra #2
6. 16:23 Kelly Hernandez – Glendora – Sierra #2
7. 15:43 Efren Alcala, Sr – Arroyo – Bell Gardens
8. 15:46 Brandon Martinez – El Monte – Bell Gardens
9. 16:32 Austin Mendoza – Glendora – Sierra #2
10. 15:53 Isaias Hinojosa – South El Monte – Bell Gardens
Girls
1. 19:07 Kristy Hebb – St. Lucy’s – Sierra #2 – 5000 meters, rolling, rain
2. 19:15 Lauren Justus – Glendora – Sierra #2
3. 19:17 Taylor Hebb – St. Lucy’s – Sierra #2
4. 18:41 Brittnie Munoz – Rosemead – Santa Clarita – 3 miles, flat
5. 19:36 Marissa Horton – St. Lucy’s Sierra #2
6. 18:54 Reina Sotelo – Los Altos – Bell Gardens – 3 miles, flat
7. 18:56 Vanessa Lopez – Rowland – Bell Gardens
8. 19:54 Mariah Reyes – St. Lucy’s – Sierra #2
9. 19:05 Kristan Galvez – Rowland – Bell Gardens
10. 19:18 Veronica Bejar – South El Monte – Bell Gardens
Bell Gardens Invite
Senior Jayson Perez (South El Monte) and junior Lauren Justus (Glendora) turned in dominating wins in Saturday’s Bell Gardens Invitational. Taking advantage of the relative cool weather of the first race of the day, Perez scorched the flat three mile course at Whittier Narrows Park in 15:02, ahead of fine performances from Israel Orosco (Azusa), Paul Balderas (Diamond Ranch), Efren Alcala (Arroyo) and teammate Isaias Hinojosa, all of whom dipped under 16:00. El Monte’s Brandon Martinez ran a fine 15:46 to win the Junior race.
Justus led the girls junior race from the start and cruised to a 18:35 win. She was followed under 19:00 minutes by junior Vanessa Lopez (Rowland), and Reina Sotelo (Los Altos) in the senior race.
Top Ten Area Performers
Boys
1. 15:02 Jayson Perez – South El Monte – 1st senior and overall
2. 15:30 Israel Orosco – Azusa – 3rd senior
3. 15:36 Paul Balderas, SR – Diamond Ranch – 4th senior
4. 15:43 Efren Alcala, Sr – Arroyo – 6th senior
5. 15:46 Brandon Martinez – El Monte – 1st junior
6. 15:53 Isaias Hinojosa – South El Monte – 7th senior
7. 16:02 Joshua Sanchez – Los Altos – 1st sophomore
8. 16:05 Miguel Gonzalez – Los Altos – 8th senior
9. 16:11 Fernando Hernandez – South El Monte – 4th junior
10. 16:19 Alfredo Orozco – Azusa – 5th junior
Top Finishers from other local schools were: Baldwin Park: Anthony Giles (16:38, 17th Senior), Glendora: Nick Orozco (16:40, 13th Junior), and Rowland: Calvin Wong (17:07, 27th Senior).
Girls
1. 18:35 Lauren Justus – Glendora – 1st junior and overall
2. 18:54 Reina Sotelo – Los Altos – 2nd senior
3. 18:56 Vanessa Lopez – Rowland – 3rd junior
4. 19:05 Kristan Galvez – Rowland – 3rd senior
5. 19:18 Veronica Bejar – South El Monte – 4 th senior
6. 19:36 Laura Gazca – Arroyo – 5th junior
7. 19:37 Lucy Lopez – Arroyo – 6th junior
8. 19:52 Jacky Alcala – Arroyo – 2nd soph
9. 20:06 Jessica Centeno – Arroyo – 8th senior
10. 20:06 Allison Mayo – Glendora – 8th junior
Top Finishers from other local schools were: El Monte: Angelique Tejeda (20:40, 5th Soph), Azusa: Marlynna Milina (20:46, 12th Senior), Diamond Ranch: Brittany Armas (20:57, 13th Senior), Baldwin Park: Miriam Jimenez (21:05, 20th Junior)
Montview League #2
The team results were the same while new leaders emerged when the Montview League held their second of three cluster meets Thursday on the hilly 3 mile course at Schabarum Park. The new faces in the lead were Fabian Velasco (Duarte) who dominated the boys race with his 16:06 effort, and Sierra Vista’s Laura Gutierrez, who rolled to a comfortable win in 21:21, a nice improvement from the first meet as was the 21:36 Bassett’s Karla Amparan ran as she moved up from 7th from her previous 2nd. Azusa’s Israel Orosco turned in another solid 16:34 to finish second again, while the first meet’s winner, Duarte’s Avi Gertmenian slipped to third in 16:39.
In the team results, La Puente, led by Chris Castillo’s 17:16 fifth place again took the top spot by virtue of their greater depth, followed by Azusa and Sierra Vista, who narrowly reversed their order from the first meet. The Sierra Vista girls improved by placing 4 runners in the top 10 and were again easy winners, while Bassett, on the strength of higher finishes by their frontrunners, switched positions from the first meet with Azusa to finish second.
Boys
58 La Puente (6-0)
65 Azusa (5-1)
66 Sierra Vista (4-2)
80 Bassett (3-3)
101 Duarte (2-4)
151 Workmen (1-5)
167 Gladstone (0-6)
1. 16:06 Fabian Velasco – Duar
2. 16:34 Israel Orosco – Azus
3. 16:39 Avi Gertmenian – Duar
4. 17:06 Alfredo Orozco – Azus
5. 17:16 Chris Castillo – LP
6. 17:32 Rodrigo Alonso – SV
7. 17:44 Norris Sabio – Bass
8. 17:52 Raul Elcarrares – Work
9. 17:55 Arturo Garcia – LP
10. 18:00 Victor Mejias – LP
Girls
29 Sierra Vista (6-0)
70 Bassett (5-1)
74 Azusa (4-2)
97 Workman (3-3)
131 Gladstone (2-3)
155 La Puente (1-5)
183 Duarte (0-6) 21:21
1. 21:21 Laura Gutierrez – SV
2. 21:36 Karla Amparan – Bass
3. 21:53 Marlynna Molina – Azus
4. 22:04 Jazmin Loera – SV
5. 22:06 Julie Zarza – Bass
6. 22:48 Janet Solis – SV
7. 22:50 Beatriz Barrett – SV
8. 23:00 Eliana Flores – Work
9. 23:03 Evelyn Martinez – Work
10. 23:20 Ana Albarran – Glad
Valle Vista #2
Wednesday’s Valle Vista League saw soggy conditions, cooler weather, and a new leader among the boys. Northview with 30 points, and third placed in the first cluster meet, pushed past Covina’s 56 to take the boys competition with an amazing 2-3-4-5 finish . The Covina girls, with 23 points, were again easy winners over second placed Baldwin Park (40 points) to win their race.
Frankie Gonzalez (16:59 – Covina) moved up from his previous second place to win, while Northview’s Alfred Folgar moved all the way up from 15th in the first race to finish second in 17:01, a 34 second improvement in conditions that saw most athletes running about 30 seconds slower than the first meet. Covina’s Rachel Falomir again easily led the girls in 20:36 over the 3 mile Beach course at Bonelli Park.
Top Performers
Boys: Northview – 31, Covina – 56, Baldwin Park – 62, Ganesha – 76, San Dimas – 132, Pomona – NS
1. 16:59 Frankie Gonzalez – Covina
2. 17:03 Alfredo Folgar – Northview
3. 17:19 Alan Callison – Northview
4. 17:22 Xavier Sigala – Northview
5. 17:23 Kent Nguyen – Northview
6. 17:28 Steven Huynh – Baldwin Park
7. 17:32 Adan Flores – Ganesha
8. 17:43 Eddie Trujillo – Ganesha
9. 17:46 Eduardo Melgarejo – Baldwin Park
10. 17:47 Julio Gutierrez – Baldwin Park
Girls: Covina – 23, Baldwin Park – – 41, Ganesha 86, San Dimas – 91, Pomona – 150, Northview – DNS
1. 20:36 Rachel Falomir – Covina
2. 21:01 Nataline Lopez – Covina
3. 21:45 Lidia Alvarez – Baldwin Park
4. 22:03 Denise Arciniega – Covina
5. 22:09 Alyssa Martinez – San Dimas
6. 22:18 Miriam Jimenez – Baldwin Park
7. 22:25 Sam Alvarado – Covina
8. 22:27 Jennifer Huynh – Baldwin Park
9. 22:28 Stephanie Fuentes – Covina
10. 22:33 Andrea Valenzuela – Baldwin Park
Sierra #2
Tuesday’s second Sierra League meet, run over the 5000 meter course at Bonelli Park, was held under clouds and then under serious rain during the Varsity races. While this held down the times a little, the competition was completely undiminished, with St. Lucy’s and Glendora posting very strong efforts to win the team races.
In the first cluster meet, St. Lucy’s was missing two of their top 5 runners and ended second to Div. II ranked Ayala. This time, the 4th ranked Div III Regents had their full team, and they turned the tables on Ayala 39-45. Soph Krissy Hebb, half of that missing pair, returned to competition with a strong 19:07 second place effort and was joined the meet’s top 10 by juniors Taylor Hebb (4th) and Marissa Horton (8th) and soph Mariah Reyes (10th). Glendora, on the strength of junior Lauren Justus’ 19:15 for third place, moved from 6th to 4th in the team results. Frosh Kelly Kuo again led Diamond Bar with her 20:20 for 14th place – a 22 second improvement that was all the more impressive given the conditions.
The Glendora boys, ranked 8th in Div. II, were easy winners in the first cluster meet, and were even more dominant in this week’s heavy rains. They scored an incredible 17 points, finishing 1-2-3-5-6 (and 8!). This week, they were led for the first time by senior Austin Goodheart, a CIF Div II Finalist at 800m last spring, in 16:19, a strong time for the conditions. He was followed by teammates Anthony Castro – the winner of the first meet, Kelly Hernandez (=PR despite a fall), Austin Mendoza, Neill Netzeband (PR) and Shin Yamamura (PR) in the top ten.
With Diamond Bar’s previous frontrunner James McCreary suffering an off day, they failed to place anyone in the top 10. But they did reach their more important goal of a third place finish. Their 17-18-19-20-26 finish, led by James Powell at 17:23, was good enough to beat out Chino Hills by 1 point! The Damien team had several excellent improvements by their athletes, and their frontrunner John Garcia followed up a nice performance Saturday at Mt.Sac with a 10th place finish.
Top Performers and Local Teams.
Boys
1. Glendora – 17… 3. Diamond Bar – 96… 5. Damien – 123
1. 16:19 Austin Goodheart – Glendora – 1st overall
2. 16:22 Anthony Castro – Glendora – 2nd
3. 16:24 Kelly Hernandez – Glendora – 3rd
4. 16:33 Austin Mendoza – Glendora – 5th
5. 16:40 Neill Netzeband – Glendora – 6th
6. 16:42 Shin Yamamura – Glendora – 8th
7. 16:47 John Garcia – Damien – 10th
Girls
1. St. Lucy’s – 39… 4. Glendora – 133 5. Diamond Bar 135
1. 19:07 Kristy Hebb – St. Lucy’s – 2nd overall
2. 19:15 Lauren Justus – Glendora – 3rd
3. 19:17 Taylor Hebb – St. Lucy’s – 4th
4. 19:36 Marissa Horton – St. Lucy’s – 8th
5. 19:54 Mariah Reyes – St. Lucy’s – 10th
6. 20:20 Kelly Kuo – Diamond Bar – 14th
7. 20:25 Katy Hebb – St. Lucy’s- 15th