Cross Country: St. Lucy's wins SGV championships at Mt. SAC; South's Jayson Perez impressive again

East San Gabriel Valley Top Performers - Week 5: Note:† 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.

Boys
1. 15:35 † Jayson Perez - South El Monte - SGV at Mt Sac, 2.92 miles, severe hills
2. 16:23 † Efren Alcala - Arroyo - SGV
3. 16:25 † John Garcia - Damien - SGV
4. 16:28 † Joshua Sanchez - Los Altos - SGV
5. 16:33 † Isaias Hinojosa - South El Monte - SGV
6. 16:05†† Paul Balderas - Diamond Ranch - Miramonte, Lake Course @ Bonelli, 3 miles rolling
7. 16:07†† Eric Espinoza - Bonita - Miramonte
8. 16:41 † James McCreary - Diamond Bar - SGV
9. 16:44 † James Powell - Diamond Bar - SGV
10. 16:46†† Miguel Gonzalez - Los Altos - SGV

Girls
1. 18:35†† Lexie Jackson - Bonita - SGV @ Mt. Sac, 2.92 miles, severe hills
2. 18:47†† Marissa Scott - Bonita - SGV
3. 19:23†† Brittnie Munoz - Rosemead - Clovis, 5k rolling
4. 19:03†† Vanessa Lopez - Rowland - SGV
5. 19:17††† Taylor Hebb - St. Lucy's - SGV
6. 19:42†† Kristen Galvez - Rowland - SGV
7. 19:43†† Katy Hebb - St. Lucy's - SGV
8. 18:58†† Carly Lake - Charter Oak - Miramonte, Lake Course @ Bonelli, 3 miles rolling
9. 19:57†† Krissy Hebb - St. Lucy's - SGV
10. 20:35† Elizabeth Lyons - Rosemead - Clovis

SGV Champs at Mt. Sac

Cross Country in Southern California is measured by Mt. Sac.† The course in Walnut, featuring three huge hills, is the home of the biggest XC invite in the West, but more importantly, it is the site of CIF Prelims and Finals, along with several local leagues Championship Finals Meets.† This past Saturday, a number of the local schools got their first look at the entire 2.92 mile course on Saturday in the San Gabriel Valley 1 v. 1 Challenge.
Making the most of their debut were the Bonita frosh duo of Lexie Jackson and Marissa Scott, who scorched the tough course in 18:35 and 18:47, while finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively.† For some perspective, Lexie's time would have been the fastest among area athletes last year, and Marissa's time was equal to the second best of '08. † Other top finishers included Rowland's Vanessa Lopez, 19:03 for 4th, (an improvement of almost a minute from '08) and Kristen Galvez, 19:42 for 9th.† St. Lucy's Taylor and Katy Hebb (19:17 for 5th, and 19:43 for 10th overall) led the Regents to the team title, over third placed Bonita and fourth placed Rowland on a day when many teams were missing athletes to SAT testing.
On the boys side, South El Monte senior Jayson Perez put in a strong bid to remain area Athlete of the Year with a strong PR 15:35 to finish 2nd overall.† He was joined in the overall top 10 by Arroyo senior Efren Alcala, 16:23 for 9th, and Damien junior John Garcia, 16:25 for 10th.† Los Altos, led by soph Joshua Sanchez (16:28), was the top local team with a fourth place finish.

Top Area Performers
Girls
1. 18:35†† Lexie Jackson - Bonita
2. 18:47†† Marissa Scott - Bonita
3. 19:03†† Vanessa Lopez - Rowland
4. 19:17††† Taylor Hebb - St. Lucy's
5. 19:42†† Kristen Galvez - Rowland
6. 19:43†† Katy Hebb - St. Lucy's
7. 19:57†† Krissy Hebb - St. Lucy's
8. 20:10†† Reina Sotelo - Los Altos
9. 20:14† Kelly Kuo - Diamond Bar
10. 20:27† Heather Jackson - Bonita

The top finishers for the other local schools were: Arroyo: Lucy Lopez (20:38, 22nd), Covina: Rachel Falomir (20:44, 23rd), Charter Oak: Natalie De Camp (21:26, 37th), Baldwin Park: Lidia Alvarez (22:09, 50th), South Hills: Brianne Cisneros (22:40, 65th), and South El Monte: Stephanie Castillo (23:03, 72nd)

Boys
1. 15:35 † Jayson Perez - South El Monte
2. 16:23 † Efren Alcala - Arroyo
3. 16:25 † John Garcia - Damien
4. 16:28 † Joshua Sanchez - Los Altos
5. 16:33 † Isaias Hinojosa - South El Monte
6. 16:41 † James McCreary - Diamond Bar
7. 16:44 † James Powell - Diamond Bar
8. 16:46†† Miguel Gonzalez - Los Altos
9. 16:54†† Alexander Harvey - Diamond Bar
10. 16:58†† Felipe Tapia -Rowland

The top finishers for the other local schools were: Covina: Kevin Medina (17:08, 33rd), Bonita: Eric Espinoza (17:09, 35th), Baldwin Park: Steven Huynh (17:20, 43rd), Charter Oak: Tyler Orosco (17:31, 52nd) and Bishop Amat: Kyle Kearney (18:17, 79th)

Miramonte Cluster Meet #1

Tthe Miramonte League opened their season last Wednesday on the 3 mile "Lake Course" at Bonelli Park in San Dimas with very strong performances.
On the girls side, frosh duo of Lexie Jackson (18:33) and† Marissa Scott (18:39) led Bonita to a dominating win, in which the Bearcats placed 5 in the top 7 and 7 in the top 12.† Rapidly improving Charter Oak soph Carly Lake (18:58) was an easy third place.
Among the boys, Paul Balderas of Diamond Ranch (16:05) held off fellow senior Eric Espinoza (16:07) of Bonita for the win.† They were followed by Los Altos soph Joshua Sanchez, who returned to form to lead his teammates to take places 3-6 for an easy win, and this despite the a top Conqueror runner not finishing due to dehydration.
The top finishers from the other schools were Los Altos: Reina Sotelo (5th - 19:29), Wilson: Laurie Allred (9th - 20:41) and Diamond Ranch: Amanda Sullivan (13th - 21:20) among the girls.† Boys were Charter Oak: Tyler Orosco (7th - 16:55) and Wilson: Alejandro Jimenez (15th - 17:52)

Team Scores and Top Performers

Boys
1. 27†† Los Altos
2. 58 † Diamond Ranch
3. 64†† Bonita
4. 93†† Charter Oak
5. 108 Wilson
1. 16:05†† Paul Balderas - Diamond Ranch
2. 16:07†† Eric Espinoza -Bonita
3. 16:11† † Joshua Sanchez - Los Altos
4. 16:50†† Judd Matteo - Los Altos
5. 16:52†† Jair Juarez - Los Altos
6. 16:53†† Andy Lopez - Los Altos
7. 16:55†† Tyler Orosco -Charter Oak
8. 17:00† Rudy Moreira - Diamond Ranch
9. 17:04† Armando Tapia - Los Altos
10. 17:23† Derek Islos - Diamond Ranch

Girls
1. 20†† Bonita
2. 65†† Los Altos
3. 67†† Charter Oak
4. 98†† Wilson
5. 113† Diamond Ranch
1. 18:33†† Lexie Jackson - Bonita
2. 18:39†† Marissa Scott - Bonita
3. 18:58†† Carly Lake -Charter Oak
4. 19:26†† Heather Jackson - Bonita
5. 19:29†† Reina Sotelo - Los Altos
6. 19:55†† Shavonn Johnson - Bonita
7. 20:17†† Marilyn Meza - Bonita
8. 20:31†† Krystal Martinez - Los Altos
9. 20:41†† Laurie Allred - Wilson
10. 20:59† Natalie De Camp - Charter Oak