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

Above: Bonita’s Marissa Scott ran a 17:30 to lead the Bearcats at Saturday’s Warren Stauffer Invite.

Tribune Roundup, Week 4
Ramsey: The past week was a busy one for the East San Gabriel Valley Cross Country teams. Several leagues held their first cluster meets, and nearly half of the local teams ran in big races on Saturday. Glendora was the top boys team, winning the tough Sierra League meet with a course record on Tuesday, and finishing second at the Brea Invite on Saturday. They were led both days by junior Anthony Castro, who was first and fourth in those two meets. The top individual honor went to Brittnie Munoz (Sr, Rosemead) who set a new course record while winning Saturday’s Weisenberger Invite, but the top performance came from Bonita frosh Marissa Scott at the Warren Stauffer Invite. Her team was fourth overall, joining South Hills (6th, Brea) and St. Lucy’s (2nd, Sierra League) for the top team performances of the week. Click the thread to read coverage of each of these meets, this week’s top ten, and the Valle Vista cluster, which Covina dominated on both sides.

East San Gabriel Valley Top Performers – Week 4
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. 16:24, Anthony Castro, Jr-Glendora – Brea 5k, hilly, slow footing
2. 17:00, Kelly Hernandez, Jr-Glendora – Brea
3. 16:16, Austin Goodheart, Sr-Glendora – Sierra/Bonelli 5k, rolling
4. 15:54, Fabian Velasco, Sr-Duarte – Yucaipa 3m, rolling
5. 16:20, Austin Mendoza, So-Glendora – Sierra/Bonelli
6. 16:30, James McCreary, So-Diamond Bar – Sierra/Bonelli
7. 17:18, Jonathan Flores, Jr-South Hills – Brea
8. 17:20, Israel Orosco, Sr-Azusa – Brea
9. 16:47, Neill Netzeband, Sr-Glendora – Sierra/Bonelli
10. 16:48, Shin Yamamura, Jr-Glendora – Sierra/Bonelli
Girls
1. 17:30 Marissa Scott, Fr-Bonita – Stauffer 3m, flat and (probably short)
2. 20:10 Carly Lake, So-Charter Oak – Brea 5k, hilly, slow footing
3. 19:08 Taylor Hebb, Jr-St. Lucy’s – Sierra/Bonelli 5k, rolling
4. 18:42 Brittnie Munoz, Sr-Rosemead – Weisenberger 3m rolling
5. 17:52 Lexie Jackson, Fr-Bonita – Stauffer
6. 19:59 Katy Hebb, So-St. Lucy’s – Sierra/Bonelli
7. 21:11 Ashley Holguin – Sr-South Hills – Brea
8. 21:12 Vanessa Holguin – Jr-South Hills – Brea
9. 21:08 Illiana Velasquez – Jr-Bishop Amat – Staub/Barnes 3m, very hilly
10. 20:24 Emily Bruce – Jr-St. Lucy’s – Sierra/Bonelli

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Anything and anyone you want to talk about..

Bishop Amat — Were we seriously pushing for Bishop Amat to play Charter Oak instead? St. Bonny’s was the right call, and I finally agree with coach Hagerty, while it’s great to schedule and beat area teams, it’s time to bring in the Mater Dei’s, Oak’s Christian’s and other prominent teams the Lancers need to compete against to return to prominence. They’re not back yet, not until they go deep in the playoffs and compete for championships. But you get the feeling no matter who they play, they’ve got a great shot, which is something you haven’t been able to say about Bishop Amat most of this decade.

Athlete of the week nominations: Looking for boys and girls athlete of the week nominations.

The LA Times New Rankings1. Crenshaw 5-0 , 2. Oaks Christian 4-0, 3. Edison 5-0, 4. Lakewood 4-1, 5. Servite 4-1, 6. Rancho Cucamonga 4-0, 7. Gardena Serra 4-0, 8. Moorpark 4-0, 9. Los Alamitos 4-0, , 10. Mission Viejo 5-0, 11. Redlands East Valley 4-0, 12. Bishop Amat 4-0, 13. St. Bonaventure 4-1, 14. S.O. Notre Dame 4-1, 15. Mater Dei 3-2, 16. Corona Centennial 3-1 17. Crespi 2-2, 18. Valencia 4-0,19. Fountain Valley 5-0, 20. Norco 3-1, 21. Carson 3-2, 22. Chaparral 2-2, 23. Charter Oak 4-1, 24. Vista Murrieta 4-0, 25. Westlake 4-0 (NR)

This week’s schedule
Friday’s games
Bonita at San Dimas, 7:00pm
Etiwanda at Charter Oak, 7:00pm
Glendora vs. El Dorado at Citrus College, 7:00pm
South Hills vs. Rosemead at Covina District, 7:00pm
West Covina at Diamond Bar, 7:00pm
Azusa at La Puente, 7:00pm
Sierra Vista at Duarte, 7:00pm
Workman at Bassett, 7:00pm
Arroyo at La Canada, 7:00pm
Covina at Wilson, 7:00pm
El Monte at Rowland, 7:00pm
La Serna vs. Los Altos at California, 7:00pm
Northview at Nogales, 7:00pm
Sonora at Walnut, 7:00pm

Saturday’s game
Bishop Amat vs. Diamond Ranch at Ganesha, 7 p.m.

CBS highlights of Bishop Amat’s victory
“Normally the guy that you (Robledo) interview has a terrible game. I told him you got to break that streak tonight. He was on the cover and he played a great game, so we can throw that one out. -- Bishop Amat coach Steve Hagerty on Darien Johnson, who we profiled on Thursday in the Tribune. Johnson scored on a kick return, interception, and his 25-yard reception set up the game winning TD in OT..
Note: Bishop Amat game story already in, click thread

The Blue Blur: Darien Johnson scored on a 91-yard kickoff return that gave the Lancers a 10-7 lead, then made a game-changing 84-yard interception that turned what would have been a 21-7 deficit into a 14-14 tie in the middle of the third quarter. He capped his night with a huge 25-yard reception in overtime to the Seraphs’ 3, which set up Jay Anderson’s game-tying one-yard TD run on fourth down, and the Ragsdale to Rich’s clutch extra-point clincher.

Friday’s results
Bishop Amat 24, St. Bonaventure 23, OT – Darien Johnson said it could be done, and he walked it. Say goodbye to the 14-game win streak. The No. 3 state ranking in CalHiSports, Maxpreps, and the No. 17 national ranking in USA today. For Bishop Amat, this is as sweet as it gets. The way back to prominence is through beating prominent teams, the second time they have done so in the Hagerty era going back to the Orange Lu. game.
Charter Oak 23, Damien 20 — This is much closer than anyone at Charter Oak thought it would be, and another scratch-your-head near miss for the Spartans.
Azusa 39, Bassett 18 — The Aztecs begins defense of the Montview league title with a convincing win over surging Bassett.
La Puente 62, Duarte 3 – Ouch, I don’t know if the Warriors are this good, of if the Falcons are really this ….. we’ll leave it at that.
Gladstone 20, Sierra Vista 14 — The Happy Rockers next meet Azusa in what could become the first big step toward a league title for both.
Glendora 16, Diamond Ranch 14 – The Tartans squeeze out another while the Panthers manage to lose another close one. DRanch can always say they were looking ahead to Bishop Amat.
Baldwin Park 35, El Monte 14 — The Braves are beating teams they’re supposed to beat, it’s that simple.
Montebello 35, Nogales 20 — The Nobles are going to have a very tough time in the San Antonio.
Keppel 36, Mountain View 0 — When it goes bad, it really goes bad.
Temple City 27, Rosemead 13 – The Panthers have fallen a long way since last year’s Mid-Valley championship-game run.
Ayala 44, South El Monte 7 – The Eagles need to rework that nonleague schedule next year.
South Hills 62, Northview 0 – If you say you didn’t see this coming, you weren’t paying attention.
Walnut 27, Arroyo 16 — The Mustangs remain undefeated with a solid win over the Knights.
West Covina 47, Los Altos 12 — The Bulldogs get back-to-back wins, getting ready for the San Antonio.
Wilson 42, Blair 0 -- With last week’s blowout loss behind, the Wildcats blow past Blair.

For quarter-by-quarter updates, click thread

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Tonight’s results
Rowland 48, Covina 12 — Covina was driving and hoping to cut a 14-0 lead in half when Rowland’s Michael Ball grabbed the interception and went more than 80 yards for a touchdown. After another quick INT on the ensuing series, it was 28-0 like that.
Troy 49, Diamond Bar 21 –Scoring doesn’t seem to be the problem, it’s the outscoring part that’s driving them Brahmas crazy. Not good with the Sierra around the corner.

For quarter-by-quarter updates, click thread

The Tribune’s Fred Robledo, Steve Ramirez and Time Warner’s popular Reginald Miller discuss four of Friday’s top games. Don’t miss it!

Friday’s games
St. Bonaventure (4-0) at Bishop Amat (3-0), 7:30 p.m.
Damien (1-3) at Charter Oak (3-1), 7 p.m.
Azusa (3-1) vs. Bassett (3-1) at Citrus College, 7 p.m.
Arroyo (2-1) at Walnut (3-0), 7 p.m.

By Fred J. Robledo, Staff Writer
There’s a time to smile, laugh and crack jokes, but knowing when and where has been a growing process for Bishop Amat two-way standout Darien Johnson. No longer just a role-playing corner, Johnson has become the Lancers’ sudden-impact performer. He’s already returned a kick and punt for touchdowns, has an interception, and also has seven receptions for 142 yards and a touchdown.

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