Cross Country: Ayala boys and girls sweep Sierra; Glendora girls win Baseline

The Inland Insider, Tom Kiss, was at Tuesday’s finals and has highlights and interviews, check it out.

By Clay Fowler, Staff Writer
It was appropriate the Sierra League cross country finals took place on a college campus, given the way the Ayala High School boys’ team impatiently lingered outside the scorers’ tent like students waiting for test scores to be posted. The team, led by coach Dawn Staab, stepped on the heels of an official on the way to the bulletin board before the results were posted, confirming a sweep of the league titles by the Ayala girls and boys, who set a school record at Mt. San Antonio College.

Damien claimed the top two spots in the boys’ race but Ayala placed its five runners third, fifth, sixth, eighth and 14th to edge the Spartans 36-47. Ayala’s time of 79:50 for its top five runners beat the school record at Mt.SAC by 12 seconds.

The Ayala girls finished behind the Claremont sophomore duo of Megan Renken and Marin Arft, but the Bulldogs placed all five runners in the top 10 to edge Claremont 32-40.

Seniors Jaclyn Gonzalez and Chandler Colquitt finished third and fourth, respectively, for Ayala. The final three runners placed seventh, eighth and 10th while Claremont’s top group was rounded out by ninth-, 13th- and 15th-place finishes.

“It’s been a rollercoaster season for the girls, and for them to win it outright was awesome,” Staab said. “You’ve got to hand it to those Claremont girls. They’re great competitors, but in the end its the pack that matters. Our teams seem to be putting the wheels on the wagon just in time for CIF.”

Baseline League
A Rancho Cucamonga boys team ranked first in the state in Division I looked the part in the Baseline League finals at Mt. SAC. After placing five runners in the top six the Cougars acted the part, too.

Senior Luis Gutierrez led the Cougars to a league championship by finishing first in 15:24 despite suffering from what he thought was the flu.

“This isn’t really what matters to us,” Gutierrez said. “What means a lot is winning the CIF prelims and finals. We treated this like a workout, just wanted to finish with all the team members not too far apart.”

Mission accomplished for Rancho Cucamonga, whose second-place finisher, Jon Dileva, crossed the finish line 14 seconds after Gutierrez. A total of 14 seconds separated the remaining four Cougars runners. Alta Loma’s Cole McDowell, who placed fourth in 15:44, was the only runner not from Rancho Cucamonga to finish in the top six. “This is the best team we’ve ever had,” Rancho Cucamonga coach Terry Tierney said. “Our time at the Mt. SAC Invitational two weeks ago was the fastest we’ve ever run here. We’re going to CIF to win.”

Glendora, winners of the girls’ race, finished second in the boys’ race. Leading his team to a third-place finish, Etiwanda senior Jesse Martinez placed seventh in 15:55 ahead of four consecutive Glendora runners.

The Rancho Cucamonga girls finished second with a team score of 60 to edge Etiwanda, which had a team score of 64.

Glendora claimed the top three places, but Rancho Cucamonga’s Carolina Guzman came in fourth with a time of 19:26. Los Osos’ Alex Gonzalez rounded out the top five with a time of 19:37 to help Los Osos to a fourth-place finish with a team score of 79.

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