SOUTH BAY:
Torrey nips RB's girls, as top girl teams meet
UC girls, Pack and Vike boys win; Finch, Petersen fastest
The fastest local girls teams raced at the South Bay Invitational last month, and the Torrey Pines girls edged Rancho Bernardo by the thinnest of margins.
The meet, held on September 26 at Southwestern College, was raced on new, more-spectator-friendly courses below a heavy overcast that even dropped some light rain at times.
The best of the county's girls teams were on hand, also including Valhalla, Fallbrook and University City. Best team not in attendance was Mt. Carmel (they raced at Dana Hills).
The South Bay meet is a benchmark in the early season, with numerous local schools
(more than forty this year) racing in a varsity format on full-length courses.
.
In the Division I girls race, Torrey Pines and Rancho Bernardo dominated a good field that
included Valhalla, Fallbrook and West Hills. The two teams scored 53 points apiece, and
Torrey won the tie-breaker with a faster sixth runner. In team times, RB was narrowly
faster.
Torrey had great up-front strength, with Camille Dredge and Julie Komosinski both outkicking RB's Julie Manson on the drive to the chute. Dredge won it, in 15:14, narrowly ahead of Komosinski (15:14) and Manson (15:15). RB's frosh standout, Allison Hall, was fourth in the race.
The Valhalla and Fallbrook girls ran great team races to take third and fourth, respectively, in the meet. Fallbrook had a number of runners below par, but had the tightest pack of the day, with a 0:25-second spread from 1 to 5. University City's girls, also one of the area's best, ran in the Division II race and had little trouble winning the team title, as they placed three girls in the top seven. Francis Parker's Angela Petersen and Hilltop's Desiree Davila hooked up in a dual similar to the previous week's meeting at Mt. Carmel. They ran together early, but Petersen, who is running well, established a 0:30-second margin by the end and had the fastest overall time of the day (15:00). Davila was second (15:30) and then UC's girls headed up the next group, with Katherine Ziegler (15:55) third, Talisha Clophus (16:00) fourth and Carly Votolato (16:20) in seventh.
West Hills' boys looked strong and deep in winning the Division I boys team title. Evan Fox led the Wolfpack, taking third, and mates Ben Aragon (fifth), Paul Saccone (sixth), and Matt Rendina (15th)lent strong support. Only one other team (Bonita Vista) had a number two runner that finished ahead of the West Hills number four (Rendina, in 15th). San Pasqual, with a balanced pack, was the runner-up in the team race.
Granite Hills' Jason Finch moved strongly away from a good field, and romped to a 15:51 on the new 5K course, which seemed to run a bit slow. For Finch, it was the latest in a series of impressive early-season efforts. RB's Sean Ricketts was the runner-up in 16:10, well ahead of the quality field that included Fox and his teammates, Bonita Vista's Brian Paff, Helix's Dan Kinsella, San Pasqual's Adam Van Wart and Fallbrook's Efrain Casarez.The La Jolla boys continued their strong pack running, and they won the Division II boys race, ahead of second-place Point Loma.
Senior Alejandro Mares seems to have taken a firm grip on the team leader slot for the Vikings, and he won the race, ahead of Pointer Tom Antl, in 17:00. The Vikes, who are still without key team member Brandon Behr, had four others finish within 0:55 seconds, including Eric Koster (seventh, 17:28), Nate Lopez (ninth, 17:32), Jonathan Dunbar (11th, 17:40), and Chris Ferrier (15th, 17:55).
Point Loma's boys seem to be emerging as the best in the Eastern League, and they were a solid second in this race.
The Results:
At Southwestern College, Saturday, September 26. Conditions:
Mostly overcast skies, mild tempeartures, some soft footing.
| BOYS (3.1 miles): Top ten, all races: 15:51 Jason Finch, Granite Hills 16:10 Sean Ricketts, Rancho Bernardo 16:37 Evan Fox, West Hills 16:39 Brian Paff, Bonita Vista 16:50 Ben Aragon, West Hills 16:53 Paul Saccone, West Hills 16:54 Dan Kinsella, Helix 16:55 Adam Van Wart, San Pasqual 16:57 Efrain Casarez, Fallbrook 17:00 Alejandro Mares, La Jolla\ Division I Varsity:
Scoring: Division II Varsity: Scoring: Division I Frosh/Soph: Scoring: Division II Frosh/Soph: Scoring: Junior Varsity: Scoring: |
GIRLS (2.47 miles): Fastest eleven, all races: 15:00 Angela Petersen, Francis Parker 15:14 Camille Dredge, Torrey Pines 15:14 Julie Komosinski, Torrey Pines 15:15 Julie Manson, Rancho Bernardo 15:30 Desiree Davila, Hilltop 15:35 Allison Hall, Rancho Bernardo 15:54 Laura Trask, Valhalla 15:55 Katherine Ziegler, University City 15:56 Lorena Jimenez, Orange Glen 16:00 Kathy Read, Torrey Pines 16:00 Talisha Clophus, University City Division I Varsity:
Scoring: Division II Varsity: Scoring: Division I Junior Varsity: Scoring: Division II Junior Varsity: TEAM TIMES: BOYS: GIRLS: |