Grossmonts:
Valhalla girls, Granite boys, Santana girls, West
Hills boys get wins
Harper, Diaz, Clemons, Finch take league titles
One of the biggest upsets in league finals week came at the Grossmont
meet, where the Granite Hills boys took the Grossmont South title away
from a strong Valhalla squad.
Other team titles at the meet, which was held at Harry Griffen Park on
Saturday morning, were won by Valhalla's girls (South), Santana's girls
(North), and by West Hills' boys (North).
Individual titles went to Santana's Jaymie Harper, Valhalla's Andrea Clemons,
West Hills' Dustin Diaz and Granite Hills' Jason Finch.
The league runs both races together, and Harper and Diaz each finished
first overall.
Of the four team champs, only the vic-tory by Valhalla's girls could have
been pre-dicted with much certainty a month ago.
Heather Shurtleff of West Hills, one of the very best girl runners in the
county, was shelved by an injury (possible stress fracture), and West Hills
was unable to replace her.
At this meet, Santana won the North team title handily. Jaymie Harper,
as mentioned, was first, but the Sultans also had runners in third (Kim
Pace), fifth (Ava Benitez) and sixth (Kim Baza).
Harper's race for the title was one of the best races of the week, as she
battled Grossmont's Sophia Hawker. Hawker led for the first half of the
race, but Harper made a move with maybe a half mile to go and finished
strongly. Valhalla's Clemons, comfortably ahead in the South race, caught
Hawker in the final stages.
Granite Hills' boys team peaked perfectly and came up with big races from
their entire roster. Finch won the South race, and teammate Mike Gilmore
was second. The Eagles ran well on down the line, with Nick Rivera in sixth,
Danny Buxton in eighth, and Nick Sabala in 12th.
Valhalla's boys, who have been outstanding at times this year, managed
to keep some of their pack together, but a few key runners were sick during
race week, and the team got spread out more than usual. They did put four
runners in the top ten, so it was hardly a collapse.
The West Hills boys team would have been picked by few a month ago, but
they have come on strong, and are now running with confidence.
That confidence comes right from the top, where Dustin Diaz has developed
into one of the section's best.
"Diaz is just so mentally tough," West Hills coach Pat Connolly
said. "He had one of his best races. He had a smile on his face."
"The way I feel is, I'm not really running the races," Diaz said.
"I let God do it, through me. He comes through."
El Capitan, another great team, has had a few health problems in the last
weeks, and they ran this race without ace Steve Daynes and another scorer,
Jerrad Payne.
"For the guys we had out there, we ran great," El Cap coach Bill
Cleves said. John Bates led the Vaqs with a second place finish.
West Hills had five in the top ten, including Diaz, Don Overland-McKay
(third), Matt Rendina (fifth), Chris Nagao (sixth) and Chris Lahti (tenth).
The Valhalla girls have just been great all year, and it was more of the
same here.
Clemons won, and freshman Carri Leto was just nine seconds back, in second.
After that, it was a flood of orange: Kelley Halligan (fourth), Elaine
Lassen (seventh), Amy Kermott (ninth), Margie Broselle (tenth), and Sarah
Chionis (12th).
The results:
BOYS:
Top Twenty Finishers (both leagues):
1-5:
16:11 Dustin Diaz, West Hills, 11
16:36 Jason Finch, Granite Hills, 10
16:43 John Bates, El Capitan, 12
16:48 Mike Gilmore, Granite Hills, 12
16:53 Don Overland-McKay, West Hills, 11
6-10:
16:58 Serafin Carrillo, Monte Vista, 12
17:01 David Boland, El Capitan, 12
17:03 Jon Doroski, Valhalla, 11
17:06 Matt Rendina, West Hills, 10
17:08 Dan Kinsella, Helix, 10
11-15:
17:08 Nick Rivera, Granite Hills, 11
17:14 Chris Nagao, West Hills, 12
17:15 Doug Singer, Santana, 12
17:16 Tony Principe, El Capitan, 12
17:21 Kiflom Abraha, Grossmont, 11
16-20:
17:22 Chris Lahti, West Hills, 12
17:23 Matt Theisen, Valhalla, 10
17:26 Danny Buxton, Granite Hills, 12
17:28 Ben Wagner, Valhalla, 10
17:28 Aaron Jones, Valhalla, 12
Grossmont North Varsity:
Teams: West Hills 25, El Capitan 51, Santana 69, Grossmont 80, El Cajon Valley, no score. West Hills wins overall Grossmont North championship, based on finals meet win combined with 4-0 dual meet record.
Individuals (32 finishers):
1-5: Dustin Diaz (West Hills) 16:11, John Bates (El Capitan) 16:43, Don Overland-McKay (WH) 16:53, Da-vid Boland (ECap) 17:01, Matt Rendina (WH) 17:06.
6-10: Chris Nagao (WH) 17:14, Doug Singer (Sant-ana) 17:15, Tony Principe (ECap) 17:16, Kiflom Abraha (Grossmont) 17:21, Chris Lahti (WH) 17:22.
11-15: Paul Saccone (WH) 17:35, Nathan Snodgrass (S) 17:38, Tyson Oberndorfer (G) 17:42, Mark Petitfils (S) 17:48, Jake Bishop (S) 18:07.
16-20: Colter Bollinger (G) 18:08, Ryan Beckhelm (G) 18:09, Nick Mathis (ECap) 18:09, Matt Freeman (ECap) 18:26, Josh Freese (ECap) 18:26.
21-25: Mike Ficken (WH) 18:42, Scott Kaforey (S) 18:51, Mike Hunter (S) 18:52, Jeff Gladstone (ECap) 18:57, Kevin Gossett (G) 19:04.
Grossmont South Varsity:
Teams: Granite Hills 29, Valhalla 44, Helix 65, Monte Vista 117, Mount Miguel 125. Granite Hills wins overall Grossmont South championship, based on league finals win, plus 3-1 dual meet record.
Individuals (33 finishers):
1-5: Jason Finch (Granite Hills) 16:36, Mike Gilmore (GH) 16:48, Serafin Carrillo (Monte Vista) 16:58, Jon Doroski (Valhalla) 17:03, Dan Kinsella (Helix) 17:08.
6-10: Nick Rivera (GH) 17:08, Matt Theisen (V) 17:23, Danny Buxton (GH) 17:26, Ben Wagner (V) 17:28, Aaron Jones (V) 17:28.
11-15: Jack Favilukis (H) 17:39, Nick Sabala (GH) 17:43, Amanuel Gebru (H) 18:05, Sean Nugent (V) 18:07, William Burer (V) 18:08.
16-20: Brad Leavitt (H) 18:16, Chris Mananquil (Mount Miguel) 18:27, David Rivera (GH) 18:30, Rafael Morales (MV) 18:32, Rodger O'Keefe (H) 18:32.
21-25: Brandon Vielguth (GH) 18:51, Antonio Sweeney (MM) 18:56, Kristian Schmidt (H) 19:02, Musie Meche (H) 19:16, Bryon Lamorandier (V) 19:20.
Junior Varsity (combined leagues):
Teams: El Capitan 32, Valhalla 34, West Hills 71, Helix 154, Grossmont 198, Granite Hills 232, Santana 312, Monte Vista 329. Mount Miguel and El Cajon Valley, no score.
Individuals (96 finishers):
1-5: David Olsen (ECap) 13:05, Ryan Rice (ECap) 13:05, Jason Vestal (ECap) 13:09, Tyler Ludwig (V) 13:09, Matt Rodriguez (V) 13:11.
6-10: Jarrod Hammack (V) 13:15, Jonathon Smulders (V) 13:18, Dennis Bollman (G) 13:19, Andrew Mus-bach (WH) 13:24, Brian Covell (WH) 13:24.
GIRLS:
Top Twenty Finishers (both leagues):
1-5:
13:56 Jaymie Harper, Santana, 12
14:02 Andrea Clemons, Valhalla, 11
14:07 Sophia Hawker, Grossmont, 12
14:11 Carri Leto, Valhalla, 9
14:12 Stacey Murphy, Granite Hills, 12
6-10:
14:21 Kelley Halligan, Valhalla, 12
14:28 Kim Pace, Santana, 10
14:34 Nicole Rodriguez, Granite Hills, 12
14:36 Stephanie Kindreich, El Capitan, 12
14:40 Ava Benitez, Santana, 9
11-15:
14:41 Aida Garcia, Mount Miguel, 10
14:48 Kim Baza, Santana, 11
14:50 Elaine Lassen, Valhalla, 10
14:51 Natalie Sullivan, Helix, 10
14:51 Amy Kermott, Valhalla, 10
16-20:
15:02 Lisa Peklar, Grossmont, 10
15:04 Margie Broselle, Valhalla, 12
15:09 Jenny Holdzkom, West Hills, 12
15:09 Sarah Garcia, West Hills, 11
15:14 Rebecca Bartell, West Hills, 9
Grossmont North Varsity:
Teams: Santana 27, West Hills 57, Grossmont 59, El Capitan 82, El Cajon Valley 150. Santana wins overall Grossmont North championship, based on league finals win and 3-1 dual meet record.
Individuals (32 finishers):
1-5: Jaymie Harper (Santana) 13:56, Sophia Hawker (Grossmont) 14:07, Kim Pace (S) 14:28, Stephanie Kindreich (El Capitan) 14:36, Ava Benitez (S) 14:40.
6-10: Kim Baza (S) 14:48, Lisa Peklar (G) 15:02, Jenny Holdzkom (West Hills) 15:09, Sarah Garcia (WH) 15:09, Rebecca Bartell (WH) 15:14.
11-15: Sandi Jenkins (ECap) 15:17, Kerie O'Grady (S) 15:23, Renee de la Torre (G) 15:24, Lanae Hawker (WH) 15:40, Milinda Benitez (S) 15:46.
16-20: Shelley Van Winkle (WH) 15:47, Amanda Harper (S) 15:48, Rebecca Venegas (G) 15:48, Kelsey Bollinger (G) 16:03, Theresa Hepler (ECap) 16:05.
21-25: Joanna Shunk (G) 16:07, Kristen Green (WH) 16:21, Tiffany Fay (ECap) 16:22, Sonya McKeon (ECap) 16:45, Zoe Lieberman (G) 16:45.
Grossmont South Varsity:
Teams: Valhalla 23, Granite Hills 52, Mount Miguel 80, Helix 84, Monte Vista 137. Valhalla wins overall Grossmont South championship, based on league finals win plus 4-0 dual meet record.
Individuals (33 finishers):
1-5: Andrea Clemons (Valhalla) 14:02, Carri Leto (V) 14:11, Stacey Murphy (Granite Hills) 14:12, Kelley Halligan (V) 14:21, Nicole Rodriguez (GH) 14:34.
6-10: Aida Garcia (Mount Miguel) 14:41, Elaine Lassen (V) 14:50, Natalie Sullivan (Helix) 14:51, Amy Kermott (V) 14:51, Margie Broselle (V) 15:04.
11-15: Kristi Jones (GH) 15:27, Sarah Chionis (V) 15:41, Becky Mosteller (H) 15:47, Robin Hill (GH) 15:53, Anne Severtson (H) 16:09.
16-20: Tabatha Velis (MM) 16:23, Ashley Rioja (MM) 16:25, Morgen Rounkles (MM) 16:27, Nicolette Stolis (GH) 16:31, Sabrina Pykles (H) 16:32.
21-25: Natalea Braden (GH) 16:38, Angela Panfili (GH) 16:45, Jessica Vargas (MM) 16:57, Velen (Monte Vista) 17:09, Sarah Rossmiller (MV) 17:16.
Junior Varsity (combined leagues)
Teams: Valhalla 45, Santana 57, Grossmont 65, Helix 84, Granite Hills 105, West Hills 143, El Capitan 275, Mount Miguel 354. Monte Vista, El Cajon Valley, no score.
Individuals (102 finishers):
1-5: Ashley Viens (V) 15:28, Casey Cleveland (V) 15:42, Christine Gumtz (V) 15:57, Becki Chaney (S) 16:03, Mary Broding (S) 16:09.
6-10: Paige Sessions (S) 16:16, Elena Venegas (G) 16:17, Jessica Hawn (S) 16:20, Inga Lintvedt (G) 16:26, Katie Olson (G) 16:28.