Metro:
This year, all is Bonita
Adrian Ramirez repeats; Phillips leads Baron girls
It's been a mellow year in the Metro.
Things have been smooth. There have been no conflicts, and there has been
plenty of good competition. You might even say it's been bonita.
Bonita Vista's boys and girls put the finishing touches on league championships
at the Metro finals, held on Friday afternoon at Southwestern College.
Chula Vista's Adrian Ramirez won his second straight league title to break
up the Bonita sweep of awards. Baron Meghann Phillips won the girls race.
The year began with the promise of a tight boys race among a number of
teams. It worked out just that way, as Bonita took a tight finals race
ahead of Sweetwater, Mar Vista and Chula Vista.
Bonita's winning total was 52 points, but the race for second was especially
close, as Sweetwater finished with 63 points, Mar Vista had 65 points,
and Chula Vista had 67 points. Those teams had traded wins during the dual
meet season. Mar Vista beat Sweetwater, the Devils had beaten Chula, and
the Spartans had beaten the Mariners.
The Bonita girls had much the easier time, and they dominated their finals,
scoring just 22 points. After Phillips, who ran the 2.3-mile course in
14:16, Dawna Marshall was second, Rosie Costello was fourth, Candice Osuna
was sixth and Sandie Zuniga was ninth.
Sweetwater's Jessica Cabrera threatened to take the race at several points,
but Phillips put on a move in the last half mile to go on to win. Marshall
also passed Cabrera in the final stages.
The individual boys race was no contest, as Ramirez won by 0:26 seconds,
ahead of Bonita soph Brian Paff.
Chula's Jose Zurita, with a big race, was fifth to help the Spartans. Sweetwater's
Baruch Vega led his team's bid with a third place finish, and the Devils
had Adrian Garcia in ninth and frosh Ruben Vences in 11th.
Mar Vista's effort was paced by Fernando Corona's fourth place, and he
was backed by Esteban Rocha (tenth) and Luis Martinez (12th).
But Bonita Vista had the superior depth. After Paff, Collin Graham was
eighth, Jason Stone was 13th, Giovanni Arce was 14th, and Daniel Lebrija
was 15th.
"Bonita deserved it," Mar Vista coach Ben Holt said. "But
we had a good year."
"I'm perfectly happy with the way my kids ran," Sweetwater coach
Tim Latham said. The Devils were minus Jesse Jasso, who was often the team's
number two man.
"It went well," Bonita coach Ian Cumming said. "Things worked
out."
Of the boys race, Cumming said, "Mar Vista used an interesting strategy;
they held back at the start and tried to work their way up throughout the
race,"
After Ramirez, the pack racing for second included Paff, Vega, Corona and
a pair of Castle Park runners, Joshua Middleswart and Jorge del Hierro.
"It was a great race for second," Cumming said. "I thought
the Castle Park guys did a good job of hanging on to that group, and Zurita
had a really good race."
Phillips, the girls race winner, has been in and out of the lineup all
year with various hurts. Two days after this final, she suffered a severe
ankle injury in a soccer game, and will race no more this season. Costello,
one of the county's best as a soph, has also had a constant battle with
various injuries.
The results:
BOYS:
Varsity:
Teams: Bonita Vista 52, Sweetwater 63, Mar Vista 65, Chula Vista 67, Castle Park 126, Montgomery 172, Hilltop 180, Southwest 200, Eastlake 255.
Individuals (61 finishers):
1-5: Adrian Ramirez (Chula Vista) 16:24, Brian Paff (Bonita Vista)
16:50, Baruch Vega (Sweetwater) 16:53, Fernando Corona (Mar Vista) 16:54,
Jose Zurita (CV) 17:05.
6-10: Joshua Middleswart (Castle Park) 17:06, Jorge del Hierro (CP)
17:10, Collin Graham (BV) 17:14, Adrian Garcia (Sweet) 17:16, Esteban Rocha
(MV) 17:19.
11-15: Ruben Vences (Sweet) 17:27, Luis Mart-inez (MV) 17:31, Jason
Stone (BV) 17:35, Giovanni Arce (BV) 17:39, Daniel Lebrija (BV) 17:40.
16-20: Thomas Juarez (Montgomery) 17:43, Steve Umada (CV) 17:45,
Javier Gonzalez (Sweet) 17:53, Daniel Perez (MV) 17:57, Christian Valderrama
(MV) 18:00.
21-25: Rosario Martinez (CV) 18:01, Miguel Gallarzo (Sweet) 18:04, Branny Zuniga (CV) 18:07, Jose Flores (CP) 18:09, M. Milliken (BV) 18:13.
26-30: Aaron Galvan (CV) 18:16, Jimmy Schroe-der (Hilltop) 18:17, Reggie DePass (Mont) 18:19, Jaime Cabezuela (Sweet) 18:19, Miguel Beltran (MV) 18:20.
31-35: Ben Walthall (BV) 18:22, Vicente Ruiz (Southwest) 18:47, Carlos Zapata (Mont) 18:51, Mario Padilla (MV) 18:53, Michael Correano (Hill) 18:58.
36-40: Joel Armola (CV) 19:00, Jose Beltran (Hill) 19:05, Erick Guzman (Hill) 19:07, Halmar Samayoa (S'west) 19:15, Oscar Gonzalez (S'west) 19:17.
Junior Varsity:
Teams: Bonita Vista 18, Chula Vista 45, Sweetwater 140, Mar Vista 148, Castle Park 210, Hilltop 320, Montgomery 366. Eastlake, Southwest, no score.
Individuals (83 finishers):
1-5: Mirek Knopp (BV) 17:59, Brad Powers (BV) 18:02, Gabriel Cornejo (CV) 18:04, Kevin Barrera (BV) 18:17, John Ostrus (BV) 18:18.
6-10: Bill McRaven (BV) 18:21, Joon Kim (BV) 18:27, Carlos Sotelo (Sweet) 18:34, Jesse Jones (CV) 18:40, Mikael Manzano (CV) 18:41.
GIRLS:
Varsity:
Teams: Bonita Vista 22, Chula Vista 55, Sweetwater 85, Hilltop 97, Eastlake 125, Montgomery 151, Mar Vista 197. Southwest, Castle Park, no score.
Individuals (50 finishers):
1-5: Meghann Phillips (Bonita Vista) 14:16, Dawna Marshall (BV) 14:25, Jessica Cabrera (Sweetwater) 14:33, Rosie Costello (BV) 14:50, Maria Melvin (Chula Vista) 14:57.
6-10: Candice Osuna (BV) 15:09, Nohelia Ramos (Sweet) 15:32, Erin DeHahn (Hilltop) 15:38, Sandie Zun-iga (BV) 15:46, Graciela Minor (CV) 15:51.
11-15: Nika Dunn (CV) 15:58, Laura Carriedo (Eastlake) 16:05, Maribel Calderon (CV) 16:10, Van Nguyen (BV) 16:15, Sarah Meza (Hill) 16:15.
16-20: Abby McConnell (CV) 16:23, Vera Villal-vazo (CV) 16:27, Miriam Sandoval (Sweet) 16:29, Gail Dayao (E) 16:33, Esther Volper (Montgomery) 16:34.
21-25: Erica Taylor (BV) 16:37, Teresa Escobedo (Hill) 16:39, Maggie Lozoya (CV) 16:43, Elizabeth Kolata (Hill) 16:44, Sandra Tejeda (Sweet) 16:49.
26-30: E. Burqueno (Mont) 16:56, Jodell Linder (E) 16:59, Crystal Foelschow (Hill) 17:03, Debra Milam (E) 17:18, Annette Nava (Hill) 17:24.
31-35: Kristen Neil (MV) 17:26, Margie Moran (Sweet) 17:42, Veronica Rodriguez (CP) 17:44, S. Stolz (Mont) 17:52, A. Hutchinson (Mont) 17:54.
36-40: Joy Espiritu (Mont0 17:58, Carli Foss (MV) 17:59, Pelsey Wilcox (E) 18:12, Monica Castro (MV) 18:23, Monica Arellano (Sweet) 18:26.
Junior Varsity:
Teams: Chula Vista 38, Bonita Vista 41, Hilltop 102.
Individuals (32 finishers):
1-5: Chulie Ulloa (BV) 16:07, Bertha Ojeda (CV) 16:20, Vanessa Cuadra (CV) 16:26, Tami Withem (BV) 16:28, Jennifer Martinez (BV) 16:31.
6-10: Jenessa Huffman (CV) 17:23, Jackie Cardenas (CV) 17:24, Cindy Barker (BV) 17:25, Nancy Castro (CV) 17:29, Daniela Castaneda (CV) 17:42.