Cross Country: Estancia boys finish together; girls start late

Steve Virgen

IRVINE - As a matter of pride and of teamwork, the Estancia High

boys cross country team attempted to finish together. Within the last 100

yards, Eagles runners Humberto Rojas and Mike Casillas held hands as they

reached the finish line.

A time official shouted for them to let go -- purposely finishing at

the same time is illegal and leads to disqualification.

Casillas did not want to damage the team’s lead so he slowed up and

Rojas finished the race just ahead of him as Estancia runners took the

top five spots and defeated University, 15-43, in a dual meet Thursday at

Mason Park.

“I’ll just let him (Rojas) have the win for today,” Casillas said

playfully. “We wanted to finish together for pride.”

Rojas and Casillas ran stride for stride during the last two miles.

Officially, they finished at the same time, 16:48, just four seconds

ahead of teammate Luis Segoviano. Estancia sophomores Abel Flores and

Gerardo Orozco finished fourth and fifth, respectively, at 17:00. Flores

and Orozco also held hands briefly before hearing the official shout the

admonition again. Sophomore Aaron Van Geem grabbed the eighth spot at

17:08.

The Eagles won the race despite the mentality that they “took it

easy,” as Rojas would have you believe.

“I have to save it for Saturday,” Rojas said of preserving his

strength and speed for Saturday’s Yucaipa Invitational.

Meanwhile, the Estancia girls cross country team did not fare as well

in the race. The Eagles were not ready from the beginning. As they took

their marks, the whistle sounded and Estancia flinched and watched

University bolt to a lead.

Regardless, Liz Huipe caught the front pack and made her move in the

second mile taking over first place. It was then that Huipe and

University’s Connie Chow took turns holding the top spot, until finally,

Huipe’s burst in the last 100 yards earned her medalist title. Huipe

finished less than a second better than Chow at 18:45.

“I didn’t hear the whistle. I just decided to go when I saw everyone

run,” Huipe said. “It (the start) hurt my race a little bit because I

tried hard to catch up to them.”

Chow and two other University runners took spots 2-3-4. And Estancia’s

Diana Rosete finished fifth at a personal-best, 19:31.

“That’s my best so far,” said Rosete, a sophomore in just her second

varsity race. “Hopefully, I will improve.”

Eagles Coach Charlie Appell said that the girls team was without one

of its top runners, Stephanie Melendez, because she was ill.

Estancia had already lost Marilyn Reich and Ludi Valdez to knee

injuries last week.

Appell said the team’s bad start at Mason Park only made things worse.

“There was a slow attention span for them or there was no attention,”

he said.

Estancia’s Lindsay Freeman finished 13th with a 22:17 and Jessica

Butler came in just behind at 22:18.

Pacific Coast League boys

Estancia 15, University 43

1. Rojas (E), 16:48; 2. Casillas (E), 16:48; 3. Segoviano (E), 16:52;

4. Flores (E), 17:00; 5. Orozco (E), 17:00; 6. Gatchel (U), 17:06; 7.

Haier (U), 17:08; 8. Van Geem (E), 17:08; 9. Kibler (U), 17:39; 10.

Arayama (U), 18:07.

Pacific Coast League girls

University 22, Estancia 39

1. Huipe (E), 18:45; 2. Chow (U), 18:46; 3. Manafian (U), 19:00; 4.

Moser (U), 19:24; 5. Rosete (E), 19:31; 6. Rattray (U), 19:50; 7. Colome (U), 19:59; 8. Nguyen (U), 20:02; 9. Coffee (U), 21:46; Huard (U), 21:53.