Boys cross country: Mustangs peaking at the right time

Steve Virgen

WALNUT - The essence of postseason cross country competition is

displayed in the Costa Mesa High boys team. The Mustangs are doing what

most coaches aim for at this time of the season. They are peaking and

that showed in their performance in the CIF Southern Section

Preliminaries at Mt. San Antonio College Saturday.

The Mustangs finished sixth in their heat of Division III to advance

to Saturday’s finals.

“(The Mustangs) went out and did what they’re supposed to do,” Coach

Eric Davies said. “They’re peaking at the right time. Everyone bettered

their times on the course, an average of 20 seconds faster. Next week is

the test, to see if they could move on one more time.”

Costa Mesa improved throughout its Pacific Coast League season and

peaked at the PCL finals with a third-place finish. The performance also

gave the Mustangs third place in league and a trip to the CIF

preliminaries. And they showed their stuff again.

Mesa senior Irwin Salas led the way, coming in 31st in 16:49, while

senior Jose Ibarra trailed in 32nd in 16:50.

“What impressed me the most is that these kids came together,” Davies

said. “They’re working together as a team and they still have potential

to move up. We (improved) the team time by seven minutes.”

Sophomore Marco Huipe came in 41st in 17:09, while Fernando Santa

Maria finished in 47th in 17:19.

In another heat of Division III, Estancia and Corona del Mar went at

it and both qualified for Saturday’s finals.

Estancia, a viable contender to win Division III, maintained a

business-like pace to finish second in its heat, as junior Humberto Rojas

won the race in 15:42, four seconds ahead of Yucca Valley’s Anthony

DeRouen.

The Eagles are ranked No. 3 in Division III, while Nordhoff, which won

the heat, is ranked No. 2.

Estancia senior Mike Casillas also finished in the top 10 with a

sixth-place time of 16:17.

Sophomore Kevin Artz led the Sea Kings with a 16-place finish in

16:34.

Estancia junior Geraldo Orozco finished in 23rd in 16:48, while Corona

del Mar’s Dustin Hodges came in 29th in 17:00.

Estancia sophomore Panfilo Elias, who ran the Mt. SAC course for just

the second time in his career, finished 31st in 17:01.

CdM’s Bo Wiedner took 33rd in 17:03, while his teammate Dan Quinlan

came in 34th also in 17:03.

Estancia junior Aaron Van Geem finished 39th in 17:07, and CdM junior

Blake Dillion, who battled thigh cramps, came in 47th in 17:16.

Meanwhile, Coach Bim Barry’s Newport Harbor squad is actually having

fun at the preliminaries, testing the waters for not only the finals but

for next year.

The Sailors advanced to the finals with a fourth-place finish in their

heat of Division II.

Newport sophomore Nick Miller led the way, finishing in 15th in 16:11,

while junior Alec Urtusuastegui came in 21st in 16:18. Senior Joel Furman

came in 27th in 16:34, John Rios followed in 36th in 16:52 and Geoff

Doody came in 49th in 17:15.

“I just hope that we’re coming with fresher legs and are able to run

significantly faster,” Barry said of Saturday’s finals. “The most

realistic goal for us is to improve on what we did today and let the

chips fall where they may.”