Boys’ course record falls at Dana Hills Invitational
For Southern California cross-country runners, events such as the Dana Hills Invitational provide numerous opportunities, including a chance to test oneself against a wider range of competition.
Few possibilities get a cross-country runner excited as much as when a fast time is on the table, and that is always in play at the South Orange County-based meet.
Carlsbad Sage Creek’s Bryce Gilmore set a course record in running 14 minutes 13 seconds to win the boys’ invitational race on Saturday morning at Dana Hills High School.
The record had belonged to Pasadena’s Jesus Gutierrez since 1983, when he posted a time of 14:16.
Gilmore had hoped to be pushed in the competition, and he was by Dana Hills’ Jai Dawson until the latter fell during the race.
“I was aiming for that course record, hoping that I would have someone to push it with me, and I did for most of the race, and that helped a ton,” Gilmore said.
“Coming across with 400 [meters] to go and [to] see the time and know I can get it, it helped push me that last 400 even more, and just coming across the finish line was kind of a sense of relief to know that I did it.”
Fountain Valley’s Benjamin Prado was the leading local in the race, crossing the finish line in seventh in 15:00.2.
Following the girls’ invitational race, Barons senior Kaho Cichon showed pure jubilation at the fact that she was not denied in her quest to break the 17-minute performance barrier.
Cichon, a talent in the 800 meters, showed off that closing speed in moving up a couple of positions late. The course finishes with about the last 500 meters being contested on the track inside of the Dana Hills football stadium.
“I’m honestly so happy because I thought this was going to be my last chance being able to break 17 [minutes], and I honestly crossing the line didn’t know if I broke it,” said Cichon, who finished third with a time of 16:58.0. “I’m really happy that I was able to achieve my goal.”
As the meet continued, additional local teams made appearances in the grade-level races. The Newport Harbor girls showed that they could be a force to be reckoned with in the years to come, as two of the Sailors’ underclassmen notched top-five finishes in Division 2.
Emma Scheumann placed fourth (19:13.4) in the sophomore race, and Keaton Robar was fifth (19:34.0) in the freshman heat.
“I feel like at these big meets, there’s just a lot of pressure, and I get a lot more nervous,” Scheumann said. “But I definitely enjoy having more people to race with and getting to make friends at the starting line, at the finish, and getting to meet people from different parts of SoCal.”
A late bid to claim victory in the combined race for senior and junior girls in Division 3 came up a fraction of a second short for Ocean View’s Elizabeth King (18:55.7) versus San Diego Clairemont’s Alexis Noble (18:55.6).
The Seahawks senior expressed some frustration after the race for landing on the same time that she posted at the Woodbridge Invitational the week prior.
Nevertheless, King found reasons to be positive, especially after coronavirus precautions resulted in a cross-country season with exclusively dual meets last school year.
Ocean View participated in a dual meet circuit featuring only Huntington Beach Union High School District teams in the spring.
King noted that there were a lot of familiar faces around the grounds that she had not seen for some time.
“Walking in, I was saying hi to everyone,” King said. “I recognized so many people that I haven’t talked to in so long.”
Costa Mesa had two seniors place fifth in their respective Division 3 grade-level races in Edward Rodriguez (16:33.1) and Angeles Alatorre (19:48.4). The Mustangs also had freshman Lindsey Patino Gomez earn third place in the combined sophomore and freshman race with a time of 20:23.2.
BOYS’ CROSS-COUNTRY
Dana Hills Invitational
At Dana Hills High School
3-mile course
Team Results
1. San Clemente 111; 2. Mt. Carmel 124; 3. Santa Ana 166; 4. Otay Ranch 166; 5. Capistrano Valley 187; 6. Foothill 212; 7. Fountain Valley 231; 8. Great Oak 236; 9. La Serna 241; 10. Aliso Niguel 296
Division 1 Senior/Invite
1. Gilmore (Sage Creek) 14:13.0; 2. Foody (Aliso Niguel) 14:44.7; 3. Parra (Millikan) 14:45.3; 4. McDaniel (Mission Viejo) 14:56.6; 5. Dominguez (Santa Ana) 14:57.1
Division 1 Junior
1. Filek (Santiago) 15:47.9; 2. Nakada (Los Alamitos) 16:05.1; 3. Mastick (Los Alamitos) 16:07.3; 4. Chavez (Santiago) 16:11.1; 5. Valdes (Great Oak) 16:13.2
Division 1 Sophomore
1. Reyes (El Camino) 15:37.1; 2. Marotta (Great Oak) 15:44.5; 3. Ball (Millikan) 16:10.4; 4. Holland (Long Beach Wilson) 16:14.9; 5. Ayala (Dana Hills) 16:17.9
Division 1 Freshman
1. Jubak (Trabuco Hills) 15:57.3; 2. Plascencia (Millikan) 16:01.2; 3. Brown (Great Oak) 16:16.5; 4. Paradise (Great Oak) 16:16.6; 5. Rubalcaba (Santiago) 16:21.0
Division 2 Senior
1. Stefanou (Palos Verdes) 15:14.9; 2. Kirk (Palos Verdes) 15:17.4; 3. Martinez (Eastlake) 15:32.9; 4. Malo (Mira Mesa) 15:48.0; 5. Rivera (Troy) 15:49.9
Division 2 Junior
1. Belt (Scripps Ranch) 15:33.3; 2. Farnsworth (Palos Verdes) 15:57.6; 3. Sorokin (University) 16:03.0; 4. Maguire (Scripps Ranch) 16:08.1; 5. Kirk (South Torrance) 16:13.7
Division 2 Sophomore
1. Naehu (Palos Verdes) 16:02.9; 2. Shaver (La Costa Canyon) 16:08.7; 3. Rippe (Norco) 16:12.3; 4. Nili (JSerra) 16:26.7; 5. Cannon (Scripps Ranch) 16:27.3
Division 2 Freshman
1. Luecht (Rancho Bernardo) 16:16.3; 2. Bulalacao (El Toro) 16:37.9; 3. Arrey (JSerra) 17:07.0; 4. Dunn (Norco) 17:08.4; 5. Thompson (San Marcos) 17:28.5
Division 3 Senior
1. Chapman (High Tech) 16:03.6; 2. Bonds (Escondido) 16:15.3; 3. Guzman (Santa Ana Valley) 16:21.2; 4. Rodriguez (Whitney) 16:28.0; 5. Rodriguez (Costa Mesa) 16:33.1
Division 3 Junior
1. Spangler (Rancho Alamitos) 16:46.8; 2. Gomez (Southwest El Centro) 16:48.4; 3. Reyna (Holtville) 16:51.8; 4. Arizmendi (Saddleback) 16:51.9; 5. Heredia (Pacifica) 16:58.7
Division 3 Sophomore
1. Hooper (Mission Viejo) 17:20.2; 2. Sparks (Mission Viejo) 17:33.6; 3. Castenada (Del Lago Academy) 17:48.6; 4. Ruff (La Jolla) 17:52.8; 5. Bowman (Mission Viejo) 18:00.8
Division 3 Freshman
1. Martinez (Arlington) 17:43.8; 2. Chikami (Pacifica) 17:48.7; 3. Durfee (Clairemont) 18:03.7; 4. Hansen (Hillcrest) 18:17.9; 5. Choi (Whitney) 18:45.1
GIRLS’ CROSS-COUNTRY
Dana Hills Invitational
At Dana Hills High School
3-mile course
Team Results
1. Great Oak 93; 2. Corona Santiago 114; 3. La Costa Canyon 120; 4. Dana Hills 125; 5. Poway 159; 6. Del Norte 167; 7. La Serna 192; 8. Foothill 196; 9. Mt. Carmel 208; 10. San Clemente 235
Division 1 Senior/Invite
1. Riggins (Del Norte) 16:42.5; 2. Callanan (Peninsula) 16:47.5; 3. Cichon (Fountain Valley) 16:58.0; 4. Wallace (Sage Creek) 16:58.7; 5. Markow (Dana Hills) 17:05.9
Division 1 Junior
1. Castillo (Great Oak) 18:27.9; 2. Ropacki (Great Oak) 18:31.6; 3. Ibarra (Aliso Niguel) 18:33.1; 4. Alwardt (Santiago) 18:49.4; 5. To (Fountain Valley) 18:50.2
Division 1 Sophomore
1. Lee (Trabuco Hills) 18:46.6; 2. Stewart (Trabuco Hills) 19:01.4; 3. Marquez (Centennial) 19:17.4; 4. Banderas (Paramount) 19:21.0; 5. McGrath (Canyon Crest Academy) 19:33.6
Division 1 Freshman
1. Nunez (Great Oak) 19:02.4; 2. Smith (Great Oak) 19:09.2; 3. McIntosh (Poway) 19:49.4; 4. Ropacki (Great Oak) 19:54.1; 5. Badillo (Del Norte) 19:55.3
Division 2 Senior
1. Nauman (Scripps Ranch) 18:58.3; 2. Mekitarian (Eastlake) 19:09.2; 3. Swearengin (Mira Mesa) 19:16.8; 4. Hansen (Santa Monica) 19:34.0; 5. McConathy (Capistrano Valley) 19:38.2
Division 2 Junior
1. Martin (Scripps Ranch) 18:25.9; 2. Lopez (Shadow Hills) 18:36.7; 3. Challburg (Eastlake) 18:38.1; 4. Ellermeyer (Scripps Ranch) 18:54.1; 5. Estrada (Vista) 18:55.3
Division 2 Sophomore
1. Wang (Palos Verdes) 18:22.9; 2. Mitchell (Mira Mesa) 18:38.6; 3. Manning (Capistrano Valley) 19:08.2; 4. Scheumann (Newport Harbor) 19:13.4; 5. Capen (Murrieta Mesa) 19:32.7
Division 2 Freshman
1. Mummery (South Torrance) 19:15.6; 2. Nikmehr (Palos Verdes) 19:21.0; 3. McKenny (Palos Verdes) 19:27.5; 4. Topp (Santa Monica) 19:30.3; 5. Robar (Newport Harbor) 19:34.0
Division 3 Senior/Junior
1. Noble (Clairemont) 18:55.6; 2. King (Ocean View) 18:55.7; 3. Gladden (High Tech) 19:19.0; 4. Garcia (Southwest El Centro) 19:46.4; 5. Alatorre (Costa Mesa) 19:48.4
Division 3 Sophomore/Freshman
1. Diaz (Santa Ana Valley) 19:26.1; 2. Burden (Clairemont) 19:47.1; 3. Patino-Gomez (Costa Mesa) 20:23.2; 4. Toriz (Western) 20:39.0; 5. Mata (Pacifica) 20:40.6
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