Please check back next week when we’ll publish the 2010 . . . → Read More: 2010 XC Coverage Coming!]]> Welcome to the only real source for cross country news for the East San Gabriel Valley.

Please check back next week when we’ll publish the 2010 Area Preview.

Complete results are here: 2010 SGV Results. (F/S 1600′s still being worked on)

Host Glendora won the boys team title for the first time . . . → Read More: 2010 SGV Results]]> The numbers are in…

• 2010 (!) Athletes
• 36 schools
• 2 State leading marks
• 15 California Top 30 marks
• 18 Varsity Meet Records
• 140 Additions to the SGV Top 10 Performers List (including twelve marks from the F/S competition!)
• 4237 tacos eaten (estimate)

Complete results are here: 2010 SGV Results. (F/S 1600′s still being worked on)

Host Glendora won the boys team title for the first time with 68 points while the Arcadia girls became three time champions with a dominating 102.5 points.  The Tartans did not win a single event, but were second five times.  The Apaches had three wins and scored in every event but the two hurdle races.  Arcadia (111.5 points) were the boys F/S Champs and Claremont won the girls with 127 points

Athletes of the Meet are Alexis Walker (Sr-Pasadena) and Remontay McClain (Jr-Covina).  Alexis tripled, winning the 100m Hurdles in a meet record 14.89, the 300 hurdles, and the high jump in a meet record and state leading 5’11″!  Remontay had a dominating double in the 100 – 10.73 and 200 – 21.58, both big meet records.

Top Sprinters/Hurdlers were  Jordan Scott (Sr-Claremont) with a PR 48.62 and meet record to win the 400, a third in the 200, and a big carry to help his team win the 4×400; and Kalalah Todd (Jr – Northview) who defended her 400 title with a MR 58.88 and ran on her school’s MR 4×400 team.

Top Distance Runners were junior teammates Ammar Moussa and Catrina McAlister.  Moussa smashed the 1600 record with a PR 4:12.91 and took 5th in the 800, while McAlister doubled 1600/3200 with two huge meet records, a PR 4:53.61 and 10:40.64, winning the races by a combined 62 seconds.

Top Field Athletes:  high jumper Todd Barnes (Sr-Pasadena) who jumped a State leading 6’10, and Kylie Price (So – Bishop Amat) with a MR long jump of 19’0-1/2″

Small School/Div IV Athletes of the meet were Webb senior Andrew Lantz on the strength of his dominating MR 1:55.23 in the 800, and San Marino soph Omhunique Browne, who won the 200 (25.84) and was second in the 100 (12.38).

Check back for further and deeper coverage throughout the week.

The first event is at 10:00am and the last is scheduled for 7:20pm

This year we will welcome 36 schools to the . . . → Read More: 2010 SGV Track and Field Championships!]]> The Fifth Annual San Gabriel Valley Track and Field Championships is this Saturday, April 24th, 2010, at West Covina High School.  Admission is $5, and we’ll have full concessions, including a taco cart and kettle corn.

The first event is at 10:00am and the last is scheduled for 7:20pm

This year we will welcome 36 schools to the event, with Don Bosco Tech, Duarte, La Mirada, Los Altos, Montebello, Mountain View, John Muir and San Gabriel taking part for the first time.

We are anticipating an astounding jump in the quality of competition this year, with entry times/marks that are superior to the meet record in most of the Varsity events.  Ten boys ranked in the Top 30 in California are scheduled to compete are Beejay Lee – West Covina (100, 200), Remontay McClain – Covina (100, 200), Jordan Scott – Claremont (400), Andrew Lantz – Webb (800) Anthony Castro - Glendora (800, 3200), Ammar Mousa – Arcadia (3200), Darien Johnson – Bishop Amat & Bubba Ostrowski - Glendora (110H), Terris Jones - California (Triple Jump), Todd Barnes - Pasadena (High Jump) and Jared Manke – South Hills (Pole Vault).

Among the girls, we’ll see state ranked Kylie Price - Bishop Amat (100, 200 & Long Jump), Catrina McAlister - Arcadia (800, 1600, & 3200),  and Alexis Walker - Pasadena (300H, High Jump).

But the meet is more than just the very best athletes.  We will run multiple heats/flights at the Varisty level, and there will be an equal number of participants in the Frosh/Soph Championships.

This will be a great day.  For more info:

• 2010 Schedule: SGV-Sched-Final-10
• List of Participating Schools: 2010 Participants
• 2010 Accepted Entries: 10 SGV Final Accepted Entries
• 2009 results
• Updated Top 10 All-Time Performers List: SGV-top-10-perf-09.pdf

The day began with Glendora’s Lauren Justus in the Div II.  Lauren had the top SGV performance at CIF Finals . . . → Read More: State Finals: Glendora Second, Brittnie Top Girl]]> The East San Gabriel Valley had a bigger than usual representation at last Saturday’s California State Cross Country Championships.  One team and four individuals went to the line of the 5000 meter course in Fresno’s Woodward Park.

The day began with Glendora’s Lauren Justus in the Div II.  Lauren had the top SGV performance at CIF Finals with her 18:06 11th place, but she could never quite find her rhythm in this race and finished 67th in 19:16.

Then came the Div. III girls and Brittnie Munoz (Sr – Rosemead) and Marissa Scott (Fr – Bonita).  Both were making their debuts at the State, and first-year Marissa was clearly unafraid, running with the leaders through the first mile.  She wasn’t quite able to hold that pace, and finished 42nd in 19:00.  Brittnie started more conservatively, but closed strongly to finish 26th in 18:44 – her best performance of the year.

The Glendora boys were next up.  The Tartans were the first area boys team to compete in the State meet since the Waleed Totari led Damien Spartans advanced in 2004.  Fresh off their Div II Southern Section Championship, the Tartans were picked to finish second and they lived up to the challenge.  According to the chip timing system, a new feature of this year’s meet, Glendora was fourth at the mile split, and then moved up to second to nationally ranked Mountain View of the CCS in the second mile.  The Tartans held their places over the final mile to finish a hard won second place in 80:09 – the highest finish by an area team since the wins by Arroyo and Walnut in 1987 and Walnut in 1988 along with Rowland’s second place, the first two years of the meet.

Glendora was led by junior Anthony Castro.  He was 13th (and 33rd overall) in 15:32, earning second team All-State honors, and his time was equal 9th best ever by a SGV boy at the State Meet.   Juniors Kelly Hernandez (16:02) and Shin Yamamura (16:14) and soph Austin Mendoza (16:03) all turned in performances right at their life-time bests, and they were joined on the podium by the 5-7 men, seniors Austin Goodheart and Neill Netzeband and junior Nick Orozco.  That’s right – the Tartans top four will all be back next year.

The final SGV race of the day was Fabian Velasco (Sr – Duarte) in the Div. IV race.  Fabian had dropped his PR by over two minutes this year, and finished his amazing season with a 16:24 24th place effort.

Complete results and videos here.  SGV Tribune’s coverage is here.

SGV podium teams and all-time performer lists after the jump.

Boys

Podium (Top Three) Teams

• 1987 – Arroyo (1st – Div. I);  Walnut (1st – Div. II)
• 1988 – Walnut (1st – Div. II);  Rowland (2nd – Div I)
• 1997 – South Hills (2nd – Div. III)
• 1999 – South Hills (3rd – Div. III)
• 2009 – Glendora (2nd – Div. II)

Best Performers

1. 15:13   Mohammed Trafeh – Duarte, 2002
2. 15:15   Scott Hempell – Walnut, 1988
3. 15:20  Diego Mercado – West Covina, 2004
4. 15:23  Jaime Ortega – Arroyo, 1987
5. 15:24  Luis Medina – Arroyo, 2003
6. 15:29  Jeff Gilkey – Arroyo, 1987
7. 15:30  Danny Mercado – West Covina, 2005
8. 15:31   Derrick Powers – Arroyo, 1987
9. 15:32   Matt Hempell – Walnut, 1988
10. 15:32   Anthony Castro – Glendora, 2009

Girls

Podium (Top Three) Teams

• 1997 – South Hills (2nd – Div. III);  St. Lucy’s (3rd – Div. II)
• 1999 – South Hills (3rd – Div. III)

Top Performers

1. 17:48   Karen Hecox – South Hills, 1987
2. 17:51    Annie Ebiner – St. Lucy’s, 1995
3. 17:58   Christy Adamyk – Glendora, 2005
4. 18:14   Sandra Acosta – Walnut, 1987
5. 18:25   Kristina Wilson – South Hills, 2004
6. 18:26   Jessica Nunez – South Hills, 2007
7. 18:30   Samantha Rodriguez – South El Monte, 2003
8. 18:44   Monique Smith – Diamond Bar, 1990
9. 18:44   Brittnie Munoz – Rosemead, 2009
10. 18:49   Laura Heuring – Bonita, 2005

Note:  These lists were compiled from the lists of top ten finishers in the State meet.  Please forward any other performers or performances that would make the list via the comments to this post.

Glendora’s Lauren Justus (Jr.) . . . → Read More: Final SGV Mt.Sac Lists]]> Saturday’s CIF Finals gave a select group of area athletes one last chance to compete on the famous course.  Between the two invites, two league finals, and the two CIF meets, almost every ESGV cross country athlete had at least one Mt.Sac experience, making performances on this course the fairest basis of comparison.

Glendora’s Lauren Justus (Jr.) solidified her place at the top of the list with a PR 18:06, while St. Lucy’s junior Marissa Horton moved from 10th to 7th with her 18:44 PR performance.

Among the guys, the only real movement came from Glendora junior Shin Yamamura, whose 15:56, a 21 second PR, jumped into 7th place on the list.  This gave Glendora a remarkable five of the top seven area performers this, which explains why their combined team best is nearly five minutes better than the next team.

These lists are the basis for the SGV Cross Country Awards that will be presented on Thursday, December 3, at 7:30 in Mt.Sac’s Founder’s Hall.  Awards will be given to the top 5 athletes at each grade level, as as to the top teams and top individuals.

Top Tens, top teams, and top fives for Sophs and Frosh after the jump.

Girls – Bonita (97:00);  St. Lucy’s (97:03)

1. 18:06   Lauren Justus (Jr – Glendora) – CIF Finals
2. 18:20   Brittnie Munoz (Sr – Rosemead) – CIF Prelims
3. 18:29   Marissa Scott  (Fr – Bonita) – CIF Prelims
4. 18:35   Lexie Jackson (Fr – Bonita) – SGV Inv
5. 18:36   Jessica Mendez (Sr – West Covina) – Mt. Sac
6. 18:44   Carly Lake (So – Charter Oak) – CIF Prelims
7. 18:44   Marissa Horton (Jr – St. Lucy’s) – CIF Finals
8. 18:56   Taylor Hebb (Jr – St. Lucy’s) – Mt. Sac
9. 19:02   Vanessa Lopez (Jr -Rowland) – CIF Prelims
10. 19:09   Ashley Holguin (Sr – South Hills) – CIF Prelims

Top 5 Sophs:  Lake;  Krissy Hebb (St. Lucy’s) 19:25;  Shavonn Johnson (Bonita) 19:37  Katy Hebb (St. Lucy’s) 19:43;  Karissa Austin (West Covina) 19:49

Top 5 Frosh:  Scott;  Jackson;  Kelly Kuo (Diamond Bar) 20:14;  Alyssa Martinez (San Dimas) 20:51;  Anaise Ramos (Rowland) 21:19

Boys - Glendora (78:21), Los Altos (83:00), and South Hills (83:08)

1. 15:17   Anthony Castro (Jr – Glendora) – CIF Prelims
2. 15:35   Jayson Perez (Sr – South El Monte) – SGV Inv
3. 15:40   Kelly Hernandez (Jr – Glendora) – CIF Prelims
4. 15:44   Austin Goodheart (Sr – Glendora) – CIF Prelims
5. 15:44   Austin Mendoza (So – Glendora) – CIF Finals
6. 15:50   Fabian Velasco (Sr – Duarte) – CIF Prelims
7. 15:56   Shin Yamamura (Jr – Glendora) – CIF Finals
8. 16:00   Paul Balderas (Sr – Diamond Ranch) – CIF Prelims
9. 16:01   Joshua Sanchez (So – Los Altos) – Miramonte Final
10. 16:12   Johnathan Flores (Sr – South Hills) – CIF Finals

Top 5 Sophs:  Mendoza;  Sanchez;  James McCreary (Diamond Bar) – 16:29;  James Powell (Diamond Bar) 16:44;  Jair Juarez (Los Altos) 16:48

Top 5 Frosh:  Samuel Garcia (Arroyo) 16:38;  Lukas Guardado (West Covina) 16:50;  Jesus Ocana (Arroyo) 16:54;  Felipe Tapia (Rowland) 16:58;  David Galvez (Rowland) 17:13

Racing one last time over the famously hilly and tough 2.91, the Tartans combined for a 78:38 team time and 96 points to win the . . . → Read More: CIF Finals: Glendora Wins, Velasco, Justus, Munoz and Scott Move On]]> The Glendora boys followed up on their Prelims breakthough with a solid performance to win the CIF SS – Division 2 Title for the leading ESGV performance at last Saturdays’ CIF Finals.

Racing one last time over the famously hilly and tough 2.91, the Tartans combined for a 78:38 team time and 96 points to win the title.  Led by junior Anthony Castro‘s 15:20 7th place finish and number five man Shin Yamamura‘s break though 15:56 PR, Glendora put five below all but one of the other teams fourth man, and three in the top 21.  They move on to Saturday’s California Championships ranked second in Div. II behind only Mountain View of the Central Coast Section.

In the Div III boys race, South Hills ran well behind a PR by senior Johnny Flores (16:12) to finish 16th while Paul Balderas (Sr – Diamond Ranch) was a little off his best, running 16:14 for 54th place.  In the Div. IV race, Duarte’s Fabian Velasco turned in his second straight sub 16 performance to finish 8th in 15:53, good enough to earn a spot on the line at the State Meet.

The focus of the ESGV girls was the Division III race, where 2008 State medalists St. Lucy’s and fast rising Bonita where looking for performances that would put them in the top 7 and take them to Fresno.  Both teams fell short.  Bonita, led again by frosh Marissa Scott (18th – 18:35), were 9th in 1:37:26. St. Lucy’s, except for junior Marissa Horton‘s 18:44 PR, had a rough day, running a combined 1:38:08 for 11th.

Individually, Bonita’s Scott did finish well enough to advance to the State meet, where she’ll be joined by Rosemead’s Brittnie Munoz, who ran a solid 18:24, just off her best, to finish 13th.  The other area individual runner, Lauren Justus (Jr – Glendora) started off the day with the area’s top performance of the year, running 18:06 PR to finish 11th in Div. II and advancing to Fresno.

Complete results are here, and the San Gabriel Valley Tribune‘s coverage is here.

The top . . . → Read More: SGV at CIF Finals]]> Four East San Gabriel Valley teams and four individuals will compete at this Saturday’s CIF Finals at Mt.Sac.  Here’s the schedule:

• 7:45   Div II Girls:   Lauren Justus (Glendora)
• 8:05  Div III Girls:  St. Lucy’s, Bonita, Brittnie Munoz (Rosemead)
• 8:25   Div II Boys:   Glendora
• 8:45   Div III Boys:  South Hills, Paul Balderas (Diamond Ranch)
• 10:05 Div IV Boys:  Fabian Velasco (Duarte)

The top seven teams, along with the top five individuals who place in the overall top 20 in each division will advance to next Saturday’s California State Meet, held at Woodward Park in Fresno.

Off of previous performances, Glendora, 2nd in the latest State Rankings, Justus, Munoz, and Velasco look likely to advance, and the Tartan guys and Fabian  should compete for top honors.  Regardless, it is huge honor to qualify for Finals in the Southern Section – the SS is so big, making this meet is the equivalent of being a state finalist in almost every other state.

Update:  Rich Gonzalez of Dyestat previews all of the races. (Word files)

Also, take a minute to read this great article about Diego and Danny Mercado from West Covina (’06).  They will complete their Oregon XC careers at Monday’s NCAA Div. I championships.  Diego remains the high school . . . → Read More: SGV XC in the News]]> Be sure to check out the preview of CIF finals in today’s SGV Tribune:  Bonita and Glendora are Ready to Run

Also, take a minute to read this great article about Diego and Danny Mercado from West Covina (’06).  They will complete their Oregon XC careers at Monday’s NCAA Div. I championships.  Diego remains the high school record holder at Mt.Sac (14:24) and together they are likely the two best XC athletes ever to come from our area.

Glendora’s Anthony Castro and Lauren Justus had strong performances to jump to the top of the lists after . . . → Read More: SGV Mt.Sac Lists: Justus and Castro Run to the Front]]> Saturday’s CIF Prelims led to deep revisions in the the SGV’s Best Performers at Mt.Sac Lists.  The cool conditions gave the athletes a chance to show off their best and to compete under the same conditions throughout the day.

Glendora’s Anthony Castro and Lauren Justus had strong performances to jump to the top of the lists after their respective first and third place finishes in their heats.  Vanessa Lopez (Rowland), Ashley Holguin (South Hills), Fabian Velasco (Duarte) and Paul Balderas (Diamond Ranch) jumped into the top ten for the first time.  Glendora (boys) and Bonita (girls) widened their leads in the team rankings

This is the strongest list of performances in the ESGV in many years, perhaps ever, and with most of these athletes competing in Saturday’s Finals,  the lists should get even faster.  Top ten lists, plus top fives for sophs and frosh after the jump

Girls – Bonita (97:51) slightly increased their lead over St. Lucy’s (98:24) in the overall team standings  Correction:  St. Lucy’s previous time was wrong.  St. Lucy’s (97:30) narrowly leads Bonita (97:51) in the team race.

1. 18:11    Lauren Justus (Jr – Glendora) – CIF Prelims
2. 18:20   Brittnie Munoz (Sr – Rosemead) – CIF Prelims
3. 18:29   Marissa Scott  (Fr – Bonita) – CIF Prelims
4. 18:35   Lexie Jackson (Fr – Bonita) – SGV Inv
5. 18:36   Jessica Mendez (Sr – West Covina) – Mt. Sac
6. 18:44   Carly Lake (So – Charter Oak) – CIF Prelims
7. 18:56   Taylor Hebb (Jr – St. Lucy’s) – Mt. Sac
8. 19:02   Vanessa Lopez (Jr -Rowland) – CIF Prelims
9. 19:09   Ashley Holguin (Sr – South Hills) – CIF Prelims
10. 19:11    Marissa Horton (Jr – St. Lucy’s) – Mt. Sac

Top 5 Sophs:  Lake;  Krissy Hebb (St. Lucy’s) 19:25;  Shavonn Johnson (Bonita) 19:42;  Katy Hebb (St. Lucy’s) 19:43;  Karissa Austin (West Covina) 19:49

Top 5 Frosh:  Scott;  Jackson;  Kelly Kuo (Diamond Bar) 20:14;  Alyssa Martinez (San Dimas) 20:51;  Anaise Ramos (Rowland) 21:19

Boys - Glendora (78:43), followed by Los Altos (83:00), jumped further ahead in the team standings

1. 15:17   Anthony Castro (Jr – Glendora) – CIF Prelims
2. 15:35   Jayson Perez (Sr – South El Monte) – SGV Inv
3. 15:40   Kelly Hernandez (Jr – Glendora) – CIF Prelims
4. 15:44   Austin Goodheart (Sr – Glendora) – CIF Prelims
5. 15:45   Austin Mendoza (So – Glendora) – CIF Prelims
6. 15:50   Fabian Velasco (Sr – Duarte) – CIF Prelims
7. 16:00   Paul Balderas (Sr – Diamond Ranch) – CIF Prelims
8. 16:01   Joshua Sanchez (So – Los Altos) – Miramonte Final
9. 16:14   John Garcia (Jr – Damien) – Sierra Final
10. 16:16   Johnny Flores (Sr – South Hills) – CIF Prelims

Top 5 Sophs:  Mendoza;  Sanchez;  James McCreary (Diamond Bar) – 16:29;  James Powell (Diamond Bar) 16:44;  Jair Juarez (Los Altos) 16:48

Top 5 Frosh:  Samuel Garcia (Arroyo) 16:38;  Lukas Guardado (West Covina) 16:50;  Jesus Ocana (Arroyo) 16:54;  Felipe Tapia (Rowland) 16:58;  David Galvez (Rowland) 17:13

The Tartans did even better than expected, dominating their heat with only 36 points.  Their team time of 78:44 was the best in Div. II by nearly . . . → Read More: Prelims Boys: Glendora Ascendant, South Hills Advances, Velasco and Balderas Move On]]> Only Glendora was expected to advance among the ESGV boys teams and they did, but a series of great performances will give them company at this coming Saturday’s CIF Finals.

The Tartans did even better than expected, dominating their heat with only 36 points.  Their team time of 78:44 was the best in Div. II by nearly a minute, and they were sixth fastest overall on the day.  Led by Anthony Castro‘s breakthrough 15:17 heat win, Glendora placed four in the top seven of the heat.  If they can continue to perform up to this level, they should find a place on podium at Finals and at the State Meet in Fresno the following week.  Castro’s performance ranked him 12th among all divisions on the day.

They will joined in the next week’s Finals, also at Mt.Sac, by Div. III South Hills.  The Huskies, led by Johnny Flores,  rode a slew of PR’s to the final qualifying spot in their heat.  They’ll have to improve a considerable amount to move on, but just making finals was a great achievement for this rapidly improving team.

Duarte’s (Div. IV) Fabian Velasco and Diamond Ranch’s (Div. III) Paul Balderas both rode big PR’s into the finals, with Velasco likely to earn a spot on the podium on Saturday and a trip to Fresno with a similar performance.

Northview (Div. III) missed a place in the finals by one spot and 62 seconds, while Israel Orosco (Azusa – Div. III) finished 11 places but only 15 seconds away from advancing.  South El Monte (Div. III) was tipped to advance with a good day, but a very rough performances from their top two runners, including previous SGV leader Jayson Perez, left them well short.

Top performers, team rankings, and complete results after the jump.

Top Performers 

1. 15:17   Anthony Castro – Glendora
2. 15:40   Kelly Hernandez – Glendora
3. 15:44   Austin Goodheart – Glendora
4. 15:45   Austin Mendoza – Glendora
5. 15:50   Fabian Velasco – Duarte
6. 16:00   Paul Balderas – Diamond Ranch
7. 16:15   John Garcia – Damien
8. 16:16   Johnny Flores  – South Hills
9. 16:17   Shin Yamamura – Glendora
10. 16:19   Efren Alcala – Arroyo
11. 16:19   Israel Orosco – Azusa

Team Ranking

1. 78:43   Glendora
2. 83:46   South Hills
3. 83:49   Los Altos
4. 84:09   Northview – Alfredo Folgar, 16:23 (top runner)
5. 84:24   Arroyo
6. 85:45   West Covina – Lukas Guardado, 16:50
7. 86:03   South El Monte – Fernando Hernandez, 16:46
8. 87:15    Rosemead – Christopher Le, 17:08
9. 87:23   Diamond Ranch
10. 88:07   Covina – Frankie Gonzalez, 17:10
11. 88:37   Baldwin Park – Anthony Giles, 17:03
12. 88:49   Azusa
13. 89:33   La Puente – Christopher Castillo, 17:08
14. 90:08  Bonita – Eric Espinosa, 16:46
15. 93:22   Bassett – Norris Sabio, 17:38

Individuals:  John Garcia (Damien) 16:15;  Jorge Hernandez (Nogales) 16:54;  Brandon Martinez (El Monte) 16:59;  Avedis Gertmenian (Duarte) 17:09;  Eddie Trujillo (Ganesha) 18:52.

Complete results are here.