By Bob Ramsey, on September 16th, 2011  The biggest meet in and for the San Gabriel Valley Saturday is the Rosemead Invitational. It’s an almost flat, three mile race, run on and around the RHS campus, with the later races under the lights. Twenty-three of the forty-two participating schools are from the SGV. Whittier, Los Altos, Arroyo and Walnut should all contend on the boys side, while Walnut, Los Altos, CIF ranked Mayfield and the host Panthers should vie for the girls title.
Whittier’s Aaron Mora, 2nd last year and David Acevedo (9th in ’10), along with Arroyo’s Sam Garcia (8th in ’10) will challenge for the individual title. Also look for Los Altos’ Bobby Villagomez (Sr) and Jair Juarez (Sr), to be at the front based on their strong efforts at the Don Bosco meet.
Walnut frosh Anahi Betart will be looking to confirm her excellent 18:32 debut at the Bosco meet. Whittier’s Marilu Pulido (Jr) and Wendy Carillo (Sr) also opened well and will be looking to win.
Also taking part will be West Covina, Gabrielino, Monrovia, Ramona Convent, Marshall Fundamental, Bell Gardens, South El Monte, Cantwell-Sacred Heart, Montebello, Pomona Catholic, San Gabriel, Azusa, La Puente, Alhambra, Baldwin Park, Mark Keppel, Garey, and Schurr.
By Bob Ramsey, on September 16th, 2011  Last year, the Arcadia boys won everything, including the massive Woodbridge Invitational Sweepstakes race. They graduated four of the seven athletes who ran at WXC last year, but return Ryan Vargas, who was an easy winner at AHS’s opener at Laguna Hills, and Sergio Gonzalez, who was off last week. On paper, and in computer pixels, the Apaches remain ranked #1 in the CIF-SS Div. I, and several strong performances behind Vargas last week indicate they’re ready to stay there. But that’s why we run the races.
California, 9th here last year, will also run in the Sweeps race with Div. IV leaders Don Bosco, as well as Michale Munoz (Sr, La Serna) and Kevin Ramirez (Sr, Santa Fe). CalHi got off to an excellent start in Cerritos, led by junior Sam Bautista and senior Tim Guzman. Senior J.J. Dominguez was the top man for Bosco in their strong opener. Don Bosco Invite Champs Damien, led by senior Tom Ebiner and supported by a fast rising crew, should contend in the Rated race, where they’ll be joined by South Pasadena in the Tigers season opener.
On the girls side Bonita take a step up in class in the Sweepstakes race where they’ll be joined by Arcadia and fast rising Claremont. The Bearcats feature junior Marissa Scott – 5th last year at CIF Div. III finals and 25th in California, but will be looking to replace two returning scorers who left the team to focus on soccer. The Apaches ran a limited team in their opener but should be at full strength here. The Wolfpack were CIF finalists last year, and opened well led by soph Megan Renken. They’ll be joined in the Sweeps by Anna Barcelo (Sr, Nogales), SGV #1 at Don Bosco, and Taylor Jones (Jr, La Mirada) and Kellian Hunt (Sr, Whittier Christian) in their first races of the year. South Pasadena will run in the Rated race.
Continue reading Woodbridge Saturday Preview: Arcadia, + 1?
By Bob Ramsey, on September 15th, 2011  The Puma Compound at WXC The Woodbridge Invitational is huge, with over 100 teams coming from all over our state and several other states as well. It’s become so big that the organizers have scheduled the meet over two days, with smaller Red and White divisions competing Friday night (under the lights!) at Estancia High School in Costa Mesa. Covina and South Hills look to be the strongest SGV contenders on the first day, along with CIF ranked Flintridge Sacred Heart, which made a late decision to move out of the Sweepstakes and into the divisional races.
The meet website with full team list and schedules is here.
Full Preview after the jump
Continue reading Woodbridge Friday Preview: South Hills and Covina Looking to Shine
By Bob Ramsey, on September 15th, 2011  Bishop Amat frosh Emily Hubert got off to a nice start at last weekend’s Don Bosco Invite, running 18:27 in her first high school XC meet! On Wednesday, she kept right on going at the small, friendly Phil Ryan Invite, run over an almost flat, but twisty with heavy grass, 3-mile course at San Marino’s Lacy Park. Emily ran away from the hosts’ Alissa Barraza and a pair of teammates to win the varsity race in 19:03 – a gap of 90 seconds!
San Marino senior Peaky Yuter confirmed his nice performance at Bosco from Saturday, breaking away from a trio of Amat athletes in the last mile to win rather easily in 16:23. Bishop Amat just edged the host Titans for the boys team title and easily won on the girls side.
Full results and Dyestat coverage are here. Top 10’s and team results after the jump.
Continue reading Paul Ryan/Lacy Park: Hubert Keeps Going!
By Bob Ramsey, on September 14th, 2011  Ryan Vargas Last weekend’s team results were largely about confirmation – the Arcadia boys are still really strong, and California is rebuilding their CIF Finalist team (details here). The ’09 CIF Champs Glendora boys showed they’re on their way back after an injury and illness marred ’10, and the young Tartan girls (6 sophs + 1 frosh) stepped up at the Bronco Invite. Don Bosco and Damien confirmed their pre-season rankings at the Don Bosco Invite, while Flintridge Sacred Heart did the same at the Fastback Shootout.
The real surprises came from the individuals, with four débutantes among the top nine girls. The top SGV performance of the week came from Nogales senior Anna Barcelo, who ran what appears to be her first high school XC race after a strong road running career. Glendora frosh Micaela Lamb, with very little running background, was 2nd best among the SGV girls, while newcomers Emily Hubert (Bishop Amat) and Anahi Betart were sixth and ninth best among the SGV.
The top boys performance came from Arcadia senior Ryan Vargas, who smoked the hilly, 3-mile Laguna Hills course in 14:56.
Top 10 SGV Performers for Week 1 after the jump.
Continue reading Week 1 Round Up: Excellent Debuts!
By Bob Ramsey, on September 14th, 2011  This week’s CIF Southern Section Divisional Rankings are mostly unchanged, due to late or inaccurate race results from several meets and a number of teams running short-handed last Saturday.
The one difference for the SGV is the Glendora boys entering the Div. II rankings at number six on the strength of their win at the Bronco Invite. This gives the SGV seven boys teams and seven girls teams in the CIF rankings.
SGV in the CIF Rankings
- Div. I:Â Arcadia (#1 boys, #8 girls)
- Div. II:Â Glendora (#6 boys)
- Div. III: Bonita (#4 girls), South Pasadena (#9 boys, #10 girls), Damien (#10 boys)
- Div. IV: Don Bosco (#1 boys), Flintridge Sacred Heart (#4 girls), Mayfield (#7 girls)
- Div. V:Â Flintridge Prep (#4 boys, #2 girls), Pasadena Poly (#7 boys, #6 girls)
By Bob Ramsey, on September 13th, 2011  The revised and final accepted entries for the big races at the Woodbridge Invitational have been released, and the SGV will be strongly represented in Saturday night’s Sweepstakes and Rated races. This huge event provides some of the strongest competition in the country and will be held again this year at Estancia HS in Costa Mesa.
In the girls Sweeps, Arcadia, Bonita and Claremont will compete, along with Anna Barcelo (Sr, Nogales), Kellian Hunt (Sr, Whittier Christian) and Taylor Jones (Jr, La Mirada). In the second tier (but still very fast) Rated race, Flintride Sacred Heart and South Pasadena will test themselves against the big schools.
The guys Sweeps feature defending CIF, State, National and everything else they ran champions Arcadia, along with Div. IV leader Don Bosco and fast rising California, along with Michael Munoz (Sr, La Serna) and Kevin Ramirez (Jr, Santa Fe). Glendora is also listed, but that was a scheduling mix-up and they will not be competing at Woodbridge.
Damien will look to take their next step up in the Rated race, joined by South Pasadena in its opener.
Full Sweeps and Rated Fields are Here
By Bob Ramsey, on September 12th, 2011  Anna Barcelo Anna Barcelo has come a long way in a hurry. The Nogales Senior came into the season with modest track PR’s of 5:31.56 and 11:51.88, which she set while taking 5th place at last year’s SGV Track & Field Championships. She obviously had a great summer, and her 18:02 effort over 3 miles Saturday was the confirmation, finishing 5th overall and best among the SGV by 25 seconds!
The girls teams of the SGV are a little behind the boys, so that only Walnut (7th, 97:53) – paced by an excellent 18:32 frosh debut by Anahi Betart – were the only locals in the meets Top 10. Other notable (sub 19:00) performances came from Bishop Amat frosh Emily Hubert (18:27) and Covina senior Ashli Baddorf (18:53). Arcadia came into the meet ranked 8th in Div. I, but ran short-handed and finished only 20th in 10:43:40. Pasadena Poly (6th in Div. V) was a solid 1:43:32 for 19th, paced by soph Evan Gancedo (19:18)
Continue reading Don Bosco Girls: Anna to the Front
By Bob Ramsey, on September 12th, 2011  Tom Ebiner 2010 was a good year for Damien, with the Spartans returning to the post-season for the first time in several years and advancing to CIF finals. At Saturday’s Don Bosco Invitational, they took another big step, winning the team title in 77:05 over the fast, flat, 3 mile course, with senior Tom Ebiner taking the individual title in a quick 14:57. Showing the Spartans’ growing strength, Ebiner was joined in the SGV Top 7 by teammates Doug Negrete (Jr, 15:19) and Conor Brandt (Sr, 15:25).
The SGV was well represented in this big, big meet with 58 schools competing. The host team, Don Bosco, was a strong third place in 77:55. Senior J.J. Dominguez matched his team’s finish with a 15:03 effort. Senior Henry Rodriguez (=6th, 15:07) led El Rancho to a fifth place, 79:25 finish, while Covina continued their recent ascent with a 79:37 sixth place effort. Junior Kevin Mejia (15:37) was their top performer. Senior Bobby Villagomez breakthrough 8th place, 15:11 result helped pull Los Altos to a 7th place, 79:48 finish.
Michael Munoz (Sr, La Serna) was 10th overall at 15:11 in another come-through preformance. Div. V ranked Flintridge Prep confirmed their status with a strong 80:50 effort, 12th overall, led by senior Casey Thompson (Sr, 15:37). Pasadena Poly, also ranked in Div. V, had a bit of an off day (SAT’s?) with 85:08 finish, with junior Michael Caughron (16:06) up front.
Complete Results and Dyestat Coverage are here, and a nice photo gallery is here.
SGV Top 14 and complete SGV team results and team leaders after the jump.
Continue reading Don Bosco Boys: Ebiner Leads Damien to the Top
By Bob Ramsey, on September 12th, 2011 National D1 XC powers Great Oak and Rancho Cucamonga took top honors at the Fastback Shootout, run over a shortened 1:91 course at Mt.SAC, while the SGV provided a load of great performances. (Full results)
 Daniel DLT On the boys side, 43 teams and 904 athletes went to the line, and the top SGV performance came from La Salle Daniel De La Torre who was second overall, by just .27 of a second, in 9:45!  Daniel was 6th at CIF Finals and 15th at the State Meet in XC last year but had a very limited track season. Welcome back! The top SGV team performance came from hosts Arroyo, 23rd in 55:49. The Knights were led by a nice 10:35 effort from junior Luis Apparicio, 4th best among SGV athletes.
The rest of the SGV teams and their top performers:Â St. Francis (26th, 56:15), led by Colin Peterson, Sr (2nd SGV, 10:27), ;Â La Canada (27th, 56:30) – Brendan Green, Sr (3rd SGV, 10:34);Â La Salle (32nd, 58:31) and De La Torre; Bell Gardens (42nd, 64:29) – Cristin Flores, Jr (11:45); and La Puente (43rd, 66:23) – Albert Rodriguez, Sr (12:57).
The top girls performance came from La Canada soph Anna Frederich, whose SGV leading 12:36 led her team to an excellent 6th place overall at 65:31. The Spartans were followed closely by Flintridge Sacred Heart, living up to it’s CIF ranking with a 1oth place, 65:44 performance, paced by seniors Stephanie Vargas (2nd SGV, 12:52) and Paulina Antaplyan (3rd SGV, 12:53).
Rebuilding St. Lucy’s (23rd, 69:13) was next among the SGV, led by frosh Katelyn Breitschwerdt (6th SGV, 13:12). Host Arroyo (39th, 80:01) was paced by junior Noemi Meza (15:11) while frosh Yvonne Zaragoza (14:51) led Bell Gardens (41st, 83:18). Mayra Cruz, Jr (15:27) led a non-scoring La Puente.
SGV Top 10’s after the jump
Continue reading Fastback: De La Torre Comes Right Back!
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SGV Track & XC This site is maintained by Bob Ramsey – a SGV T&F athlete (Arroyo ’80), and former coach at Glendora HS and Meet Director of the SGV Champs. Bob is currently Director of Track & Field and Cross Country at Whittier College
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