San Diego Mesa men and women claim SoCal Regional Cross Country Championships
RANCHO CUCAMONGA - On a beautiful Friday, Nov. 8 with the picturesque Cucamonga Peak in the distance, 146 women and 191 men descended on the challenging Southern California Championship cross country course on the campus of Chaffey College hoping to extend their season another two weeks and earn a starting box at Woodward Park for the 2024 3C2A State Championships. The two races did not disappoint, with fierce competition in both races, but a common thread in the results. San Diego Mesa put on a show by winning both team titles in decisive fashion.
The Olympians, coached by Sean Ricketts, placed three in the top ten in the women’s 5K led by the trio of sophomore Alexis Noble, the reigning state cross country champion (2nd 19:02.7), sophomore Joelle Tonne (3rd 19:03.1) and freshman Natalie Allen in ninth at 19:34.5 to propel the Olympians to the SoCal team title. San Diego Mesa’s fourth and fifth scorers, Suhey Arce and Isabelle Moret, claimed 20th and 22nd to power the Olympians to a final score of 54 points to easily outdistance Mt. San Antonio College at 114. Mt. SAC, the South Coast Conference champions, were paced by sophomore Ava Cornell in 15th at 19:57.3 and freshman Kaitlyn Reyes at 20:17.
Moorpark, which was third at the Western States Conference meet, scored 180 points to claim a spot on the podium in third place led by freshman Maya Natarajan in 13th at 19:46.9. Riverside City was 13 points back of Moorpark in fourth led by sophomore Nadia Munoz in 10th at 19:34.9. Orange Coast (207), Canyons (213), Saddleback (230), Cerritos (246), Allan Hancock (276) and LA Harbor (280) rounded out the top ten scoring teams. The top 16 women’s teams advance to the state championships on Saturday, Nov. 23.
Danna Ibarra Canales, the 2023 state champion in the 1500, continued her outstanding sophomore cross country season by crossing the finish tape first at 18:58.0. Back on Oct. 4, Ibarra Canales clocked 19:27.9 over the same course to win the SoCal Preview in much warmer conditions. Ibarra Canales has now won six of her seven races this fall. Itandehui Olea from Allan Hancock finished fourth at 19:08.0, with Victoria Jamison of Canyons and Liberty Miller of Orange Coast close behind in fifth and sixth, respectively, at 19:08.2 and 19:09.5.
The results were much the same on the men’s side on the 4-mile Chaffey course with the Ricketts-led San Diego Mesa squad powering to a 58-point victory over defending state champion Mt. SAC, 35-93. Ian Rosen, a sophomore from Mesa and the defending state champion in the 800 meters, showed he can run the 4-mile distance of community college cross country by pulling away late in the race to clock 20:42.3 to hold off John Gutierrez of Allan Hancock at 20:48.3. San Diego Mesa ran a tactical race by starting out conservatively in sixth place (132 points) at the mile-split point, and running as a pack through two miles (64 points, 1st place) and never relinquishing the lead to the finish. The trio of sophomores Alex Leroy (8th 21:02.2), Allen Mayo (9th 21:05.1) and Ronald Way (10th 21:05.4) secured top-10 finishes with freshman Luciano Roberts just missing all-region by one spot at 15th in 21:10.1, closing out the top five scorers for the Olympians.
San Bernardino Valley edged Riverside City 121-131 for the final podium spot in third. Valley placed its scoring five in places 2-21-29-32-37 with Riverside at 4-22-31-35-39. Cerritos (155), Moorpark (179), Bakersfield (193), El Camino (224), Cuyamaca (281) and Orange Coast (285) rounded out places five through ten.
The men’s race was a battle of top individuals from the gun. Jacob Perez from Bakersfield, who won the SoCal Preview race in October, led through the first 400 meters. Through a mile, there was a pack of 32 runners within four seconds of eacher. By two miles, the race had broken apart with 20 runners within two seconds led by Gutierrez (Allan Hancock) at 10:20.7. Crossing the final split mat with about 1,300 meters to go, Gutierrez held a nearly three-second lead over Rosen, with Kevin Nava (San Bernardino Valley) and Perez two seconds back. The last 400 meters on the track saw some furious finishes with Rosen pulling away for the victory, with Gutierrez in second at 20:48.3 and a fast closing Weston Greenelsh (Cuesta) claiming third at 20:49.1. Nava (San Bernardino Valley) clocked 20:50.3 for fourth with Perez (Bakersfield) five seconds back in fifth (20:55.6) and Kailil O’Brien of Riverside clocking 20:58.5 for sixth. Tommy White (Moorpark 21:00.6) in seventh, Atzin Anguiano (Bakersfield 21:05.7) in 11th, Joshua Melendez (Cerritos 21:07.3) in 12th and Mt. SAC teammates Diego Varela (21:08.5) and Noah Chairez (21:09.3) in 13th and 14th, respectively, rounding out the men's all-region team.
The top 16 women’s and men’s teams advance to the state championships along with individuals not on a qualifying team finishing in the top half of the race finishers.
The 2024 3C2A State Cross Country Championships will be held Saturday, Nov. 23 at Woodward Park in Fresno. The women’s race starts at 10:00 am and the men’s at 11:00 am.
(James Ratigan, San Bernardino Valley College)
All-SoCal Men All-NorCal Women