CROSS COUNTRY ROUNDUP 10-25-08: Sultana takes 10th in sweepstakes

WALNUT • The Sultana girls cross country team finished 10th out of 17 teams in the Mt. SAC Invitational varsity sweepstakes race on Saturday.

Sultana coach John Mahr said that the race included four 2007 state championship winning teams and two teams — Saugus and Dana Hills — ranked in the top five in the nation.

Saugus won the race with 24 points, and the Sultans had 244 points.

“Our girls remain quite inexperienced at this extreme level of competition but really held their own today against the most stiff competition they may ever face,” Mahr said in an e-mail to the Press Dispatch. “We are learning fast and are doing our homework every week on how to race with the top pack of teams that comprise the West Coast elite. The girls’ learning curve is exceptional.”

Freshman Hannah Munyan ran the course in 18 minutes, 15 seconds and finished 16th. Sophomores Shayna Robinson and Jane Higuchi finished 25th and 47th, respectively.

“We see these girls only getting more savvy and better with each week of training and competition,” Mahr said. “This should be a fun next four weeks of competition for us.”

The Sultana boys finished 27th out of 30th in a Division II race, led by Jesse Lopez (16:57).

The Sultans host Serrano on Wednesday.

BOYS
Lopez 16:57; Torres 17:43; Minton 17:53; Castro 18:08; Rosas 18:33.
GIRLS
16. Munyan 18:15; 25. Robinson 18:36; 47. Higuchi 19:03; 73. L. Bird 19:38; 83. Bird 19:52.

ROSALES, VALENZUELA STAND OUT AT MT. SAC: At Walnut, Apple Valley’s Daniel Rosales finished second in the boys Division III sweepstakes race and Hannah Valenzuela finished third in the girls Division III sweepstakes race at the Mt. SAC Invitational on Friday.

Rosales finished the course in 15 minutes, 23 seconds and was runner up to Barstow’s Isaac Chavez (15:17), who helped the state’s sixth-ranked Division III Aztecs to the team title.

Apple Valley coach John Nunes said that Rosales and Chavez broke from the pack when they reached the first set of hills.

Apple Valley finished 13th out of 24 teams in a field that included six teams ranked in the Southern Section. Nunes said he liked the team’s chances to return to the CIF Southern Section Finals.

On the girls side, Valenzuela finished in 18:22 and the team took 12th out of 15 squads. Her sister Miranda Valenzuela was 48th.

BOYS
2. Rosales 15:23; 53. Nunes 16:49; 78. Stine 17:09; 96. Reeves 17:27; 100. Reynolds 17:35.
GIRLS
3. H. Valenzuela 18:22; 48. M. Valenzuela 20:50; 68. Verduzco 21:46; 79. Espinosa 22:21; 88. Clark 23:06.

SERRANO COMPETITIVE AT MT. SAC: At Walnut, the Diamondbacks girls took eighth out of 21 teams in a Division I race, and the boys finished 11th at the Mt. SAC Invitational.

Leading the way for the girls were Natasha Coe, who finished 16th, and Lauren Minnick who took 48th. On the boys side, Nathan Lamb led the team with a 14th-place finish.

BOYS
14. Lamb 16:45; 55. Steinmann 18:02; 58. Orozco 18:06; 67. Silva 18:14; 83. Cervantes 18:53.
GIRLS
16. Coe 19:43; 48. Minnick 20:36; 51. Feuerstine 20:41; 52. Tarver 20:42; 54. Quarton 20:46.

HESPERIA BOYS FINISH 15TH: At Walnut, the Hesperia boys took 15th in the Division I varsity race at the Mt. SAC Invitational. Daniel Gonzalez led the Scorpions with a time of 17:31.

The girls finished 22nd, led by Joanna Flores.

BOYS
Gonzalez 17:31; Otto 18:22; Avina 18:34; Martinez 19:04; Martinez 19:09.
GIRLS
Flores 24:10; Flores 25:10; McCollum 25;13; Greene 25:20; Tran 26:40.

WARRIORS FINISH 16TH: At Walnut, the Apple Valley Christian boys took 16th in the Division IV/V varsity race at the Mt. SAC Invitational on Friday as freshman Evan Sipes led the team with a 67th-place finish.

Lara Richmond ran 25:32 on the girls side to finish 121st.

BOYS
67. Sipes 19:55; 75. Hermansen 20:07; 107. Rodgers 21:24; 111. Schultz 21:34; 117. Brown 21:51.
GIRLS
121. Richmond 25:32; 155. MacConnell 27:20; 163. Hermansen 28:05; 169. McMican 28:29.

COUGARS STAND OUT AT MT. SAC: The Granite Hills boys and girls teams both finished fifth in Division II at the Mt. SAC Invitational.

The Cougars’ Jzsanette Lindstrom took third in the girls race in 18 minutes, 50 seconds. Chris Rivera led the boys in 15:46.

BOYS
Rivera 15:46; Jordan 16:05; McManus 16:16; Sager 16:30; Creech 16:40.
GIRLS
Lindstrom 18:50; Lacey 19:48; Roberts 20:23; Davis 20:31; McManus 20:39.