Riley, JV boys team win Southern Cal Invitatonal

Ramona High School had six of the top eight finishers, including winner Forrest Riley, in the junior varsity boys race at the Southern California Invitational held Oct. 18 at Guajome Park in Vista.

Riley had a time of 18:01 to win the 3.06-mile race.

“He was with the leaders at the mile,” said Coach Steve Albanese. “After the mile he just broke away and didn’t look back.”

Riley’s time was faster than three of Ramona’s seven varsity boys who ran the same course.

“I’m going to be moving him up to the varsity now,” Albanese said.

Third place in the junior varsity race went to Ramona’s Josh Spieker, who posted a time of 18:47 despite losing a shoe a mile into the course and running the final two miles with only one shoe. Ian Pedlow placed fourth at 18:53, Jose Pilar had the fifth-place time of 18:55, and Donny McKay finished sixth with a time of 18:56.

“They’re still keeping that pack together,” Albanese said of a nine-second spread between Ramona’s second and fifth finishers.

Griffin Gamble was eighth in the junior varsity race, posting a time of 19:22. Graham Gantzer finished 15th at 20:15.

“We have a really strong JV squad which shows that our program is going to be good for years to come,” Albanese said. “I’m happy with how the whole team is doing right now.”

Ramona’s varsity boys placed sixth as a team while the varsity girls did not field enough runners to obtain a team score.

“It went very well, except we had a lot of people out sick,” Albanese said. “We were pretty thin.”

Dylan Blankenbaker had a time of 16:29 to place 10th overall among varsity boys. Blankenbaker had first-mile and second-mile times of 5:19.

“He had an amazing race,” Albanese said. “I was really pleased with his race.”

Paul Reynolds had a time of 16:55 to place him 21st overall.

Chance Varnardo-Richardson was ill during the week but ran the course in 17:00 to take 24th place overall. Alec Richardson’s time of 17:24 was the 42nd-fastest time. Tanner Perfect was 81st overall at 18:31, Max Hughes had a time of 18:44 for 88th place overall, and Nathan Morgan’s time of 19:07 gave him 95th place overall.

In the novice boys race Cory Thomas placed 15th at 20:41, Darien Hightower was 18th with a time of 20:42, Zack Curr ran the course in 20:44 to take 20th place, Jose Leyva required 21:30 and placed 30th, Dan Drago finished 35th at 21:52, Starr Savage earned 38th place after a 22:00 performance, Andrew Gregg took 50th with a time of 23:01, and Colton Long posted a time of 25:27 to place 71st.

Chelsey Cortez placed eighth overall in the varsity girls race with a time of 19:18. Lauren Cortez had a time of 20:57 to take the 30th overall position. Lindsey Spieker was ill but still competed, taking 21:22 to complete the 3.06 miles and finishing 42nd overall. Anna Phillips finished 75th at 24:40.

The junior varsity girls race was run on a 2.4-mile course.

Erika Stinchcomb placed ninth with a time of 19:27, Marla Gonzalez finished tenth at 19:32, Daniela Cunningham had a run of 20:13 to take 13th place, Sara Fabian earned 17th place with a time of 21:29, Kelly Helman was the 18th finisher after completing the course in 21:30, and Sarah Callan posted a time of 21:43 to finish 20th.

Ramona’s junior varsity squads will compete in the Jaguar Invitational tomorrow night at Kit Carson Park. The varsity will return to action Oct. 30 against Valley Center in what will also be a tri-meet against Mission Vista for the junior varsity teams.