Bulldog boys win senior, sophomore races at Mt. Carmel Invite

By Joe Naiman

Ramona High School’s boys won both the senior and sophomore races at the Mount Carmel/Movin’ Shoes Cross Country Invitational meet at the Morley Field course in San Diego.

“Our guys had another strong showing,” said Coach Steve Albanese.

The performance came despite a change in the course that could have worked to Ramona’s disadvantage. Temperatures exceeded 100 degrees Sept. 15, so the meet organizers shortened the course from its normal distance of 2.95 miles to 2.1 miles. The changes also eliminated the hills, which enhanced runner safety but took away a traditional Ramona advantage.

“I think taking out the hills would have hurt my team,” Albanese said. “But they still did what I expected.”

Team scores are obtained by adding the positions of a team’s top five finishers. Because Ramona only had two juniors and two freshmen, the Bulldogs did not have team scores in those races.

Ramona’s sophomores posted a team score of 38 points. Point Loma placed second with 123 points. Ramona’s seniors had 57 points while Canyon Crest scored 123 points to finish second in the senior race.

Forrest Riley finished second in the senior race and first among CIF San Diego Section runners Although Daniel De La Torre of La Salle High School won the race with a time of 10:01, Riley completed the course in 10:20.

Tristan Stidham had a seventh-place time of 10:44, Cory Thomas spent 10:57 racing and finished 15th, Wesley Hardin took 21st place and posted a time of 11:05, and Josh Spieker’s time of 11:17 was worth 29th place.

Isaiah Spieker was Ramona’s first sophomore finisher, placing sixth with a time of 11:19. Max Edwards also finished in 11:19 while taking seventh place. Colin Uekert’s time of 11:33 gave him 12th place, James Meskell’s 13th-place finish took him 11:34, and Matt Meskell placed 23rd after completing the course in 11:50.

Medals went to the top 60 finishers in each race. Andy Jauregui’s time of 11:53 gave him 38th place in the junior race while Joey Jauregui finished 28th in the freshman race with a time of 12:37.

Ramona had eight seniors and five sophomores along with the two juniors and two freshmen. All 17 Bulldog runners finished the race.

“I’m happy that everybody was able to finish,” Albanese said. “Everybody seemed to have pretty strong performances despite the heat.”