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Legionnaires 19th at state cross country meet

Bonsall High School’s boys cross country team placed 19th among Division V schools at the CIF state meet held Nov. 25 in Fresno, California.

Cross country team scores add the positions of a school’s first five finishers; the sixth and seventh runners are not scored but can add points to opponents’ totals. Bonsall had 539 points. Capital Christian School in Sacramento placed 18th with 480 points. Colfax High School in Placer County had the 20th-place score of 542 points.

A total of 24 Division V schools, including three from the San Diego Section, competed as full teams with between five and seven runners, while the Division V race also included those who qualified as individuals during their section meets.

“We are thrilled,” Bonsall coach Al Greene said. “Nineteenth was pretty good. That’s 19th in the state, all Division V schools. I’m absolutely thrilled.”

The meet at Woodward Park utilized a 5,000 meter, or 3.1 mile, course. The first Bonsall finisher was senior Lance Starks, whose time of 17 minutes 20.9 seconds gave him 67th place among Division V boys.

Starks was the sixth finisher among San Diego Section runners. Julian High School senior Ethan Elisara placed 24th at 16:35.6, Maranatha Christian Schools sophomore Riley Burns earned 38th place with a time of 16:53.4, Francis Parker School senior Tanner Penrose completed the course in 17:00.6 for 43rd place, Francis Parker senior Carson Cook had the 48th-place time of 17:06.5 and Santa Fe Christian Schools freshman Hudson Gomez had a time of 17:20.1, which placed 65th among Division V boys and second among Division V ninth-grade students.

Bonsall’s second finisher, junior Maximus Collier, took 120th place with a time of 18:04.8. A time of 18:42.7 gave 157th place to junior Fulton Elkins, senior A.J. Greene completed the course in 19:00.1 for 167th place, junior Nick Murphy became the 171st finisher 19:17.1 after the race began, senior William Wallace had the 174th-place time of 19:20.3 and sophomore Austin Alanis placed 175th among the race’s 207 finishers with a 19:20.9 performance.

“It was stiff competition,” Greene said.

The 19th-place finish was not below Greene’s expectations. Before the state meet he compared his runners’ personal records for 5,000 meters to the times at the 2016 state meet.

“They would have come in last place,” Greene said. “We were ready for it. I think we did as well as we could have done.”

Bonsall’s boys placed second among the six public schools in Division V. Holtville High School was 17th with 465 points, the 20th-place Colfax High School result situated the Falcons third among Division V public schools, Chowchilla High School in Madera County accumulated 557 points for 21st place, California City High School in Kern County had 607 points to finish 22nd as a team and Hamilton City High School in Glenn County placed 23rd with 679 points. Cross country divisions are still based on school enrollment rather than competitive balance.

Ironically, the top public schools in the Division V girls race at the state meet also finished 17th and 19th. Colfax High School had the 17th-place score and San Diego Section girls champion Mountain Empire High School was 19th.

Elisara, who qualified as an individual, was the first runner from a public school across the finish line. Starks had the second-best time among Division V public school students. The third public school finisher, Colfax sophomore Billy Groth, placed 72nd overall with a time of 17:25.3.

Bonsall’s boys had placed third among Division V schools at the CIF San Diego Section meet Nov. 18 to earn the final team qualification for the Division V state meet. Francis Parker School, which won the San Diego Section's Division V championship, placed 15th at the state meet. Holtville was second at the section meet.

Bonsall athletic director Eric Hendy drove to Fresno to support the Legionnaires’ runners.

“That was a bonus,” Greene said. “It was just a fantastic trip.”

Author Bio

Joe Naiman, Writer

Joe Naiman has been writing for the Village News since 2001

 

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