Hasvold wins Dana Hills Invitational

Fallbrook High School junior Bret Hasvold had the fastest time of the 1,792 runners at the Dana Hills Invitational held September 30 while the Warriors finished with the top junior and senior team positions among the 81 schools in the cross-country meet.

In addition to Hasvold, two other Warrior runners finished in the top ten overall. “We were really happy with that,” said Fallbrook coach Marty Hauck.

Hasvold’s time of 15:08 on the 3.0-mile course was the fastest of the day as well as the fastest of any junior in the competition. Vinny Granata placed third overall with a time of 15:10, which made him the second senior across the finish line. Todd Van Duzer placed

seventh overall and third among juniors with a time of 15:23.

Medals were given to the top 50 finishers in each grade, and all of Fallbrook’s juniors medaled. In addition to Hasvold and Van Duzer, Josh Smith placed 27th among juniors with a time of 16:17, Sam Liner was 33rd at 16:25, and Kevin Strickfaden was the 35th junior across the finish line at 16:26.

In addition to Granata, the top 50 seniors included Fallbrook runners Forrest Whitfield, Tim Eves, and Darren Hansen. Whitfield’s time of 15:58 was good for 13th place, Eves took 17th place at 16:06, and Hansen placed 47th with a time of 16:57.

Dana Hills, which in addition to being the host was ranked tenth in the state, placed second behind Fallbrook in both the junior and senior classes.

The Dana Hills Invitational also saw medals given to Uriel Aguirre, whose time of 16:12 was 18th among the sophomore runners, and Richard Wojan, who placed 33rd among freshmen at 17:39.

The Dana Hills Invitational came four days after Fallbrook opened its Avocado League season with a dual meet against Vista and lost 25-30 to the Panthers. “It was a real nice bounceback,” Hauck said.

Vista also participated in the Dana Hills Invitational. Had the times of the Fallbrook and Vista runners occurred in a dual meet, Fallbrook would have won by a 24-33 score. “We walked away from there kind of feeling like we had a little redemption,” Hauck said.