Boys cross-country loses to Vista but sweeps Oceanside

Fallbrook High School’s boys cross-country team split its first two Avocado League dual meets, losing 25-30 to Vista September 26 at Guajome Park but sweeping Oceanside 15-50 October 6 at Fallbrook.

The win over Oceanside also saw six of Fallbrook’s seven runners obtain personal records on the Fallbrook course. “I’m ecstatic. The kids are doing great and working out real hard,” said Fallbrook coach Marty Hauck. “I’m pretty excited about how the season’s going to finish up.”

The meet against Vista was Fallbrook’s first dual meet of the year. Fallbrook was ranked second in the CIF San Diego Section while Vista was ranked third. “It was a little disappointing,” Hauck said of the loss.

Fallbrook’s Bret Hasvold won the race and set a personal record of 16:27 on the 3.2-mile Guajome Park course, which is not only Vista’s home course but also the site of the Avocado League meet.

Vista took the second and third spots, while Fallbrook’s Vinny Granata came in fourth at 17:09. The Warriors’ Todd Van Duzer placed sixth with a time of 17:23.

Vista took the seventh and eighth positions as well as the fifth position to capture the race. Fallbrook’s Forrest Whitfield was ninth at 17:52 and Josh Smith came in tenth at 18:04.

“The loss against Vista was a little disappointing, but it certainly wasn’t the end of the world,” Hauck said. “The race ended up being just kind of a wakeup call for us.”

Not only did Fallbrook have the top seven finishers against Oceanside, but when Hauck compared the 2006 times to the previous meet on that course late in the 2005 season the 2006 team would have won 22-33. “It shows that we’re making good progress and going in the right direction,” Hauck said.

Hasvold set a personal record on the 3.1-mile Fallbrook course with a time of 16:22. Granata’s 16:30 and Van Duzer’s 16:37 were also personal records, as were the 16:58 times of fourth-place Tim Eves and fifth-place Kevin Strickfaden. Whitfield’s time of 17:07 was followed by Sam Liner’s 17:24, which was also a personal record.

“It’s good to have that kind of a pack and that kind of depth,” Hauck said.