Warrior boys second in cross-country league meet; Hasvold wins

Fallbrook High School’s boys cross-country team placed second in the Avocado League meet November 11 at Guajome Park while Fallbrook junior Bret Hasvold posted the fastest time of any Avocado League runner.

Rancho Buena Vista won the league meet with 34 points. Fallbrook had 42 points and Vista, who had defeated the Warriors in a dual meet earlier in the season, was third with 54 points.

“We’re really pleased with that,” said Fallbrook head coach Marty Hauck.

Hasvold set a personal record on the 3.17-mile course with a time of 16.09. That time was also the fastest ever by a Fallbrook runner on the Guajome Park course. “We’re real happy with that,” Hauck said.

Guajome Park was the site of three boys league finals and three girls league finals November 11; the Palomar League and the Valley League joined the Avocado League with league meets that day at Guajome Park. Hasvold’s time placed second among runners in all three leagues. Travis Kohlman of Westview had a time of 15:55 to win the Palomar League meet while Valley Center’s Alex Avilez won the Valley League race with a time of 16:26.

In addition to Hasvold, three other Fallbrook runners set personal records for the course November 11. Josh Smith, a junior who played freshman football and didn’t begin running cross-country until last year, placed fifth with a time of 16:41. “Tremendous race for Josh. We were nothing but happy with that,” Hauck said.

The time was not only a personal record on the course for Smith but was also his fastest time of the year.

Including the Valley League and Palomar League times, Smith had the 11th-fastest time of the day. Senior Vinny Granata placed sixth in the league meet with a time of 16:45, which was 18th among the three combined leagues.

The top ten finishers from the league earn first-team all-league honors, so Hasvold, Smith, and Granata also took home first-team Avocado League recognition. The 11th through 20th finishers are given second-team all-league recognition, and three Fallbrook runners received that status for their performances. Senior Forest Whitfield finished 12th with a time of 17:00, junior Kevin Strickfaden’s time of 17:14 was a personal record and gave him 18th place, and junior Todd Van Duzer was ill and settled for a 20th-place time of 17:36.

Sophomore Uriel Aguirre placed 21st and set a personal record by crossing the finish line in 17:38. Junior Sam Liner’s time of 17:55 was worth 28th place, senior Tim Eves finished 29th at 19:02, senior James Bunts placed 47th with a time of 18:48, and senior Darren Hansen crossed the finish line 53rd at 19:06.

“We were pretty excited about it,” Hauck said.

A school can enter 12 runners at the league meet with the team’s top five finishers being scored. The CIF finals allow only seven runners from a team, so the league finals closed out the high school cross-country careers of Eves, Bunts, and Hansen. The season continued for Granata and Whitfield as well as for the juniors and sophomore who fared well enough in the CIF meet to qualify the team for the state meet.

“We’re pretty proud of the young men,” Hauck said. “They’re doing a tremendous job.”