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Warrior cross-country 11th at Nov 25 state meet

Fallbrook High School’s boys cross-country team placed 11th among Division I schools at the state meet November 25 at Fresno’s Woodward Park.

“We did very, very well, probably the best race of the season,” said Fallbrook coach Marty Hauck.

Fallbrook also had the 16th-fastest team time among all five divisions. “That was a pretty impressive thing,” Hauck said.

The Warriors had finished 14th in 2005, and the 2006 times would have translated to third place if they had occurred at the 2005 state meet. “It was just that competitive this year,” Hauck said. “It was the most competitive boys race ever run at the state level.”

Fallbrook’s times were a cumulative 2:51 faster than in 2005. “It was pretty amazing how fast it all went,” Hauck said.

Junior Bret Hasvold was the top Fallbrook finisher. His time of 15:43 on the 3.1-mile course placed him 21st among the 202 Division I runners and 40th overall among runners from all five divisions. Among non-seniors, Hasvold was the sixth-fastest Division I runner and the 12th-fastest overall competitor. “He’s going to find himself in very, very elite company here very soon,” Hauck said.

Hasvold ran a time of 16:20 at the 2005 state finals. At the 2006 CIF championship meet November 18 at San Diego’s Morley Field he had a time of 16:17 on the 3.04-mile course.

Junior Josh Smith was 53rd among Division I runners with a time of 16:10. Smith had a time of 17:08 at the 2005 meet, and at the 2006 CIF meet the week before the state championships Smith posted a time of 16:55.

Vinny Granata, one of two seniors to compete for Fallbrook in the state meet, finished 57th with a time of 16:15. Granata was ill during the CIF finals and had a time of 17:37. “He recovered very well,” Hauck said.

Granata had a time of 16:48 in the 2005 state meet.

Fallbrook’s other senior, Forrest Whitfield, had a time of 16:34 which placed him 102nd. The 19-second difference between 57th and 102nd was not lost on Hauck. “It’s tremendously competitive,” Hauck said.

Whitfield had a time of 17:09 in the CIF finals and ran the 2005 state meet in 17:04.

Junior Kevin Strickfaden, who was on Fallbrook’s junior varsity squad in 2005, finished 116th in his first state meet. His time of 16:52 also bested his CIF finals time of 17:21 at Morley Field’s slightly shorter distance.

Each team can enter up to seven runners in the state meet and the top five finishers are scored. Sophomore Uriel Aguirre had a time of 17:05 in his first state finals. Aguirre had a time of 17:41 at the CIF meet.

The only Fallbrook runner who did not match his 2005 state finals time was Todd Van Duzer, who ran the 2005 race in 17:02 but who was ill during the 2006 CIF and state meets. Van Duzer had trouble breathing during the state meet, a race he ran in 17:09. “He pushed the race really, really hard and did everything he could to hold together really well,” Hauck said.

Van Duzer had a time of 18:16 at the CIF meet.

“I was tremendously proud of them,” Hauck said. “They just put it together and ran their very, very best race of the season.”

 

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