Girls cross-country ninth at Mt. SAC Invite

Fallbrook High School’s girls cross-country team finished ninth among 24 Team Sweepstakes Division teams in the Mt. SAC Invitational October 20.

The top five Warrior runners had a combined time of 1:37:46, which is 32 seconds faster than the time posted at the Mt. SAC meet by the 1996 Fallbrook team which won that year’s CIF San Diego Section championship.

“The girls had an absolutely wonderful day,” said Fallbrook coach Troy Hamlin. “It was the best day we’ve ever had at Mt. SAC on the girls side and one of the best days we’ve ever had in Fallbrook girls cross-country history.”

Vista High School, which defeated Fallbrook in the September 28 Avocado League opener, was in a different race than the Warriors, but Fallbrook’s team time was only ten seconds slower than Vista’s. “We’re getting closer and closer every week to those top three, four teams,” Hamlin said.

The 1996 team had a team time of 1:38:18, which placed third in that year’s Mt. SAC race. “We’ve always considered that to be the best team ever, the best girls team in Fallbrook history,” Hamlin said.

The 2007 Warriors finished six positions lower than their 1996 counterparts despite the faster time. “It was a very high-level race,” Hamlin said. “There were some of the best teams in California in that race.”

Although the Warriors were ninth in points based on the positions of their top five finishers, their team time was the eighth-fastest in the division. “That’s awesome,” Hamlin said. “They were really stepping up and they’re learning that they can compete at the top level.”

Long Beach Poly had a slower team time than Fallbrook but had higher cumulative positions. The top five Warrior runners averaged 19:33, or 6:31 per mile.

The Mt. SAC course covers 3.0 miles. “A tough 3.0 with lots of hills. Some consider it to be the toughest course in the United States,” Hamlin said.

Fallbrook’s Noelle Garcia finished fifth among the 181 runners in the race with a time of 18:32. “Noelle Garcia had a huge breakthrough race again,” Hamlin said.

“She beat some really great runners out there,” Hamlin said of Garcia. “Every week she just seems to step it up.”

Fallbrook’s top runner in 1996 was Tricia Mattson, who finished with a time of 19:25.

Garcia had a time of 5:35 for the first mile. “She just hung in there,” Hamlin said.

Freshman Kristin Parry also bettered Mattson’s 1996 time, crossing the finish line at 19:24 to place 37th. Parry had a first-mile time of 5:42.

Brianna Lopez was 49th with a time of 19:36. “We had three girls under 20 minutes on a very tough course,” Hamlin said.

Two other Warriors just missed breaking 20 minutes, and all five scored Warrior runners finished in the top half of the field. “Our four and five are as tough as you get,” Hamlin said.

Leslie Grantham’s time of 20:03 placed 78th while Olivia Tidd had a time of 20:09 to give her 88th place. Tidd was ahead of Grantham for most of the race but fell coming down the back side of Reservoir Hill.

All seven Warriors in the varsity race broke 21 minutes. Cassie Mulkey’s time of 20:57 was worth 115th place, and Christa Bausch finished 117th at 20:58.

In the freshman race Fallbrook placed eighth among 16 teams. “Our freshman girls team did really well as well,” Hamlin said.

Medals were given to the top 15 finishers in each race, and Amanda Mulkey joined Garcia as a medalist. Mulkey had a first-mile time of 6:18 and completed the course in 21:45 to finish 15th. “A Mt. SAC medal means something,” Hamlin said.

Nicole Van Duzer was 20th with a time of 22:00 after posting a 5:55 first mile. “She went out there and set that tempo,” Hamlin said. “She helped Amanda to stay up there where she belonged.”

Brittany Smith finished 30th at 22:20, Julie Cramer was 92nd at 24:48, and Maggie Montague was 142nd among the 166 freshman runners with a time of 27:31.

In the non-scoring junior varsity race, Jade Lawrence finished 36th among 177 runners with a time of 22:05.

“It was a great day and we had a good time up there,” Hamlin said. “They’re really a great team, not just in the running and racing but as a group of individuals.”