Hasvold top North County Conference runner at league finals

Fallbrook High School senior Bret Hasvold had the fastest time of any of the boys cross-country runners who competed at the three-league North County Conference Finals held November 10 at Escondido’s Kit Carson Park.

Hasvold had a time of 15:51 on the 3.1-mile course. The second-fastest runner, Kenneth Raedel of San Pasqual, posted a time of 16:03. The second-fastest Avocado League runner, Colin Jarvis of Rancho Buena Vista, completed the course in 16:11.

“He ran exactly the race we wanted him to race,” said Fallbrook coach Marco Arias.

The Warriors planned their strategy on the course after a November 7 preview. “He ran it to perfection,” Arias said.

As a team the Warriors finished third among the Avocado League schools. “We were very disappointed, but we were also very happy for Bret’s success,” Arias said.

The North County Conference consists of the Avocado, Palomar, and Valley leagues. The three leagues hold their league finals at the same course, which alternates every other year between Kit Carson Park and Guajome Park in Vista. Runners from each league compete in separate races.

The meet organizers were Mike Cummings of Valley Center High School and Dennis McClanahan of Mt. Carmel High School. Cummings and McClanahan chose to honor the late Marty Hauck, who coached the Fallbrook boys cross-country team until his death from a heart attack September 19, by creating the Marty Hauck Award to be given to the boys and girls runners with the fastest times for the entire meet. Hasvold took the initial boys Marty Hauck Award while Torrey Pines sophomore Megan Morgan earned the girls Marty Hauck Award.

The positions of the top five runners from each school are added for the team score, and while a school’s sixth and seventh runners are not scored those runners can add positions to an opposing school’s top five runners. In addition to Jarvis, Rancho Buena Vista had the third, fourth, sixth, and eighth runners in the Avocado League race to take the league meet with a total of 23 points.

El Camino finished second with 64 points while Fallbrook had a team total of 81 points. Carlsbad finished fourth with 84 points, Vista placed fifth after accumulating 116 points, and Oceanside was sixth with 171 points.

The Warriors ran the league finals without senior Todd Van Duzer, who has been recovering from bronchitis but stayed home November 10 due to the flu. Senior Kevin Strickfaden’s injury kept him from running, although he was present at the meet. Junior Uriel Aguirre ran the course despite a sprained ankle which was swollen after the race. “We were hit by injuries,” Arias said.

The top ten finishers in the league meet earned first-team all-league honors, so Hasvold’s win placed him on the Avocado League’s first team. The 11th through 20th runners earned second-team recognition, and Fallbrook had two such runners. Senior Josh Smith placed 11th at 17:01 while Aguirre’s time of 17:24 made him the 19th overall Avocado League runner and the 18th scored runner.

Senior Sean Wood had a time of 17:53, which placed 26th among all runners and 24th among scored runners. Sam Liner’s time of 18:08 gave the senior 30th place overall and 27th place for scoring purposes.

Junior Aaron Thielk was the sixth Fallbrook runner, crossing the finish line in 18:40 to place 40th overall and 35th for the purposes of adding to other teams’ scores. Junior Will Shada’s time of 18:49 was 47th among all Avocado League runners and 37th among scored runners.

Garrison Haddon, a sophomore in his first year of cross-country, was 50th with a time of 19:04. Junior Chris Rumsey’s time of 19:10 placed 52nd overall.