Aguirre has top time at North County Conference meet

Not only did Fallbrook High School senior Uriel Aguirre win the individual championship at the Avocado League boys cross-country meet November 15 at Escondido’s Kit Carson Park, but he also posted the fastest time of any North County Conference runner to give Fallbrook High School the Marty Hauck Award for the second consecutive year.

Aguirre posted a time of 16:18 on the 5,000-meter (3.1-mile) course.

San Pasqual High School junior Kenneth Raedel finished second in the Avocado League race with a time of 16:29 while the North County Conference finisher with the second-fastest time was Vista High School junior Graham Hettinger, who won the Palomar League race in 16:26.

“We were quite pleased,” Fallbrook head boys coach Marco Arias said of Aguirre. “For him to come out and do that and earn the Marty Hauck Award was just really special.”

The North County Conference consists of the Avocado, Palomar, and Valley leagues. The three leagues hold their league finals at the same course, although runners from each league compete in separate races.

In 2007 meet organizers Mike Cummings of Valley Center High School and Dennis McClanahan of Mount Carmel High School chose to honor the late Marty Hauck, who coached the Fallbrook boys cross-country team until his death from a heart attack in September 2007, by creating the Marty Hauck Award to be given to the boys and girls runners with the fastest times for the entire meet.

In 2007 Bret Hasvold, then a senior at Fallbrook High School, had a time of 15:51 to win both the Avocado League meet and the Marty Hauck Award.

San Pasqual was in the Valley League at the time, and Raedel was the second-fastest runner at 16:03 while the second-fastest Avocado League runner, Collin Jarvis of Rancho Buena Vista, had a time of 16:11.

Megan Morgan of Torrey Pines was the initial girls winner of the Marty Hauck Award.

In the 2007 league meet Aguirre completed the course despite a sprained ankle which was swollen after the race.

Despite his injury, Aguirre finished with a time of 17:24 which made him the 19th overall Avocado League finisher and gave him second-team all-league honors.

Aguirre was the third Fallbrook finisher, behind Hasvold and Josh Smith, who had a time of 17:01 to place 11th.

Fallbrook’s coaches briefly spoke with Aguirre about strategy before the 2008 race. “He goes, ‘I’m ready,’” Arias said.

That couldn’t be disputed following the race or even during the race. “Throughout the race he looked really comfortable,” Arias said.

Aguirre completed the first mile in 5:25. “He came out a little slow on that one, but it was a hot day,” Arias said.

Aguirre also didn’t want to wear himself out by the end of the race. “We kept talking about letting Raedel do the work throughout the race,” Arias said.

Arias didn’t build up a lead against Raedel until the ideal opportunity arose. “When he saw that he had him, he just took off on him,” Arias said.

Raedel finished one second ahead of Torrey Pines senior Dillon Jack. “He just tore them apart on the last hill,” Arias said of Aguirre’s closing pace. “He just took off on them.”

Orange Glen senior Diego Vega had a time of 16:31 to finish as the top Valley League runner. Morgan repeated her Marty Hauck Award with a time of 16:26 while winning the girls Avocado League race.

After the race Aguirre asked about Hasvold’s time the previous year, and Arias answered that Aguirre should think about himself rather than Hasvold.

“I said, ‘Don’t limit yourself by what somebody else has done,’” Arias said. “He agreed with me.”

Hasvold won the 2007 CIF San Diego Section meet before finishing fourth in the state meet.

Hasvold and Aguirre then competed in the Foot Locker regional meet, where Hasvold finished 20th in the seeded boys invitational and Aguirre was 21st in the junior boys race.

The Warriors finished third in the 2007 league meet. At the CIF meet last year five of the seven Fallbrook runners were seniors.

The 2008 Warriors finished fourth in the league meet.

“It’s a lot higher than a lot of people expected,” Arias said. “The other guys stepped it up, took it as a challenge.”

Fallbrook’s second finisher in the 2008 league meet was sophomore Justin Jones, who did not run cross-country last year.

Jones, who had a time of 17:41, finished 14th among all Avocado League runners and fourth among Avocado League sophomores.

“I’ve been really happy with this young man,” Arias said. “He’s one of those guys you just love to coach.”

The top ten finishers at the league meet earn first-team all-league status while the runners who finish 11th through 20th are given second-team all-league honors, so Jones joined Aguirre as Fallbrook’s all-league runners.

Jones was expected to be a junior varsity runner before earning a spot on the varsity and eventually taking an all-league berth.

“That’s incredible, and it speaks volumes of the type of person, the type of athlete that he is,” Arias said.

Fallbrook’s third finisher was junior Garrison Haddon, whose time of 18:34 was worth 27th place.

Senior Aaron Thielk, the only other current Warrior who competed in the 2007 CIF San Diego Section meet, placed 33rd with a time of 18:50.

Sophomore Michael Froboes finished 39th at 19:13, senior Chris Rumsey’s time of 19:20 gave him 41st place, junior Max Martin was 44th at 19:33, sophomore Andrew Donnelly placed 47th after completing the course in 19:40, junior Matt Day’s time of 20:00 gave him 54th place, sophomore Ramon Villagomez posted a time of 20:17 to take 59th place, and sophomore Nicholas Johnson finished 62nd with a time of 21:44.

“They’re starting to get excited. They’re starting to believe that they can run,” Arias said of the team. “I think we’re going to be building this program back up.”

To comment on this story online, visit http://www.thevillagenews.com.