Aguirre fourth at CIF section meet, qualifies for state

Uriel Aguirre placed fourth among Division I boys in the CIF San Diego Section cross-country meet November 22 at San Diego’s Morley Field course, qualifying the Fallbrook High School senior for the CIF state meet this Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno.

Arias completed Morley Field’s 5,000-kilometer course in 16:27, finishing 19 seconds behind winner Adrian Rafiee of Patrick Henry and seven seconds behind third-place Dillon Jack of Torrey Pines.

“He ran a pretty good race,” Fallbrook coach Marco Arias said of Aguirre.

Aguirre paced himself with a 5:25 first mile. “It wasn’t slow, but it wasn’t fast,” Arias said.

Rafiee’s winning time of 16:08 was followed by a 16:15 run of Patrick Henry’s Ryan Urie and Jack’s time of 16:20.

Urie, Jack, and Aguirre alternated between second and fourth throughout most of the race. “They made their last push and Uri tried to keep up and hung in there with them,” Arias said.

Patrick Henry won the Division I championship, and Kellen Blumberg’s time of 16:29 placed the Henry runner immediately behind Aguirre.

“It was close,” Arias said. “ was chasing <Aguirre> down, and <Aguirre> just edged out.”

The top three teams qualify for the state meet, as do the top five runners not affiliated with a team which qualified for the state race.

“He put himself in a position in the summer to have a successful season,” Arias said of Aguirre. “It’s a testament to what his goals were.”

On November 15 Aguirre won the individual championship at the Avocado League boys cross-country meet and also posted the fastest time for any runner in the three North County Conference leagues.

Although Jack, who finished third at the league meet, outran Aguirre at the section race, Aguirre met his goals of finishing ahead of Kenneth Raedel of San Pasqual, who finished second in this year’s Avocado League meet and won last year’s Valley League meet prior to San Pasqual’s realignment, and Rancho Buena Vista’s Collin Jarvis, who finished second to Fallbrook’s Bret Hasvold in the 2007 Avocado League meet.

“He’s going to be happy with what he accomplished this season. I’m truly happy with what he accomplished,” Arias said of Aguirre.

Hasvold won the 2007 CIF San Diego Section meet.

Aguirre, who finished 19th at last year’s league meet despite a sprained ankle which was swollen after the race, ran the 2007 section meet in 17:02 to finish 21st among Division I runners.

The Warriors finished 15th among Division I teams. “We didn’t do as well as we have had in the past,” Arias said.

Aguirre and senior Aaron Thielk were Fallbrook’s only runners who had previously competed at the CIF section meet.

Justin Jones, who was Fallbrook’s second finisher in this year’s league meet, ran the section race despite an injury. “He tried to push through his injury, and he wasn’t ready to run,” Arias said.

Although Jones’ time of 20:13 placed 140th among Division I runners and last among Fallbrook’s seven harriers, it gives the sophomore CIF meet experience for future years.

“That was kind of the thinking behind it, getting some of these younger guys exposed,” Arias said. “We’ll be back next year.”

Junior Garrison Haddon, who missed part of the season with a non-running injury, was Fallbrook’s second finisher; his time of 18:37 placed him 87th overall. “Not one of his best races, but he did come back and put himself there,” Arias said.

Thielk closed out his high school cross-country career with a time of 19:03 which placed him 110th.

“He ran pretty close to what he ran at league,” Arias said. “He still finished ahead of the guys he finished ahead of in league.”

Thielk placed 33rd at the league meet with a time of 18:50.

Senior Chris Rumsey was Fallbrook’s fourth finisher; his time of 19:10 placed 114th.

Sophomore Michael Froboes finished 122nd at 19:19, and junior Max Martin was 131st with a run of 19:34.

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