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Six Warrior boys medal at Laguna Hills Invite

The first cross-country meet of the 2019 season for the Fallbrook High School boys was the 36th Annual Laguna Hills cross-country Invitational and six of the Fallbrook boys took home medals for finishing among the top 40 in their race.

“It went all right,” Fallbrook coach Marco Arias said.

The six medals – and the fifth-place team finish for the senior boys – was achieved despite the absence of senior Josh Hernandez, who was the Warriors’ top runner last year.

Hernandez missed the race due to build up on his knees but is expected to be at full strength when the Warriors and the other five Valley League teams begin league competition Oct. 3 with a league cluster meet at Kit Carson Park.

Even without Hernandez, the Warriors had two finishers among the top 10 in the grade-level races. Danny Contreras finished sixth in the junior race and John Regan was the ninth senior across the finish line.

“My No. 2 and No. 3 performed fairly well. I was pleased with their performance overall,” Arias said.

The Laguna Hills course was 3 miles. Contreras had a time of 17 minutes 13 seconds.

“He felt like he could have gone a little bit harder,” Arias said.

Last year Contreras placed 10th in the sophomore race with a time of 17:18. A minimum of five runners in a race is required for a team score. Fallbrook had a team score in only the senior race this year, so Contreras was running for an individual place medal rather than as part of a team.

“He should have a really good season this year,” Arias said.

Regan had a time of 17:04.

“It was actually a pretty good performance,” Arias said.

Last year Regan made his Fallbrook High School debut at the Laguna Hills meet and had a time of 18:37 to place 41st in the junior race. Regan ran for Lejeune High School in North Carolina as a freshman and sophomore.

The league meets will have varsity and junior varsity races, but the runners will not be separated by grade level.

“My top three are probably solidified right now,” Arias said. “Hopefully some of these guys will pick up the reins.”

The second Fallbrook senior across the Laguna Hills finish line, Ricardo Martinez, completed the course in 18:50 for 24th place.

“That was a big PR for him,” Arias said.

Personal records in cross-country take course terrain as well as distance into account. Last year Martinez was 86th in the junior race and had a time of 21:31.

Joe Bell had Fallbrook’s final medal in the senior race with a 33rd-place time of 19:25. Bell ran last year’s junior race in 19:28 for 59th place.

Ivan Ixta is a sophomore but did not run last year. He obtained a medal after finishing the sophomore race in 19:10, which was worth 27th place.

Two Fallbrook High School freshmen also made their debuts at the Laguna Hills cross-country Invitational, although neither placed high enough for a medal.

A 59th-place finish for Mauro Martinez, who took 21:08, gave the Warriors their team score in the senior race. The Warriors were fifth among the 10 schools with at least five runners in the senior race and finished two points behind Portola High School of Irvine and 10 points behind third-place Bellflower High School. Last year the Warriors, including Hernandez, placed third in the junior race.

“I’m looking forward to our next race,” Arias said.

Author Bio

Joe Naiman, Writer

Joe Naiman has been writing for the Village News since 2001

 

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