Alanis, Collier, McFarland earn all-league status

The three Frontier Conference cross-country leagues had a combined league championship meet, Nov. 14, on the NTC Park at Liberty Station course in San Diego, and the top 10 boys' finishers and the top 10 girls' finishers from the entire conference were given all-league recognition including three Bonsall High School runners.

Bonsall senior Austin Alanis placed third in the boys' race and sophomore Ethan McFarland was 10th in that competition. The girls' race included an eighth-place finish by sophomore Milana Collier.

"I'm very happy about it. I was hoping to get second, but Pablo Chapman ran a great race," Alanis said.

High Tech High Chula Vista senior Drake Prince won the 5,000-meter (3.1-mile) race in 15 minutes 57.5 seconds. Chapman, who is a sophomore at High Tech High North County, finished in 16:15.5.

"He got an early lead on me," Alanis said. "I didn't have much to respond to it."

Alanis completed the course in 16:28.8. The fourth-place finisher, Liberty Charter freshman Micah Sanchez, crossed the finish line 16:29.7 after the start of the race.

Alanis passed Sanchez for third place with approximately half a mile left in the race.

"I really just didn't want to be beat by a freshman," Alanis said. "I had more to give, so I wanted to give it all at my last league meet and do the best I could. Just really happy about how I did."

"I was really proud of him," Bonsall head coach Tamara Miller said. "By placing third he proved he's very consistent, knows his pace. That is where he was finishing most of the season."

The Frontier Conference had four league cluster meets before the league championship meet. For Summit League runners only, Alanis was second, behind Chapman, at the Sept. 18 league cluster. Alanis was third overall and first among Summit League runners Oct. 10, and he was third overall and second among Summit League harriers in the Oct. 24 and Nov. 7 meets.

Alanis attended Lejeune High School in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, as a freshman. He ran track but not cross-country for the Devil Pups. The 2018 Frontier Conference league championship meet utilized a 3.0-mile course, and Alanis finished fifth with a time of 16:05. As a sophomore his time of 18:48 on a 5,000-meter course placed him 22nd.

"It's been a great three years running in the Frontier Conference," Alanis said.

McFarland's time was 17:26.5. High Tech High Chula Vista sophomore Valencio Coco had the ninth-place time of 17:24.3 while Liberty Charter senior Owen Gaut finished 11th with a time of 17:31.0.

"I just tried to not get passed," McFarland said.

McFarland was ninth when the next two runners approached him. Coco passed McFarland, who was able to hold off Gaut.

"I had to sprint to the finish," McFarland said.

"I knew that he had the potential all season to finish all-league based on his work ethic, his drive and where he was finishing throughout the season," Miller said.

Near the end of the race, Miller was shouting McFarland's position to him.

"That continued to motivate him up until the very end," Miller said. "That pushed him to ensure that he finished 10th or under."

Last year McFarland's 3.0-mile time at the league championship meet was 17:34, which placed him 22nd.

The boys' race had 99 harriers including seven from Bonsall. A time of 20:19.8 gave sophomore Lucas Lopez 45th place; junior Henrik Nylund finished in 20:38.5 for 50th place; sophomore Adam Tamimi became the 67th finisher 22:10.0 after the race began; sophomore Ezekiel Maletych took 73rd place with a 22:56.5 performance and the 81st-place time of sophomore Taylor Dyal was 23:50.8.

As a team the Bonsall boys placed sixth among the 14 total Frontier Conference teams with the minimum five runners needed to obtain a team score, and the Legionnaires were third among the six Summit League teams.

"All the boys gave us their all. A lot of them PR'd," Miller said. "PR" stands for personal record, which depends on the distance and terrain differentials among courses.

"I couldn't be happier for them," Miller said.

High Tech High Chula Vista sophomore Stella Gladden won the girls' race in 18:53.3. The seventh finisher, Mountain Empire sophomore Jessica Noble, posted a time of 21:45.4. Collier's time was 21:45.7. Preuss freshman Ellery Juarez finished ninth at 21:48.8.

"I was able to pass a lot of people at the end," Collier said.

NTC Park at Liberty Station has that name due to the site's former use as the Naval Training Center.

"It's one of my favorite courses because while you're running you can really enjoy the ocean view," Collier said.

"Milana is a very hard worker with a natural talent for running. I'm really happy that she was able to reach her potential by the end of the season," Miller said. "She's very well deserving of the all-league honor."

Collier planned to focus on club swimming this year and did not join the Bonsall cross-country team until after the first league cluster. She was sixth in last year's Frontier Conference meet with a time of 21:04 on the 3.0-mile course.

"I'm really proud of myself and all the other girls from my team," Collier said. "We did our very best, and we have such great chemistry together."

Miller is in charge of workouts while co-coach Danny Costa handles other aspects of the program.

"I would not be here without Coach Miller and Coach Costa for putting me through all these hard workouts," Collier said.

The Frontier Conference formula for the league championship and the other final standings positions utilizes a points system. For each of the four league cluster meets the first-place team received four points, the second-place school was given three points, third place was worth two points, and fourth place earned the team one point.

The league championship meet provided eight points for first place, six points for second, four points for third and two points for fourth.

Bonsall High School did not have the necessary five girls to obtain a team score Sept. 18. The Legionnaires placed first Oct. 10 and Oct. 24 and second, behind Liberty Charter, Nov. 7.

Liberty Charter had the premier score both among the five Summit League full teams and among the nine Frontier Conference full teams Nov. 14, while Bonsall was second both among Summit League schools and among all Frontier Conference girls' teams.

"We started off with a non-scoring team and then there were injuries throughout the season, so pretty impressive to finish second," Miller said.

The next four Bonsall finishers at the league championship meet were all among the top 20: freshman Mikayla Gioia was 13th at 22:48.7; senior Isabella Ford had the 14th-place time of 22:48.8; senior Abigayle Ford took 15th place with a time of 22:49.9 and senior Faith Gioia posted a time of 23:11.3 for 19th place.

Bonsall's sixth finisher, sophomore Aidan Miller, finished 45th at 26:01.5. The 80th-place time of sophomore Jordan Whaley was 31:54.7. The final high school cross-country race for senior Elizabeth Amador gave her 87th place among the 89 runners with a time of 36:17.3.

"It was a wonderful bunch of girls that I loved coaching all season, and I'm really happy with them, their performance," Miller said