Hernandez wins Valley League cross country championship, Warriors second as team

Fallbrook High School senior Josh Hernandez won the Valley League boys cross-country individual championship, Nov. 16, at the league championship meet on the Kit Carson Park course in Escondido.

Hernandez had a time of 16 minutes 58.7 seconds on the 3.05-mile course. The second-place finisher, San Pasqual High School senior Kevin Rohy, completed the course in 17:14.5.

"It was a big accomplishment," Hernandez said.

"He ran extremely well at the league meet," Fallbrook coach Marco Arias said. "The course was really made towards his style of running and he ran to it, never wavered."

His style of running includes excelling on ascents.

"We run hills every day," Hernandez said.

Hernandez used the hills to gain positions.

"He started tracking them down," Arias said.

Hernandez passed an Escondido runner to take the lead about a mile and a half into the race and held off Rohy during the final half-mile.

"At the finish line, there wasn't anybody close to him," Arias said.

Arias slowed down Hernandez in practice before the league championship race.

"I think he came in very fresh into that meet," Arias said.

Hernandez thus obtained half of the league championships he desired.

"I wanted to win league as a team," he said.

The league championship formula utilizes the two league cluster meets and the league championship meet. The team positions from each cluster meet provide 25% apiece and the league championship meet accounts for the other 50%.

San Pasqual won the first cluster meet, Oct. 3, at Kit Carson Park with 44 points while Fallbrook was second with 70 points; Escondido High School had the third-place total of 81 points, and Ramona High School accumulated 83 points for fourth place.

The positions of a school's first five finishers are added to obtain the team score. The sixth and seventh runners are not scored but can add points to other teams' totals. In the event of a tie score, the school with the faster sixth runner is the higher-finishing team.

The second league cluster took place Nov. 1 at Guajome Park. Fallbrook and San Pasqual each had 56 points, but Fallbrook's sixth finisher was 14 positions ahead of the Golden Eagles' sixth runner to give the Warriors first place. Fallbrook's seventh runner also finished ahead of the Golden Eagles' sixth harrier.

Ramona took third place with 62 points, and Escondido had the fourth-place score of 73 points. Hernandez was the individual winner, posting a time of 16:32 on the 5,000-meter (3.1-mile) course.

Fallbrook and San Pasqual entered the league championship meet tied for first place.

"We went into it with a lot of hope," Arias said. "We were right in the mix."

San Pasqual won the meet with 31 points, Ramona had 61 points and Fallbrook finished with a score of 62 points. Those points gave San Pasqual the league championship with Fallbrook placing second and Ramona obtaining third place in the final standings.

"My whole team did what they could," Hernandez said. "We had a great team, and I want to thank Coach Arias for everything he's done for us."

Second place was still an improvement from 2018, when fourth place at the first league cluster meet and fifth place both at the second league cluster and the league championship meet gave the Warriors a final fifth-place finish for the season.

"That was extremely positive," Arias said of second place for the year.

Hernandez finished sixth in the 2018 league championship race which was held on the 3.08-mile Guajome Park course. The 2017 league championship meet was held at Kit Carson Park, and a time of 17:30.9 gave Hernandez seventh place. Hernandez placed 21st in the 2016 league championship race at Guajome Park.

The first 10 finishers received Valley League first team distinction. Hernandez was joined on the first team by senior John Regan, whose time of 17:32.8 gave him seventh place.

"John had the race of his life. He ran well. He did everything that was expected," Arias said.

Regan transferred to Fallbrook after spending his freshman and sophomore years at Lejeune High School in North Carolina. His first Valley League championship meet was last year, and he placed 29th.

The next 10 finishers were given second-team Valley League designation. The 11th finisher, Fallbrook junior Danny Contreras, had a time of 17:57.9.

"I think Danny had a little bit of disappointment in himself," Arias said.

Ramona junior Scott Wiggins passed Contreras down the stretch to take over 10th place. Wiggins' time was 17:54.0.

"It's a learning experience," Arias said. "He needs to think about that."

Six of the first seven boys to finish the league championship race are seniors.

"He's in line to be the next league individual champion," Arias said of Contreras.

Last year Contreras finished 17th at the league championship meet. This year's 17th finisher was Fallbrook senior Joe Bell, who thus joined Contreras on the second team. Bell had a time of 18:27.

"Joe had an incredible race," Arias said.

Bell gave Fallbrook the win in the second league cluster meet as the faster sixth finisher; he was 25th overall at the league cluster meet.

"He's a grinder," Arias said.

Bell finished 50th in the 2018 league championship race.

Fallbrook's fifth finisher, senior Ricardo Martinez, placed 26th overall with a time of 18:47.8. Martinez took 59th place at last year's league championship meet.

Martinez was followed by sophomore Ivan Ixta, whose 27th-place time was 18:48.6. A time of 19:23.7 gave sophomore Dawson Fluck 39th place.

The race had 56 runners, and the final finisher was Fallbrook senior Christian Goodell. The final high school cross-country race of Goodell's career took him 22:26.8.

"He didn't step off the course," Arias said. "He never wavered."

Cabello earns all-league position at Valley League cross-country championship meet

Joe Naiman

Village News Correspondent

The Valley League cross-country championship meet was held Nov. 16 at Kit Carson Park in Escondido, and Fallbrook High School junior Iselah Cabello earned an all-league berth.

The top 10 finishers at the league championship meet received Valley League first team recognition while the next 10 finishers were placed on the all-league second team. Cabello finished 20th for the final all-league position.

"It was a great experience, and I hope to do it again next year and I hope to improve," Cabello said.

"I'm extremely proud of her, and she's going to do amazing things," Fallbrook head coach Vickie Knox said.

The course was 3.05 miles. Cabello had a time of 22 minutes 15.6 seconds.

"I had to pass someone on the last 100 meters," Cabello said.

Ramona High School sophomore Yvette Martinez had the 21st-place time of 22:16.7.

Last year when the league meet was held on the 3.08-mile Guajome Park course, Cabello finished 33rd with a time of 23:23.2. She ran cross-country as a freshman but not at the 2017 league meet.

"She's doing really well," Knox said.

"I'm thankful for my parents. They're always cheering me on," Iselah Cabello, the daughter of Carlos and Kate Cabello, said.

Carlos Cabello is a horse trainer, and the family now lives on Ocean Breeze Ranch.

"There are a lot of opportunities to run out there. She does a lot of training out there," he said.

The family lived in Paso Robles when Iselah Cabello began running in middle school. She attended Sullivan Middle School after the family moved to Bonsall.

Cabello's competition for Fallbrook's cross-country team ended with the CIF meet Nov. 23, which delayed her return to the Warriors' girls' water polo team. Cabello will choose between Fallbrook's swim team and the Warriors' track and field squad during the spring, although concurrence from both coaches will allow her to participate in both sports.

Fallbrook placed last among the six Valley League teams.

"I think we did the best we could with what we had," Knox said. "We tried really hard. We are young."

Judith Colores and Maya Rink were the 2019 team's only seniors. Cabello was the sole junior class representative on this year's squad.

"We're building this team," Knox said.

The league championship race had 56 runners. Colores posted a time of 23:08.1 for 32nd place.

Despite running with shin splints which forced her to miss the following week's CIF meet, freshman Maya Papoulias took 41st with a time of 24:01.4.

"Unfortunately, we had a few injury issues," Knox said.

Shin splints also hampered the performance of sophomore Maddy Gaul, who was the final finisher at the league meet and posted a time of 28:16.6.

"She pushed through and she had a great attitude," Knox said.

The 47th finisher, freshman Jade Boltinghouse, completed the course in 25:00.1. The 50th and 51st finishers were both Fallbrook sophomores; Victoria Lopez crossed the finish line 25:30.5 after the start of the race and Lauren Clark had a 25:35.8 performance. Rink had the 53rd-place time of 20:19.3.

"We did well," Knox said. "This was a building year. There's no way I can be disappointed in them because they all worked really hard."