Legionnaires fifth among Frontier Conference boys cross country teams

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

Bonsall High School’s boys cross country team placed fifth in the Frontier Conference championship meet Nov. 10 and Bonsall senior Ethan McFarland finished fourth in the boys race.

“All in all they did amazing. They were awesome. The athletes were just incredible,” said Bonsall coach Michelle Verdugo.

NTC Park at Liberty Station, whose name reflects the location’s previous use as the Naval Training Center in San Diego, was the site of the league championship meet. The course was 5,000 meters (3.1 miles). Bonsall had six runners in the boys varsity race, two in the girls varsity competition, and one in the boys junior varsity event. A minimum of five runners in a race is needed for a team score which is based on the positions of a school’s first five finishers.

The Cambridge School took fourth place among boys teams with 103 points. Bonsall accumulated 127 points. Chula Vista Community Learning Center had the sixth-place score of 138 points.

Liberty Charter junior Micah Sanchez had the winning time of 15:58.0. High Tech High Chula Vista senior Valencio Coco finished third at 16:34.4. McFarland’s time was 16:54.6.

“I did the best I could,” McFarland said.

Sanchez had the fourth-place finish in the Frontier Conference championship meet two years ago (coronavirus attendance restrictions eliminated the 2020-21 conference meet). McFarland finished 10th in 2019 with a time of 17:26.5 (Coco was ninth at 17:24.3). As a freshman in 2018, McFarland had the 22nd-place time of 17:34.

“The league meets in the past, I didn’t do as good as I wanted to,” McFarland said.

McFarland believes the most important improvement for him was mental rather than physical. “It’s more a change in character and how I view the sport as a whole,” he said. “It was how I raced, and the fact that I placed fourth was great.”

He was fourth for most of the race after being in a pack near the front following the start. “I value a good finish over a good start,” he said.

“Ethan has heart and soul and he had a goal, and he accomplished his goal,” Verdugo said.

“Outstanding performance coming in fourth place,” said Bonsall athletic director Andrea Breuninger, who attended the meet.

“Ethan was a strong competitor in the league all season,” Breuninger said. “He performed at a really high level. I’m really impressed with his work ethic and dedication.”

The second Bonsall boy across the finish line, sophomore Jeffrey Lee, had a time of 20:25.4 which was worth 28th place. Bonsall’s next two finishers are freshmen; Jason Martinez became the 32nd runner across the finish line 20:49.8 after the start of the race while Gabriel Tamimi had a 36th-place finish and a time of 21:41.2. The other two Bonsall runners in the race are seniors; Adam Tamimi posted a time of 22:26.8 for 43rd place and Lucas Lopez had a 22:46.3 performance which was worth 46th place among the 65 harriers in the race.

The junior varsity boys race had 48 runners including freshman Devin Duke, who finished 19th with a time of 22:55.8.

Both Bonsall runners in the girls race are freshmen. Mary Ramirez finished 25th among the 51 runners and had a time of 26:35.4. Samantha Kylestewa took 42nd place for her time of 30:46.6.

“They all gave it their best, and they had a great season,” Verdugo said.