Aaron Mora - Whittier
Thirty-Six San Gabriel Valley boys teams competed in Saturday’s CIF Southern Section Preliminaries, each looking to gain one of the sixteen spots in five divisions. All of the SGV schools seeded to advance did, except for one notable exception. Del Rio League Champs El Rancho missed advancing in Div. I by just one point as the other two DRL teams, California and Santa Fe, in an amazing streak of misfortune, were also the first non-qualifiers in their heats, SGHS missing by just two points and the Dons by 17.
On the other hand, unranked Maranatha and Whittier Christian both snagged places in the Div. IV finals, as all of the races were run over the flat, paved 2.9 mile Rain Course at Mt.SAC. Here’s how it went by division:
Div. I: Arcadia was the heat winner in 74:51, fastest among the SGV, led again by senior Sergio Gonzalez (14:41). Of the three disappointed Del Rio teams, Santa Fe ran best to expectations, and junior Kevin Ramirez (14:39) advanced individually, as did Whittier senior Aaron Mora, also at 14:39, which was the best SGV time on the day.
Div. II: Glendora, second best SGV 75:55, were led by a return to form from soph Mike Duke (14:52 =8th SGV). They were seventh on time but fifth on a merge of the 16 qualifying teams. Nick Rivera (Sr, Rowland) won his heat in 14:43 to advance, and La Serna senior Michael Munoz will also move on with his 14:41 effort =3rd SGV.
Div. III: As expected, Damien advanced, pulled by strong performances from Tom Ebiner (14:43) and Doug Negrete (14:51). But the Spartans had to go pretty far back to four and especially five, so advancing to State will be tough without closing that gap. South Pasadena was a solid 76:21 to advance, but like Damien will need to close up to advance to Fresno. Los Altos was disappointingly the first non-qualifier, missing out by 22 seconds. Their senior Jair Juarez will go on with his 15:03, as will Dillon Nobbs (So, Bonita) at 14:57.
Div. IV: Division #1 Don Bosco held form and won their heat with a measured effort, as did La Salle junior Daniel De La Torre (14:52 =8th SGV) San Marino advanced as well. With only 32 teams in Div. IV, Maranatha, and Whittier Christian, were able to bag the last two qualifying spots.
Div. V: Flintridge Prep won their heat with a controlled effort, and Poly (Pasadena) held form to advance as well.
Top 14 Performers and a Ranking of the SGV Teams after the jump.
CIF-SS Prelims – November 12, 2011Â Mt.SAC Rain Course – 2.9 miles, paved, mostly flat.
Top 14 Performers
- 14:39Â Aaron Mora – Sr, Whittier
- 14:39Â Kevin Ramirez – Jr, Santa Fe
- 14:41Â Sergio Gonzalez – Sr, Arcadia
- 14:41Â Michael Munoz – Sr, La Serna
- 14:43Â Tom Ebiner – Sr, Damien
- 14:43Â Nick Rivera – Sr, Rowland
- 14:51Â Doug Negrete – Jr, Damien
- 14:52Â Daniel De La Torre – Jr, La Salle
- 14:52Â Mike Duke – So, Glendora
- 14:52Â Ryan Vargas – Sr, Arcadia
- 14:56Â Francis Lee – Sr, Arcadia
- 14:57Â Christian Garcia – Sr, Santa Fe
- 14:57Â Dillon Nobbs – So, Bonita
- 14:57Â Alexander Tranquada – Sr, South Pasadena
Team Rankings
- 74:51Â Arcadia – Pacific Champ
- 75:55Â Glendora
- 76:15Â Damien
- 76:21Â South Pasadena – Rio Hondo Champ
- 76:40Â Santa Fe
- 76:53Â El Rancho – Del Rio Champ
- 77:39Â California
- 77:41Â Los Altos – Hacienda Champ
- 78:04Â Arroyo – Mission Valley Champ
- 78:05Â Bonita
- 78:05Â Rowland
- 78:17Â Covina – Valle Vista Champ
- 78:17Â Don Bosco
- 79:44Â Walnut
- 79:54Â Flintridge Prep – Prep Champ
- 80:22Â Rosemead
- 80:30Â Baldwin Park
- 80:31Â Nogales
- 80:54Â Maranatha
- 80:58Â La Mirada
- 81:04Â San Marino
- 81:23Â Bishop Amat
- 82:10 La Cañada
- 82:48Â Whittier Christian
- 82:52Â Poly (Pasadena)
- 83:11Â Montebello – Almont Champ
- 83:33Â El Monte
- 83:43Â Schurr
- 85:06Â Cantwell/Sacred Heart – Camino Real Champ
- 85:54Â Northview
- 86:30Â Azusa
- 86:35Â Alhambra
- 87:03Â Sierra Vista
- 88:12Â Ganesha – Montview Champ
- 88:19Â St. Paul
- 88:23Â Bassett
Leave a Reply