Arroyo has been moving from strength to strength this season. They had a strong group of returners on both the boys and girls teams, and both teams have been helped by the seasonal rise of young runners, and they closed the deal Tuesday in the Mission Valley Finals at Legg Lake in South El Monte.
The boys, led by an easy 15:10 win Noah Hibbard, hit the perfect 15 they’ve been chasing all year. Rosemead was second, led by Fausto Reyna – 8th/16:40. Gabrielino was third again, led as they have been all year by soph Nicolas DiConti, who after breaking up Arroyo in the first meet slipped to 6th/16:25.
Next to the line was Carlos Martinez of El Monte at 7th/16:30, capping a big seasonal rise after finishing 15th at the first MVL meet, and he led the Lions to the fourth and final CIF qualifying spot in this seven team league.
The remaining three places were South El Monte, led by David Aguilar – 9th/16:43, Marshall led by Claudio Reynoso – 23rd/17:44 and Robinson Kao was up front for Mountain View - 42nd/21:43.
MVL Champ Melanie Mach (third from right) leads out the front group early in the race.
The Arroyo girls faced a stiffer challenge from CIF Div. 3 ranked Rosemead. The Panthers Melanie Mach added on more win to her extraordinary senior year with a big 18:37, and was helped by an excellent 4th/19:12 finish by senior Cassandra Chin. The Panthers narrowed their margin from the 2nd cluster meet, but that wasn’t enough to hold off the Knights, who put their scoring five in the first nine.
Arroyo was led by four girls in the All-League spots, Mollie Hake – 2nd/18:50, Amelia Rivas – 3rd/19:10, Kelly Luna-Flores – 4th/19:13 and Karina Felix – 6th/19:21, resulting in a strong defense of their title.
Frosh Kristen Song of Gabrielino grabbed the final All-League place in 7th/19:27, moving up from 11th and 9th in the first two meets, and her team was fourth, taking the final CIF spot. A young (four of five scorers were frosh or sophs) South El Monte was third, led by Karla Ortega – 12th/20:20.
The remaining teams were El Monte, led by Arai Medina - 25th/22:02, Marshall – their best was Candace Fisher – 24th/21:56, and Jarethzy Roman – 30th/22:43 was best for Mountain View.
Great thanks to Gabrielino parent Andy DiConti for the photos.
Leave a Reply