Before the season started, Anzar High senior Diego Avila believed he could become the second runner in as many years from the San Juan Bautista school to win an individual Central Coast Section title.
Last year the Hawks’ Diego Leon, who is now starring at Hartnell College, won a section championship. On Saturday, it was Avila’s turn. Avila easily out-distanced the competition in the Division V race, finishing in 16:16 at the CCS Cross-Country Championships at Crystal Springs in Belmont.
“The feeling hasn’t sunk in yet (that I’m a CCS champion),” Avila said. “My last race (winning the Mission Trail Coastal League Championships) I was nervous as hell and couldn’t think straight. This race I had the opposite feeling, because I felt really good all day.”
Avila’s victory highlighted a solid if not spectacular day from South Valley competitors. Two other athletes — Anzar’s Yvette Felix and San Benito’s Steven Velarde — qualified for the CIF State Championships on Nov. 30 at Woodward Park in Fresno. No local squad earned a state berth; the San Benito boys came closest, finishing fourth and missing state by one spot in the Division I race to third-place Homestead.
Felix earned the last individual state berth in the Division V girls’ race, as she finished 13th in 21:43.
“This was as good as it was going to get,” Felix said. “I didn’t PR, but I felt good and thought I ran a good race. It was a little intimidating out there because I had no teammates, but I was able to train with the boys’ team (for the last 10 days), so that helped me get mentally focused for this race. This was a moment of redemption after I didn’t race well in the league championships.”
The Anzar boys’ team received a scare at the end of its race, as its second best runner, Nat Hsia-Coron, collapsed before the finish line before getting back up and finishing valiantly in 33rd. Hsia-Coron was conscious but was transported off the course in an ambulance.
Velarde (15:44) repeated his performance from the CCS Championships a year ago with an identical fifth-place showing. The senior hasn’t recorded a career-best PR all season, but he’s looking forward to ending his standout career with a bang at the state meet.
“I’m just a little bit tired,” he said. “Overall, I feel like I was running faster last year than this year. Now it’s on to state, where I hope I can improve upon my 64th-place finish from last year. It’s disappointing we didn’t make it to state as a team this year, because that was our goal here since I was a freshman.”
Live Oak teammates Eddie King and Kalum Bergstrom started the Division III boys’ race together and finished it together — literally. Both runners finished in 16:29, with King getting credited for 11th place and Bergstrom 12th.
Neither King nor Bergstrom felt like they ran a smart, tactical race. With the lead pack setting a rapid-fire pace early, King and Bergstrom followed rather than sticking to their plan.
“It’s so hard in a race like this to resist the urge to go out early and keep up with the pack,” Bergstrom said. “We took it out a little too fast instead of sticking to the split times we should’ve been running.”
Said King: “We had certain split times in mind, but we just didn’t run the race we planned on.”
Also in the D-III boys’ race, Gilroy’s Kairo Barrosa and Jonathan Viveros finished in 40th and 45th, respectively. In the D-III girls’ race, Live Oak’s Shannon Hoyle finished in 21st in 20:28, and Gilroy freshman Monica Ruelas was 27th in 20:56. Ruelas couldn’t contain her excitement afterward, noting she needed to rebound after not running well in her league championship race.
“I just felt stronger this time,” Ruelas said. “I passed two girls at the very end, and it showed what I was capable of when I keep on pushing myself for more. Making it to state would’ve been great, but as a freshman I know if I keep on improving, I’ll get there some day. I’m just sad this is my last race of the year.”
In the D-II boys’ race, Sobrato sophomore Nolan Dozier came in 14th in 16:07. Despite the fast time, Dozier was disappointed with his performance.
“I don’t know what the heck happened,” he said. “I got boxed in early, got caught up and wasn’t able to surge well enough to get caught back up to the front of the pack. That’s something I need to work on, is getting my surges up to speed.”
In the D-I girls’ race, San Benito’s Amy Quinones finished 20th in 19:28. Quinones felt relieved just to finish, as she endured a bout of dizziness starting at the midway point on the 2.95-mile course.
“I’ve never felt like this after a race before,” she said. “It’s a constant challenge here with all of the hills. You never feel like you’re running on flat ground. But overall I think I ran well and was strong when I needed to be.”
For the Christopher girls, the CCS Championships was more about enjoying the competition than worrying about placement. Natalie Filippi led the team with a 72nd-place showing.
“Keeping up mentally has been the hardest part,” said Christopher junior Bridget Brown, who finished 97th. “It’s been interesting because we’ve been constantly moving up divisions in CCS because our school is growing. The competition seems to be getting tougher every year, and every time we compete, we’re looking to improve.”
