Valley schools struggle to stand out in crowded field

SAN DIEGO — On Saturday, cross-country teams from a hundred di erent schools scattered throughout Southern California, converged on Balboa Park to compete in the Asics Movin’ Shoes Invitational, hosted by Mt. Carmel High School.

Four of those teams where from the Imperial Valley.

Runners from Calexico, Central Union, Holtville and Imperial High Schools were in among throng, but the vastness of the field, combined with the unfamiliarity of the course, caused many of them to get lost in the shu e.

In order to accommodate the sheer volume of runners in attendance, the meet was broken up into 16 different races.

Schools were split between two divisions, determined by size, and each division had eight races — two for each grade, sub-divided by gender. Boys races followed a 2.95 mile course, while the girls ran 2.75 miles.

Calexico, the largest of the Valley schools, competed in Division 1, while Central, Holtville and Imperial were all in Division 2.

Only a handful of Valley runners managed to make much of a mark.

The fastest time of the day for local schools was posted by Calexico Senior Edgar Hurtado, but his 17:37 finish was only good enough for 80th place in the senior boys race.

The best finish relative to competition was posted by Holtville’s Alan Jimenez, who finished ninth out of all Division 2 sophomore boys, with a time of 17:51.1

The only other top-20 finishers out of the Valley were Calexico’s Kristinna Olmedo — who continued her strong season, finishing 15th in the Division 1 junior girls run, with a time of 17:50.7 — and Belen Campos, another Bulldog, who finished 16th in the freshman race for Division 1 girls, with a time of 18:22.8.