Calexico, Holtville share spotlight at second IVL meet
EL CENTRO — It was a pleasantly cool 68 degrees early on Saturday at Southwest High School as runners found their spots at the starting line prior to round two of the Imperial Valley League cross country season.
The 3-mile route they were to traverse was somewhat damp following some overnight rains, but on the whole the conditions were none too onerous.
The course — which traced the outskirts of the school grounds — was exceedingly gentle in grade (being pretty much devoid of hills) leading to good times across the board.
As usual, runners went in three waves, with the varsity girls getting the first stab at things, followed by the varsity boys and the junior varsity playing caboose.
The girls’ varsity race pulled the rare trick of being both a blowout and a photo-finish all at once.
On the individual level it was no contest, with Brawley’s Jaasiel Contreras winning easily, but on the team level it couldn’t have been closer, with Calexico squeezing past the Wildcats by a solitary point, 42-43 (points are derived by adding the top five finishes from each team together, with lower being better).
It was the second consecutive first-place finish for Contreras, and the second consecutive 40-second margin of victory.
The boys’ race was both closer (individually) and further apart (in team scoring).
Holtville sophomore Alan Jimenez was the jackrabbit in this one, finishing in 16:03.71 for the fastest time of the day.
He finished 20 seconds ahead of silver-medalist David Aguilar, helping the Vikings to a 44 to 50 team win over the Bulldogs in his heat.
The next IVL meet is scheduled for Nov. 3 at Sunbeam Lake.
The top 10 finishers for the varsity races are listed below:
Varsity girls
1. Jaasiel Contreras (Brawley, So.) 19:07.28 2. Alissa Moreno (Brawley, Jr.) 19:51.18
3. Kristinna Olmedo (Calexico, Jr.) 20:08.13
4. Melanie Sanchez (Brawley, Jr.) 20:17.13
5. Sidney Garcia (Southwest, Fr.) 20:17.81
6. Mia Torrez (Imperial, Sr.) 20:24.19
7. Kassandra Contreras (Calexico, Sr.) 21:03.11
8. Azucena Hernandez (Central, Fr.) 21:07.54
9. Janessa Contreras (Calexico, So.) 21:17.06
10. Arleth Escoto (Calexico, Sr.) 21:26.15
Varsity boys
1. Alan Jimenez (Holtville, So.) 16:03.71
2. David Aguilar (Calexico, So.) 16:23.15
3. Edgar Hurtado (Calexico, Sr.) 16:23.77
4. Albert Rodriguez (Brawley, Jr.) 16:27.52
5. Cristopher Carrillo (Brawley, Jr.) 16:30.34
6. Fabian Rendon (Holtville, Jr.) 16:32.22
7. Luis Prado (Central, Sr.) 16:35.12
8. Robert Quintero (Imperial, Sr.) 16:48.38
9. Eddie Quintero (Holtville, Sr.) 16:51.64
10. Jesus Anguiano (Calexico, Sr.) 16:52.98