Ayded Reyes and the super sophomores of last year’s conference champions are gone and 2012 looked to be a “rebuilding year.”
Nice building.
A new generation of Lady Jaguars created its own reputation as freshman Sierra Echols, sophomore Paula Aleman and freshman Amber Gutierrez finished third, fifth and tenth, respectively, in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference championship at Harry Griffin Park in La Mesa. The top five teams and the top 50 percent of individual finishers in both men’s and women’s races qualified for the Southern California regional championship Nov. 3 at Mira Costa College.
Echols, Aleman and Gutierrez were named PCAC All-Conference for their strong performances.
Aleman was neck-and-neck with Imperial Valley College runner Raquel Aguilar until the finish line. She gave a final push and edged out Aguilar for fifth place with a time of 21:10, milliseconds faster than Aguilar.
Echols started strong and sat comfortably in third place for the remainder of the race, finishing with a time of 21 minutes flat. Echols ran with intense focus and said she was pleased with her performance.
“I ran my race really hard and I think it went really well,” she said. “I gave it my all. I kept pushing it and kept my strategies clear in my head. I kept thinking I have to do this for my team, not just myself because I really want all of us to make it as a team to the championship in Costa Mesa.”
The Lady Jaguars finished fourth overall with a total of 73 points to qualify.
After the women’s event, the men got in position at the starting line for their 4-mile race.
Freshmen Carlos Ponce and sophomore Hector Ramirez earned all-conference honors. Ponce finished third in 22:25 and Ramirez seventh in 22:56.
Ponce said although he did well, he has more to show.
“At the beginning I kind of went slow and was not really pushing it,” he said. “I could have done better, but I expect to do better at the regional championship.”
Ponce said the heat and humidity of the day might have impacted his performance.
“It was hard,” he said. “The sun was hot and it was a really dry course. I tried to stay hydrated, but it was tough.”
Ponce lead at the beginning, but with his energy depleted, he was unable to hold on. San Diego Mesa College runners Steven Martinez and Albert Gamez caught him at the end.
Ponce said he enjoyed being able to compete against his friend and rival Martinez.
“I knew Martinez since back in high school,” he said. “We both used to run. I ran in the South Bay (conference) and he ran in Metro conference so we were always back and forth.”
The Jaguar men finished with a total of 81 points, good enough third place.
Head Coach Duro Agbede said he was proud how his team finished.
“We faired well, we did well,” he said. “We’ve been so hampered by sickness and injury. We’ve been held back by two of our runners that were very sick and that is what happened today. What you can’t fight against is health. One of our front-runners had an asthma attack and was out of the competition. Also, another of our top runners became very sick and had to be hospitalized. If we we’re to be a complete team, without all the sickness and everything, this would have been so easy for us (to win). Overall, I think the kids did very well and fought very well and that is the most important thing.”
