The562’s cross country and track & field coverage is sponsored by Joe Carlson & Debbie Hughes.
Inclement weather delayed the Moore League’s second cluster meet by a day, but the results turned out the same as they were at El Dorado.
Once again, the Wilson Bruins swept gold on Wednesday evening, with seniors Tommy Pincherli and Nadia Mejia winning their respective races.
The Millikan boys claimed the team title in the first varsity race, and the Wilson girls claimed the team title on the girls’ side to repeat the results from three weeks ago.
Boys’ Varsity
After a sixth-place finish a season ago, Pincherli dropped some major time during his final competitive run around Signal Hill. He dropped 35 seconds off his time of 17:01 as a junior, running a 16:25.95 to earn his second league win of the campaign.
“My goal was to not go out too fast like I did last year,” Pincherli said of his race strategy. “Last year, I was second on the first lap, and then I ended up getting sixth, and it was just a really rough race. So today, I went out with the top guys, hoping they weren’t doing any games, which they really didn’t. Then on the second lap, I started to turn up a little, especially on the downhill. And I started really pushing it on the third lap, and I really improved my separation, and I was just really glad to get the win.”
Pincherli was able to hold off Millikan’s Jack Walsh, who ran 16:34. His fellow Ram, Aiden Ransom, took bronze in a time of 16:46.
Wilson’s Matthew Searles was the last runner to break 17 minutes, taking fourth place with a time of 16:52. Poly’s Noah Chun rounded out the Top 5, finishing in 17:01.
With the race being delayed due to rain on Tuesday, the course was certainly impacted, for better or worse. In Pincherli’s case, the rainfall made a positive impact on the running surface, and he said it was the best the course has ever felt for him.
“The rain really tightened the dirt up, so on the uphills, I was especially able to get more traction and get up the hill faster,” Pincherli explained. “Then on the downhill, I wasn’t afraid to push as much because it wasn’t as slippery as it usually is. Obviously, it was still pretty slippery here and there, but I was able to push more on the downhill and I think that’s what helped me with my separation today.”
Millikan was able to win the team competition thanks to securing half of the Top 10 finishers. Aaron Castro took sixth for the Rams in a time of 17:16, and teammates Ricardo Linarez-Gutierrez (9th, 17:34) and Evan Sailor (10th, 17:51) were not far behind.
Poly’s Archie Byrom was seventh in 17:22, followed in eighth by Wilson’s David Nader with a time of 17:30.
Lakewood’s top finisher was Gregory Ayala, who clocked an 18:54. Jose JJ Miramontes ran a 19:03 to lead the way for Cabrillo. Compton’s top finisher was Victor Garcia in a time of 19:20, and Jordan’s Erick Fuentes ran a 19:24 to lead the Panthers.
Girls’ Varsity
Mejia was able to lead from start to finish for the Bruins, but her race was not as smooth as Pincherli’s. Even during her warmup, Mejia was finding soft spots in the running surface, and struggled to keep solid footing throughout the race.
After smashing the course record at El Dorado in the first Moore League race of the season, Mejia was just happy to get through this race on her two feet and was less concerned with hitting any particular time, though she still ran a strong time of 19:11.68.
“It was every lap, every chunk there was a rock, and they’re stuck in my shoes,” said Mejia after an annoying race. “And I rolled my ankle every single lap, so I just gave up, I was like, ‘I’m just gonna win.’ Just win, I do not need to get a course record or anything.”
Mejia said she was happy to have run her last race on the Signal Hill course, and that the focus for her and the Bruins are on what lies ahead at league finals and then CIF after that.
“The main focus is still on CIF and all that, that’s always kind of been the goal for the rest of the season,” Mejia said. “But so far, it’s getting more challenging as the races go, so it shows how much strength we have within ourselves, and it shows that we as a team have a lot of it.”
Wilson had five of the top seven finishers, with Audrey Buckley running a strong race of her own to place second. Buckley was just 8.58 seconds behind Mejia, clocking in with a time of 19:20.
Millikan’s Amberly McDowell was third in 19:50.34, just beating out Poly’s Sienna Young to the line with a strong kick at the finish. Young ran a 19:50.49 as the final runner to break the 20-minute mark.
The next three finishers were all Bruins, with Ella George (20:09), Avery Errecart (20:10) and Ashlei Aguayo (20:29) placing 5-7.
Poly’s Avery Peck was ninth in 20:45 and Millikan’s Jocelyn Jimenez rounded out the Top 10 in a time of 21:05. Lakewood was led by Elysia Larios in a time of 23:44.
The Moore League Finals will be held at Heartwell Park on Wednesday, Nov. 5.
