Liberty Charter High School in Alpine is known for producing its share of talented cross country runners given the region’s hilly terrain.
Track and field runners from the school are also adept at running on flat surfaces, as attested by a number of record-setting performances at the second annual Linfield Christian Small Schools Invitational March 28 in Temecula.
“We had a great meet finishing with 21 personal bests on the day,” Liberty Christian head coach Daniel Sanchez said. “While we haven’t set any school records yet, we have several standout performers currently ranked in the top three in CIF Division III in their respective events.”
The Lions roared home with a lot of shiny hardware for their efforts.
Athletes competed in varsity and frosh/soph divisions. Medals were awarded to the top three place-finishers in each event per division. Team trophies were awarded to the top-scoring teams in each gender and division.
On the boys’ side, junior Josiah Svendsen had an outstanding performance by winning the 300-meter varsity hurdles race while setting a meet record with a personal best of time of 42.77 seconds. He is currently ranked No. 2 in CIF Division III in that event.
Liberty Charter’s other top male athlete is senior Caleb Acosta, a four-year varsity athlete and the only senior on the boys team. Acosta has been part of two CIF Championship cross country teams and two CIF championship 4×800 relay teams. He is also the Lions’ second athlete to break two minutes in the 800-meter run and is currently ranked No. 2 in CIF Division III.
Acosta did not compete at the Linfield meet due to a minor injury but is expected to return soon to active competition.
Coming off a strong cross country season, junior Sam Rohrer is another notable runner to watch this season after claiming first place in the varsity 1600 run in 4:37.69.
Other impactful newcomers on the boys side include freshmen Luke Hayworth and Lucas Esparza, who are both close to breaking five minutes in the 1600-meter run, and Nathan Luzzi, who is showing strong progress in the 800 run.
Luzzi finished first in the 800 frosh/soph run in 2:18.53.
Hayworth was fifth in 5:06.10 in the frosh/soph division while Esparza was sixth in 5:09.68. Hayworth was fourth in the 3200 run in 11:51.72 while Esparza was sixth in 12:10.45. Sophomore Grant Forman was ninth in 12:52.86.
Liberty Charter finished third in the 4×400 varsity relay in 3:55.49 and was ninth in the 4×100 varsity relay in 48.88.
On the girls side, top athletes include fourth-year seniors Cadelyn Belasco in the distance events and Elizabeth Thompson in the sprints.
Belasco was second in the varsity 800 run in 2:33.57 and third in the 1600 in 5:40.51.
Thompson was 10th in the varsity 200 dash in 27.84.
“Both earned personal bests at the Linfield Christian meet and continue to lead the team well,” Sanchez said.
Girls newcomers who are making an immediate impact on the team, according to Sanchez, include freshman Abbi Funk, who is excelling in the 400-meter dash and sprint events, and sophomore Gaby Barba, who is performing very well in the middle-distance events.
Barba finished first in the 800 frosh/soph division in 2:45.23 while Funk finished sixth in the 200 dash in 28.59.
In girls varsity relay events, Liberty Charter placed fourth in the 4×400 (4:38.14) and sixth in the 4×100 (55.30).
Freshman Meg Rohrer was ninth in the girls frosh/soph shot put (6.03m) and 11th in the discus throw (16.74m).
“Overall, we have a young team that is developing well, supported by an outstanding coaching staff across all event groups,” Sanchez said. “The season is continuing to build into something special.”
