East County student-athletes turned in a blockbuster performance at Saturday’s San Diego Section track and field championship meet at Mt. Carmel High School.
Helix High School won the boys section team title while Steele Canyon won the girls section team championship. Mixed in were 10 gold medals — five for Helix, three for Mt. Miguel and one each for El Capitan and Steele Canyon — along with 23 automatic qualifying slots for this weekend’s state championship meet in Clovis.
It was a meet for the ages for the region overall, Alpine’s Liberty Charter included.
As the Lions’ cross country and track and field programs continue to grow and gain maturity, personal and school record performances continue to be rewritten. Some were set at Saturday’s CIF finals.
Liberty Charter senior Ivan Guzman placed sixth in the boys 3200 run in a personal record 9:29.39 to highlight the team’s showing.
Guzman was joined on the day by the school’s boys 4×800 relay team and junior Haley Svendsen in the girls 100 and 300 low hurdles races.
The Lions opened the meet with a sixth-place finish in the boys 4×800 relay courtesy of senior Joel Bray, junior Aiden Burr, senior Samuel Morales and sophomore Caleb Acosta with a time of 8:12.84 to set a new school record in the event (dropping 32 seconds from last year).
“The program is growing, getting more recognition,” said Bray, who also competed in cross country and basketball during the 2023-24 school term. “It’s fun to be a part of that.” Svendsen placed 11th in the 300 hurdles race (46.97) and 15th in the 100 hurdles (16.19) to cap her season at the section’s elite level.
This is Guzman’s fourth year on the team and his third time making the section finals. He entered his name in school history by winning the 3200 run at the preceding Division III championship meet.
He ranks second in the school record book in both the 1600 (4:28.14) and 3200 (9:29.39) to 2023 graduate Micah Sanchez, now a freshman at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
“It feels like an experience you want to last, the hard work, accomplishments,” the Liberty Charter distance runner said. “It’s a legacy but it couldn’t have been possible without all the people who have helped in the past.”
Guzman, who would like to attend either Biola or Westmont to continue his running career, first had to overcome adversity to complete that legacy on the oval. “I started off the season with an injury — this was only my eighth race of the season,” he said. “I kind of feel the Division III title was part of my legacy.”
Sanchez won the 2022 Division V state cross country title; Guzman regularly pushed him on the track — and vice-versa — during the three years they ran together as Lions.
“To run three years with Micah was a very great privilege,” Guzman said. “It’s a big honor to know him as a runner and as a friend.”
Drum roll
The section finals were the final destination for qualifiers from three divisional meets held the prior weekend.
Liberty Charter placed sixth among the 30 boys scoring teams and 17th among the 27 scoring girls teams at the Division III section championship meet May 11 at Valley Center High School.
Guzman won the boys 3200 run in 9:35.90 while the quartet of senior Bray, Burr, senior Samuel Morales and Acosta took first-place honors with a time of 8:21.04 in the 4×800 relay.
Svendsen was third in the girls 300 low hurdles (46.43) and fourth in the 100 low hurdles (16.42).
A cut above
School records set this season on the girls side include those by senior Rika Gartner in the 100 dash (12.83) and senior Benjamin Mapes in the boys 110 high hurdles (15.58) and intermediate hurdles (40.71).
Mapes joined forces with Burr, Acosta and Bray to set a new school record in the 4×400 relay (3:37.98) while Bray, Burr, Morales and Acosta set a new school record in the 4×800 relay (8:12.84). Gartner also ranks second in the record book in the 200 dash (26.99).
Juniors Micah Hulls (38.4.5) and Jesse Cendejas (36-8.5) rank second and third in the boys shot put while Cendejas ranks second in the discus throw (103-11).
Svendsen ranks first in the girls 300 low hurdles (46.43), second in both the 100 low hurdles (15.87) and 400 dash (1:04.08) and fifth in the 100 dash (13.66).
Sophomore Cambria Sanchez ranks third in both the 1600 run (5:40.17) and 3200 (12:45.58) while freshman Cadelyn Belasco ranks fifth in both the 1600 run (5:52.30) and 3200 (13:22.67).
The quartet of Belasco, junior Noelle Edkins, sophomore Amelia Primmer and junior Keira Hays ranks first in the 4×800 relay (10:59.02)
Gartner, junior Stacia Vogan, sophomore Elizabeth Thompson and Svendsen rank second in the 4×100 relay (53.84).
In field events, Gartner tops the high jump list at 4-10 while junior Kaiya Robles ranks second in the discus throw at 67- 11.
Robles (26-9) and junior Izel Plata (26-2.5) rank third and fourth in the shot put while Vogan ranks third in both the high jump (4-2) and long jump (14-4.5).
In marks set this year, Benjamin Mapes ranks second in the boys 100 dash (11.62). Bray (2:00.27) and Acosta (2:02.69) rank second and third, respectively, in the 800 run while Bray ranks third in the 400 dash (53.46).
Junior Luke Mapes (9:53.35) and Burr (9:55.51) rank third and fourth among boys 3200 runners while Burr (4:33.07) and Acosta (4:40/69) rank third and fourth in the 1600 run.
