The individual cross country races belonged to Righetti underclassmen, and the team races belonged to Pioneer Valley in the varsity competition Wednesday.

Varsity first-timer Christopher “Topher” Narling and varsity second-timer Lindsay Reade of Righetti - a first-time varsity winner - won the five kilometer boys and girls varsity races respectively over the five kilometer course at the three-way Righetti Invitational at Waller Park.

Narling ran 18:15. Reade won in 21:22.

Meanwhile, Pioneer Valley's boys won the team competition with 31 points, and the Panther girls won with 34. Righetti finished second in the boys meet with 35 points. Santa Maria finished second in the girls team competition with 39.

Santa Maria's boys were third with 64 points. Righetti's girls were third with 54. Santa Maria's girls and Pioneer Valley's boys won the junior varsity meets.

Narling and his teammates usually form Righetti's junior varsity team. Nonetheless, going into his first varsity race, “I thought I could win, because I had beaten these guys in other races,” the sophomore said. Narling held off Santa Maria's Frankie Mujica, the runner-up in 18:16.

Many varsity runners Wednesday were underclassmen.

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Righetti's boys varsity runners had been running times well ahead of the rest of the field and, “I wanted to give my junior varsity guys the chance to move up,” to varsity level competition, said Righetti coach Luis Escobar.

Righetti's usual boys varsity runners competed in the Lompoc Invitational Wednesday. Narling ran a smartly-paced race, hanging near leader Fermin Sanchez of Pioneer Valley at the mile mark, moving ahead during the second mile and then conserving enough to have a strong finish.

Pioneer Valley's Rocky Herrera finished third in 18:19. Sanchez ran fourth in 18:19. The Panthers' Raul Ojeda was fifth in 18:23.

In the girls race, Santa Maria sophomore Oyuki Reyes raced past Reade and Righetti freshman Cynthia Vazquez and into the lead at the mile mark. Reade and Vazquez were together in front by the two mile mark.

“I pulled away with about a half mile left,” Reade said. “During the first half (of the race), I felt great. The second half, I thought I slowed down.” She had enough left to win.

Vazquez finished a tick behind Reade in 21:23. Pioneer Valley junior Rebeccah Herrera (no relation to Rocky) was third in 21:40. Reyes finished fourth in 21:57, and Santa Maria's Anabel Suarez ran fifth in 22;30.

“I'm pretty proud,” that Pioneer Valley's girls pulled off the win, Rebeccah Herrera (no relation to Rocky) said.

“If we can keep doing this,” the Panthers can do some damage in the Los Padres League Mid-Season Meet and Finals, said Herrera.

The Panthers pulled off victories in the varsity races with superior grouping. Teammates Karla Camacho, Monique Sandoval and Monica Maldonado ran sixth, seventh and eighth behind Rebeccah Herrera. Alejandra Tapia, Pioneer Valley's fifth and last scoring runner, finished 10th.

In the boys varsity race, Panthers Ramiro Buenrostro and Hugo Sanchez finished ninth and 10th respectively to bolster Pioneer Valley's front three.

“I thought it went pretty good,” for himself and his team Wednesday, Rocky Herrera, a senior, said.

“I've been injured, so this is the first race I've ran this year. My right knee was hurt, so I felt like it took me awhile to get in shape.”

The meet “went very well,” for the Panthers teams, Pioneer Valley co-coach Teresa Cavaletto said.

“I'm very proud of the girls team. That first meet (a six-way non-scoring one that St. Joseph hosted at Waller Park last week), it seemed like the Santa Maria girls were ahead of ours.

“The boys have been running tight together in practice.” That paid off for them Wednesday.

The course last week was shortened to 2.4 miles. Yet, Reade said, the race for her then was tougher than it was Wednesday.

The 3.1-mile course at Waller Park is Righetti's practice one and, “I was used to the course we ran today,” said Reade.

“I've memorized every bit of this course in my mind every day in practice,” said Narling.

On a difficulty scale of one to 10, 10 being toughest, “I'd give it a nine,” because of the grassy and rolling upgrade nature of the course, Narling said.

Escobar said, “I can't say enough about ‘Topher' and Lindsay.”

As for his boys team, “My fifth man, Jeremiah Carroll, played a big role (in our good finish). He passed three guys right toward the end.”

Angie Sanchez of Santa Maria won the girls junior varsity race in 24:26. Teammate Rae Rae Tyler ran second in 24:40. Jorge Vasquez of Pioneer Valley and Ben Blanchard of Righetti went 1-2 in the boys JV race, in 20:28 and 20:31 respectively.

Santa Maria's teams will race in the Ojai Invitational Saturday. Righetti and Pioneer Valley are off until the following Saturday, when they will compete in the Righetti Invitational.

September 14, 2006