FRESNO — Jordan Hasay earned that fourth state cross country championship she was expected to win, and she drained the suspense out of the race early.

She was 5 meters ahead by the 50-meter mark. Hasay won the Girls Division V race at the CIF State Cross Country Championships over the 5,000 meter Woodward Park course in 17:18 Saturday.

Hasay’s victory margin was 1:19. Sophomore teammate Annie Mooney finished second in 18:37.

Hasay hit the mile-mark in 5:16 and then, “I felt a little tired during the last two miles,” she said.

Hasay was hoping to break the course record of 16:43. She settled for being the only girl other than Sarah Hall to win four California state cross country championships.

Meanwhile Arroyo Grande’s girls finished 13th in the 23-team Girls Division II field. Karlee Owens led the Eagles by finishing 16th, in 18:21.

Freshman Hannah Stevens, Arroyo Grande’s second runner home in 19:27 (53rd place for scoring purposes) said she was excited simply to be in the state meet.

Advertisement

“I’m really happy with the way I ran,” too, she said. “I’m excited and looking forward to more times coming back here.”

Arroyo Grande resident Taylor Castanon transferred to Mission Prep from Arroyo Grande before this school year, his senior one. He finished 15th, in 16:35, His Royals finished 1th, with 424 points. Big Bear won with 66.

Nipomo junior Andrew Garcia qualified for the meet as an individual. He finished 23rd, in 16:26, in the Boys Division IV race. Ty Johnson of Palma won in 15:32.

Garcia and Castanon both ran in their first state meet.

Hasay ran the fastest time of the day. Division I winner Alex Dunne of San Clemente ran the second-fastest, 17:27.

The four-peat was the second for Hasay this season. She pulled the feat off earlier at the Central Section Finals earlier this month. Mission Prep won its 11th sectional championship. The Royals were sixth Saturday with 190 points. Palos Verdes Peninsula Chadwick won with 72.

“I was a little disappointed with my time,” Hasay said afterward. However, thanks to the four-peat, “This is a good day.”

It was also a good day as far as Arroyo Grande girls coach Sean Ricketts was concerned.

“I hope we finished in the top 15,” he said after his team’s work was done Saturday.

“But any finish here is good. This is the first time we’ve been to the state meet as a team in 17 years.”

Arroyo Grande got the top-15 finish Ricketts was hoping for. The Eagles scored 342 points. Sophomore race winner Kaylin Mahoney (17:34) led Saugus to the team title.

Scoring Eagles included Owens (11th for scoring purposes), freshman Hannah Stevens (53rd), junior Katie Lewis (69th), sophomore Haley MacDonald (93rd) and junior McKenzie Goldman (116th).

Freshman Hannah Goldman (153rd) rounded out Arroyo Grande’s squad Saturday.

Saugus had a dominating performance. The Centurians scored 32 points to runner-up Manhattan Mira Costa’s 141.

Owens was 10th at the 2-mile mark. “I tried to hang on,” for that medal, she said. “But, oh, well.”

The senior said, “This was my personal best for this course, but I was hoping to run better. Now I’ll just try to have a good race at the Foot Locker West Regional.”

Owens will be in the seeded race there next week at Mt. San Antonio College. Hasay will try for her fourth West Regional title in that race.

Garcia, like most of the runners interviewed, gave the Woodward Park course a lukewarm review.

The course features rolling hills and, “I missed my steep hills today,” Garcia said. The legendary Mt. SAC course has those steep hills Garcia loves. He said that’s his favorite course.

“I was hoping for a little better finish today,” said Garcia. “But I have another year. Another year to get stronger. Another year to get better.”

The Mt. SAC course is Hasay’s favorite, too. She said she was “a little sad,” that Saturday marked her last state meet but she didn’t exactly wax nostalgic about being done with the Woodward Park course. She’s run it 11 times and won every time.

As for Castanon, “I was a little disappointed with my time today. I’ve had really good workouts. If I could just put it all together in my races, look out.

“Transferring to Mission Prep has made a world of difference for me. I like the atmosphere there so much better.”

James Shipe led the Morro Bay boys to third place in Division IV. The Pirates scored 148 points, behind winner Big Bear’s 44. Shipe finished seventh in 15:55. Individual stale meet qualifier Paul Denlinger of Templeton was a spot behind Garcia, with an identical 16:26. Morro Bay’s girls finished eighth in Division IV. Sophomore Loren Fisher led them, finishing 14th in 19:12.

Atascadero’s Mimi Peterson was 40th in 19:15 in the Girls Division III race. She qualified for the state championships as an individual.

November 30, 2008