MILESPLITCA JUNIOR BOYS ALL-STATE TEAM
Matt Strangio (#659) won his second state title but this time in Cross Country (Steve Shaff photo)
FIRST TEAM
(listed alphabetically)
ISAIAH GALINDO (Clovis North/CS) -- Galindo had a very busy fall with a full schedule of races that culminated in an impressive seventh place finish at the California State Meet Division I race. Along the way, Galindo also scored impressive victories at the Dennis Dewitt Invitational, Sanger Invitational and the Clovis North Twilight Invitational. His 15:12.6 time on the Woodward Park course was the 15th fastest overall and he will be returning as the fifth fastest underclassman.
DAMIAN GAVILAN (Paso Robles/CS) -- Gavilan may have had a solid-to-good season leading up to the State Final race. At the Central Section Final, Gavilian finished an impressive second behind Stockdale senior Marcus Mota. At the State Meet, Gavilan improved his time from the previous week to a personal best 15:23.0 on the Woodward Park 5K course and locked up a first team all-state junior spot.
ANTHONY GROVER (JSerra/SS) -- Grover made his presence felt early in his high school career with a fifth place finish as a freshman in the State Division IV race. As a sophomore, Grover moved all the way up to the front with an impressive victory. As a junior, Grover came into the State Final as one of the favorites but some questions needed to be answered after his fourth place finish at the Southern Section finals. Turns out that Grover was sick at that meet and once fully healthy, he repeated as State D-IV champion a week later. Grover finished in fourth place at the Foot Locker West region race to qualify for the national meet.
CHRISTOPHER MIDDLETON-PEARSON (Dublin/NC) -- The Dublin junior had his coming out party as a sophomore during the track and field season. He repeatedly helped his Dublin teammates to top finishes in relay races including a dramatic 4 x 1600m victory at Arcadia. Individually, he also ran an impressive 4:12.05 to qualify for the California State Meet. This fall, Middleton-Pearson continued his impressive running that culminated with a second place finish at the North Coast Section Final (15:00.6 for 3 miles) and a podium finish at the California State Meet Division II final with a personal best 15:14.4.
CALEB NIEDNAGEL (La Costa Canyon/SD) -- The La Costa Canyon Mavericks had a strong duo coming back this season with the Stanford twins (Jacob and Garrett). During the summer, the team got quite a bit stronger when former Dana Hills star runner Caleb Niednagel (
below in Ken Grosse photo) transferred to LCC. He gave the team arguably the best trio of runners in the state. Niednagel stepped to the front of the trio at state with his fourth place finish in the Division II State Final. LCC finished in second place behind a strong Newbury Park team and qualified to NXN where Neidnagel finished a very competitive 50th place.
MATT STRANGIO (Jesuit/SJ) -- Strangio capped off his sophomore season on the track with an improbable state title in the 3200m race. He came into his junior cross country season with a lot of confidence and big goals. Just like his previous track season, injuries curtailed his momentum but when the post-season came around, Strangio proved to be a big race competitor once again. He won the SJS Division I title and followed that up with another state title the following week. At his second NXN race, Strangio improved his 15th place finish his sophomore season to an eighth place finish as a junior.
NICO YOUNG (Newbury Park/SS) -- Young made his presence felt early with an impressive victory at the ultra-competitive Woodbridge Invitational with a time of 14:01.1 on the whippet-fast 3-mile course. He won the Southern Section Division II crown and followed that up with a state title the following week as he dipped under the 15-minute mark with a time of 14:59.2. All outstanding performances but his best race of the season took place a week later at the NXN meet where he finished in fourth place and will be the second fastest returner next fall in 2019.
Caleb Niednagel (2336) transferred from Dana Hills and helped La Costa Canyon to a NXN bid.
SECOND TEAM
(listed alphabetically)
GABRIEL ABBES (Great Oak/SS) -- Season shortened by injury but no doubt that Abbes was one of the top juniors in the state.
JACE ASCHBRENNER (Newbury Park/SS) -- Joined with Nico Young to give Newbury Park quite a dynamic junior duo. Aschbrenner rolled to a 14:42.8 at the Southern Section Final.
KEITH MURRAY (Moorpark/SS) -- Finished in third place at the Southern Section Finals and a podium finishing fifth place at the State Meet Division III race.
HUNTER ROMINE (West Ranch/SS) -- West Ranch gave Great Oak all it could handle at the State Meet and Romine was a big part of the success.
LYLE RUMON (Marin Catholic/NC) -- One of the best juniors in NCS, who raced to an impressive third at the CIF-State Division IV Final after not racing for almost a month.
CHRIS VERDUGO (Great Oak/SS) -- Another Great Oak runner made the list and along with Abbes gave the Wolfpack a nice junior combo that will return looking to extend the Wolfpack's run of state titles.
HONORABLE MENTION
(listed alphabetically)
Kelly Brewer (Buchanan/CS), Alex Cuevas (Ridgeview/CS), Carrick Denker (Dana Hills/SS), JuanPablo Garcia (St. Francis/CC), Jack Gray (Amador Valley/NC), Adham Maher (Stockdale/CS), Garrett MacQuiddy (Westmont/CC), Ben McKenna (Aliso Niguel/SS), Ronan McMahon Staggs (Long Beach Poly/SS), Joshua Ochoa (Clovis North/CS), Jake Parker (West Torrance/SS), Adam Sage (Los Altos/CC), Cole Sawires Yager (Great Oak/SS), Adam Trafecanty (Claremont/SS), Dylan Wilbur (Crescenta Valley/SS).
