Canyon Crest senior Carlie Dorostkar on her way to victory at Morley Field. (Credit: Clark Kranz)
--
RELATED
--
SAN DIEGO -- For those who wondered about Canyon Crest's Carlie Dorostkar, she's just fine, thank you.
The Ravens senior made her 2019 cross country debut at the 40th Mt. Carmel Invitational Saturday at Balboa Park and took dead aim at some of the biggest names in San Diego Section cross country history.
Clocking a time of 14-minutes, 44.6-seconds in the Division 1 Senior/Invitational in the heat of the day, Dorostkar won by 1:19 -- that's a minute and 19 seconds.
Further, it was the third-fastest time ever over the 2.75-mile course which is slightly shorter than the Foot Locker National and section championship courses.
Those ahead of her? Rancho Bernardo's Molly Grabill clocked a 14:36 in 2010 with Torrey Pines' Alli Billmeyer pushing her the whole way at 14:43. Grabill won the 2009 State cross country title with Billmeyer again just 10 seconds back in second.
Only the clock pushed Dorostkar.
"I just tried to get off the starting line faster and keep going," she said as she widened her lead at every check point. "I ran with more confidence and have had better practices.
"Once I got in front I tried to go as hard as I could. I'll apply what I learned today in the Dana Hills Invitational next week. I pretended someone was right behind me. You never know-I wasn't thinking of running a fast time, just winning.
"I was told by somebody I was 50 seconds ahead but after thinking about going easy, I told myself 'you better get going.'
"I prefer running in cooler weather early in the day because then you don't have to think about when or where to eat."
Here is a race-by-race rundown:
Division 1 Boys
Senior/Invitational
Loyola's Anthony Stone appeared poised to pull away with the win when he took a wrong turn and dragged four runners with him.
They went another 50 yards before officials convinced them to turn around but by then unsung Rohan Dahlke of Del Norte had grabbed the lead with 800 meters to go. Stone gained with every step but Dahlke barely held on, covering 2.95-mile boys course in 16:01.6 to Stone's 16:02.1 -- a step behind.
"They took the wrong turn and since I've run here before, I knew where to go," said Dahkle, won ran 16:54 last year. "I heard him coming at the end. I was thinking he'd go by me, but he couldn't. When they went the wrong way, I started to think maybe I went the wrong way and they were right, but I didn't slow down.
"I could feel it was hot out there but it was the same for everybody."
Division I Juniors
Temecula Chaparral's Jacob Bustamante (15:47.3) broke away to leave La Quinta's Raen Reyes (16:02.7) well behind.
Division 1 Sophomores
Torrey Pines' Johnathan Hidle (16:27.9) had just enough left at the end to hold off Mason Ortega of Burbank Burroughs (16:29.3) in one of the closest races of the day.
Division 1 Freshmen
Carter Stuhlmacher of Chula Vista Olympian put his triathlon skills to good use as he led wire-to-wire before crossing the line in16:43.3, 37 seconds (37th all-time). He was the only runner in the division to crack 17-minutes.
Division 2 Senior/Invitational
JSerra's Anthony Grover (15:13.1, 26th all-time) broke away from previously unbeaten Caleb Niednagel (15:18.0) in the final quarter-mile to win his first competition of the year. The time is equal to the 25th best on the course for the division.
"I just wanted to win," said Grover, a two-time Division IV State Champion and a 2018 Foot Locker National finalist. "I'm looking forward to running in Clovis. He stumbled a little bit just as I was making my move."
Division 2 Juniors
Another unsung runner, Zach Brown (16:25.8) of Pacific Ridge, pulled away from Francis Parker's Spencer Seay (16:31.8) for the win.
"After playing water polo last year to try something else, I came back. In cross country you get the satisfaction of winning you don't get in water polo."
Division 2 Sophomores
Francis Parker's Kenny Pala (16:28.2) build a nice lead over Hilltop's Jimmy Byland (16:34.1) to win the sprint for the finish tape.
Division 2 Freshmen
Mt. Carmel's Tommy Bell (17:01.7) looked dominant in beating Liberty Christian's Micah Sanchez (17:11.9) as the temperature started to heat up.
.
GIRLS
Division 1 Senior/Invitational
(See above)
Division 1 Junior Girls
Finally given a chance to move out of Jacey Farmer's long shadow, Ashley Learn cruised to an easy victory, pulling away to win in 16:18.8.
"It feels good but I want to win every race," said the 16-year-old. "I wish all of the races were long because I prefer the longer distance."
Division I Sophomores
Liberty's Nora Thompson (17:49.2) steadily built her lead throughout the race to handily handle Westview's Mattie Nelson (17:547.0).
Division I Freshmen
Del Norte's Hannah Riggins (16:17.2) clocked the 27th fastest time in leaving runner-up Amanda Challburg of Eastlake (17:08.1) a distance second.
Division 2 Senior/Invitational
For the second straight major meet, El Capitan's Carolinh Calvert (15:43.2-equal 33nd all-time seniors) was able to hold off her nearest pursuer, Ramona's Amy Brown (15:47.0).
"I felt bad-my stomach hurt-but my legs felt good so I told myself this was a mental race, not physical."
Division 2 Juniors
Lauren Froehlich (16:14.4) of Arizona's Salpointe Catholic had little trouble winning her race by 28 seconds.
Division 2 Sophomores
A two-runner race after the first mile, Mt. Carmel's Navaya Zales (16:11.9) edged La Costa Canyon's Kyra Compton (16:13.8).
"Going down the final hill I still I had something left," said Zales, who was injured a year ago, suffering an ankle injury when hit by a car.
Division 2 Freshmen
Tucson Catalina Foothills' Taylor McCue (16:04.2) clocked the 15th fastest freshman time ever when she won by almost a half-second.
Canyon Crest senior Carlie Dorostkar on her way to victory at Morley Field. (Credit: Clark Kranz)