Poway junior Tessa Buswell (left) and Del Norte senior Hannah Riggins battled for supremacy in the Division 1 race at the San Diego Section Cross Country Championship. Riggins won on the Morley Field course. Two weeks later, it was Buswell, who sprinted late to win the title at the CIF-State Meet.
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BOYS
Top San Diego Section Storylines
Liberty Charter's Micah Sanchez (at right in photo) was sensational from beginning to end, winning the section D5 title before making it two straight San Diegans to capture the state small school individual championship. He went on to qualify for the CHAMPS Nationals in his home town. The breakthrough performance for the Alpine senior came in the Southern Cal Invitational when he ran with El Camino's Omar Reyes (at left in photo) stride for stride until the final half-mile when he broke away to win the 5,000-meter race by 16 seconds in 15:16.9.
Just a junior, Reyes had both ups and downs in 2022. He handed Sanchez what proved to be a rare loss in the Canyon Crest Ravens Fleet Feet Invitational and collected a PR, like most runners, finishing 13th at Woodbridge in 14:11.1. The most impressive run by Reyes came in the 74th Mt. SAC Invitational where he sped over the hilly 2.93-mile course in 14:49.0 to capture the Individual Sweepstakes by five seconds over Long Beach Millikan's Jason Parra, another junior. He placed second in the section D1 championships to Torrey Pines' Ryan Thomas.
Mt. Carmel's Tom Bell and La Costa Canyon's Jacob Niednagel repeated as section champions. Bell impressively beat fellow senior Russell Blakely of Grossmont by seven seconds (15:16.3-15:23.1) in the Division II championships. He captured the North County Conference title with a personal best 15:41.3 over 3.05 miles at Kit Carson Park. Niednagel always seems to save his best for the section championships and he did it again, winning the Division 3 crown at 15:25.3 over University City's Gael McClain-Martinez (15:35.8). He also captured the Temecula Twilight meet in 14:48.4 for 3-miles and placed third in the D3 Individual Sweepstakes at Mt. SAC (15:15) over 2.93 miles.
Overall: The section continued to be a power in Division 5 with Sanchez following in the footsteps of Francis Parker's Kenan Pala, who won the State title in 2021. So, it might be wise to keep an eye on Francis Parker's York Bourgeois who was the highest-finishing junior in the small-school division at this year's State Meet, placing seventh in 15:39.8.
Boys All-San Diego Section
Micah Sanchez (Liberty Charter, Sr.) - This was an easy choice as Sanchez established his dominance early and never wavered. He had the fastest time overall in the section, won the state title and placed 25th in the CHAMPS Nationals.
Ryan Thomas (Torrey Pines, Sr.) - (pictured) Despite running in the heat of the day as opposed to the morning when it was cloudy, the Falcons senior was just three-tenths of a second behind Sanchez overall in the section meet (15:08.6 to 15:08.9).
Omar Reyes (El Camino, Jr.) - One of the few front-runners who could maintain the pace and outkick most rivals. A fierce competitor who will only get better.
Tom Bell (Mt. Carmel, Sr.) - Known as Tommy the year before, it didn't make any difference as he still had the big smile as he finished strong to win the D2 title.
York Bourgeois (Francis Parker, Jr.) - Although he was eight seconds behind Sanchez at Balboa Park (15:16.3, the same time as Bell), he pushed the Liberty Charter senior the entire race, showing his competitiveness.
Jacob Pippel (Canyon Crest, Jr.) - The 11th-grader came on at the end of the season, holding off fellow North County Conference rival Adrian Welton for the bronze medal in D1.
Adrian Welton (Westview, Jr.) - Speaking of Welton, another junior who is expected to add consistency to his resume next year, the Wolverines runner came up big in the section finals.
Boys Team of the Year
Westview - There are two ways of looking at Westview. The Wolverines placed second in the section to Torrey Pines (56-77) but were clearly superior at state, tying with Los Angeles Loyola for eighth place (and losing the tie-breaker). The thing about Westview is that six of the top seven runners return next fall, led by Welton, who placed fourth in the section and 24th at state. When you have six quality runners returning, they should push each other to even greater success in 2023. Torrey Pines actually held off all challengers until an 11th place finish at state.
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GIRLS
Top San Diego Section Storylines
Lots of highlights on the girls' side, starting with a state D1 individual champion in junior Tessa Buswell. She joins four other San Diego Section girls to capture a title and can join Fallbrook's Milena Glusac (1991-1992) by winning two next year. Known for her 2:09.54 half-mile speed, Buswell roared past Buchanan's Grace Hutchison over the final 50 meters to win in 17:25.0. The irony here is Buswell didn't even win the section title as that honor went to Del Norte senior Hannah Riggins (17:23.6-17:29.0). Buswell picked the right meet to be in perfect position to run down Hutchison who admittedly was more concerned about the team title.
It isn't often that a freshman will make a huge splash, especially when that 9th-grader had never run cross country before. But that was La Jolla's Chiara Dailey (pitctured). Not only did she capture the section D4 title by almost a full minute over teammate Kirra Fisk (17:14.6-18:13.1), she turned around and got a PR 17:27.3 to place second in state before qualifying for the CHAMPS national championships where she earned third team All-American honors by placing 14th, running on what was basically her home course (although slightly different with two big hills).
Neither Buswell nor Dailey had the fastest time in the section championships as that honor went to La Costa Canyon junior Gioana Lopizzo, winning D3 at 17:12.7. She showed her grit earlier by placing second at Mt. SAC in 17:14.0. Winning the section started a terrific late-season run where she placed second in the state at 17:27.3, was second in the CHAMPS West Regional back at Mt. SAC running the full 5K in 18:05.0, and qualifying for the Nationals where she was 29th in 18:30.2.
Overall: A state champion and two CHAMPS National finalists, one of whom earned All-American honors, was a step up from 2021 when Santa Fe Christian's Revere Schmidt captured the D5 title but was unable to defend her crown this season due to a late-season injury. And Dailey wasn't the only freshman standout in the section as Chula Vista Eastlake's Jaelyn Williams had what normally would be considered a banner year with a fourth place in the state D1 championships at 17:38.9.
Girls All-San Diego Section
Gioana Lopizzo (La Costa Canyon, Jr.) - (pictured) Earned the No. 1 spot off her 17:12.7 in the section finals despite running later in the day when it was warmer. She went on to a second in the state, second in the West Regionals and a 29th in the Nationals.
Chiara Dailey (La Jolla, Fr.) - Every week was a wonder for the 9th-grader who after wanting to run cross country, was given the green light by her parents, both notable distance runners at the University of Arkansas. That 14th at CHAMPS against 40 of the top runners in the nation was delicious icing on the cake.
Hannah Riggins (Del Norte, Sr.) - Earned the No. 3 spot with the victory over Tessa Buswell in the section finals. Riggins' strategy there was perfect as she built a lead to discourage a late surge from Buswell.
Tessa Buswell (Poway, Jr.) - The Titans runner learned from losing two weeks earlier, staying just close enough to unleash one of the state's best kicks to capture the D1 title. That became her highlight as she qualified to run in the National Team championships.
Jaelyn Williams (Eastlake, Fr.) - Let's see, a third place in the section finals (17:30.5) followed by a fourth in the state championships (17:38.9)-not a bad finish for the 9th-grader who can't wait to step on the track this spring.
Emily Russo (Del Norte, So.) - Because of the 1-4 state finish, it's almost possible to forget that Russo placed 14th in the state and fourth in the section where Del Norte made its first jump into the No. 1 team spot.
Sophia Biesinger (La Costa Canyon, Sr.) - The senior gave LCC a 1-2 finish in the section championships and although she was well behind the winner, Lopizzo, her time (18:03.5) was still the seventh fastest overall.
Girls Team of the Year
Del Norte - A fourth place finish in the State Division I championships with a combined time of 1:34:35 clinched the No. 1 spot for the Nighthawks over Cathedral Catholic (1:35:24). Soph Emily Russo (12th in the team count), junior Ella Echsner (28th), soph sister Paige Echsner (39th), and junior Brianna Busse (49th) make this a team to watch in 2023 despite the graduation of senior section champion Hannah Riggins. Cathedral Catholic moved up one spot from 2021 but Campolindo (NC) was clearly superior at State. University City's third was a nice jump and four of the top five finishers are back.
Photos by DeAnna Turner, Phil Grooms, James Huenink, and Raymond Tran
Steve Brand is a freelance writer and contributes to MileSplit as the San Diego Section Editor