Anzar boys, girls advance to CCS Championships
SALINAS
Now the fun part begins.
After breezing through the competition all season, the Anzar Hawks will advance to the Central Coast Section Cross Country Championships next week where it will look to earn back-to-back titles for the first time in school history.
Ranked No. 1 in Division V of the CCS, the boys team really hasn’t been challenged at all this year in the division. While that won’t be the case at CCS, Thursday’s Coastal Athletic League Championships at Salinas’ Toro Park was another walk in the park for Anzar, which downed York 24-44 for the CAL crown.
The girls team lost to York 29-45, but their second-place standing ensures that both Anzar squads will return to Toro Park on Saturday, Nov. 15 for the section championships.
“We just need everybody to perform to their ability at CCS,” coach Doug MacKinnon said. “We’re ranked No. 1, but we’ve got our work cut out for us. Everybody needs to run to their potential.”
If the boys team can mirror Thursday’s performance at CCS, they will likely be favored to earn their second straight section title. Last year Anzar defeated Redwood Christian in CCS, a team that has since moved to the North Coast Section.
Replacing them is Crystal Springs Uplands, however, which is currently ranked No. 2.
“They’re pretty comparable,” MacKinnon said. “They are ranked No. 2, but any given Sunday …”
The Hawks may have an early edge considering Toro Park will house the CCS Championships. And Anzar’s Aaron Hsia-Coron, who finished second overall at last year’s CAL Championships, nearly broke the 17-minute mark on the three-mile course at Toro Park Thursday. He finished first overall in 17:02, and earned the CAL individual title.
“If we do what we did today, I think we’ll have it (at CCS),” Hsia-Coron said. “But I think we’ll do better.”
Hsia-Coron set a personal record with the 17:02, breaking his previous best by four seconds. His goal coming in, though, was to shatter the 17-minute mark.
“I wanted to,” he said. “I still can do it at CCS, I hope.
“But who really did well was ‘Cranberry’ and Jacob (Wilkenson).”
“Cranberry,” also known as Christian Heath, was second overall after he ran a 17:12 Thursday, easily besting his previous time of 18:14.
When asked what pushed him to better his time by more than a minute, Heath’s answer was simple: He could see Hsia-Coron running in front of him, which is a rarity of sorts.
“Coming around the first loop, I could see Aaron. I just wanted to beat him,” Heath said. “I didn’t catch up to him, but that made me a lot faster.
“I’ve never seen him (during a race), which surprised me into thinking that I could beat him.”
Wilkenson’s time of 17:51 placed him fourth, and he joined Hsia-Coron and Heath in earning all-league honors. Teammate Armando Zepeda sat just outside of top-five recognition, as he finished sixth in 18:10.
Anzar’s Brittany Romero (23:12) and Naomi Frenzel (23:57) finished in third and fourth place, respectively, for the Hawks, and earned all-league honors as a result.
“She was our only girl for so long, when we had no girls in the program,” MacKinnon said of Frenzel. “It finally paid off.”
Despite winning the CCS last year, though, the boys team will certainly have their hands full, especially with No. 2-ranked Crystal Spring Uplands. And from what they’ve done this season – by going undefeated – the desire is still there.
“We want to win,” Heath said. “We want to prove it wasn’t a one-time thing.”
BOYS
TEAM: 1, Anzar, 24; 2, York, 44; 3, Pacific Collegiate, 69; 4, Marina, 103. INDIVIDUAL: 1, Hsia-Coron, 17:02; 2, Heath, 17:12; 4, Wilkenson, 17:51; 6, Zepeda, 18:10; 11, Melicdam, 19:08; 13, Albertson, 19:39; 14, Parra, 19:39.
GIRLS
TEAM: 1, York, 29; 2, Anzar, 45; 3, Pacific Collegiate, 52. INDIVIDUAL: 3, Romero, 23:12; 4, Frenzel, 23:57; 9, Bellone, 25:18; 15, Gomez, 29:10; 20, Chen, 31:58.
