Hsia-Coron paces Anzar boys team to 14th place at state
finals
FRESNO
Competing at the CIF State Cross Country Division V Championships for the second year in a row, the Anzar High boys cross country team came in with lofty goals.
They wanted to improve upon last year’s 13th-place standing at state, as well as top Crystal Springs Uplands, which ran away with the Central Coast Section title two weeks ago.
But although they compiled fewer points this year – just 345 compared to 357 last year – the Hawks finished in 14th place Saturday at Fresno’s Woodward Park, and one spot behind Crystal Springs Uplands (319).
“We didn’t have a bad day. But at state, you have to be totally on your game,” Anzar coach Doug MacKinnon said. “If you’re 30 seconds off your time, that’s like 50 places. They really make you pay for your mistakes at a race like this.”
And the Hawks didn’t disappoint. In fact, of the seven runners for Anzar who competed, five of them improved upon their CCS times.
“Overall,” MacKinnon said, “I was happy with our effort and how we placed.”
Sophomore Aaron Hsia-Coron led the Hawks with a 16:55 at state, which placed him 25th overall out of the 179 harriers that recorded times.
Although Hsia-Coron’s time at state was one second off his personal best CCS time, he improved by 37 seconds from last year’s state race.
“Anytime you’re under 17 minutes at state, that’s a good sign,” MacKinnon said.
Junior Jacob Wilkenson ran to an 18:05, which was good enough for 60th place and a 23-second improvement from CCS. Senior Christian Heath had a similar improvement when he ran to a 70th-place finish in 18:16, and bested his CCS time by 20 seconds.
“We’re going to miss Christian, but we’ve got some strong runners coming up,” said MacKinnon, noting Anzar’s junior varsity team, which was tops in the Coastal Athletic League this year. “So I’m pretty optimistic that we’ll field a competitive team next year.”
Juniors Armando Zepeda (18:54) and Izzy Parra (18:58) finished in 93rd and 97th, respectively, for Anzar, while seniors Andre Melicdam (104th, 19:12) and Albie Albertson (121st, 19:52) rounded out the team.
Parra ran despite being sidelined with a knee injury in the few weeks leading up to the race, while MacKinnon also highlighted assistant coach Cuko Chavez.
“He did a great job and he’s there every day,” MacKinnon said. “We wouldn’t have done this without him.”
Anzar, which finished third at CCS behind second place York, beat the Monterey school at state by 56 points. Woodcrest Christian repeated as Division V state champs, compiling a meet-low 66 points.
