Anzar cross country team finishes 5th at MTAL meet, just 4
points behind York
SALINAS
There’s something about cross country meets that turn harriers into mathematicians. Maybe it’s all those numbers.
“If we had run against York individually, they would have only beaten us by one point,” said Anzar’s Aaron Hsia-Coron, who finished seventh overall at last Thursday’s Mission Trail Athletic League Center Meet in Salinas.
“We can get them.”
In reality, with nine other teams competing at the MTALs second Center Meet of the season, Anzar officially finished four points behind rival York, 113-117.
Carmel (46), Stevenson (53) and King City (72) took the top three spots.
Still, with Hsia-Coron one of many Anzar runners who posted a personal-record time at the Toro Park event, the four-point differential with York — or even one-point differential, according to Hsia-Coron — is a vast improvement from the previous Center Meet in late September when the Hawks trailed the Falcons by 58 points.
“I think we’re getting there and I think we’re getting better,” Anzar head coach Doug MacKinnon said. “The kids are getting in better shape and are avoiding injuries.
“I think it’s gonna be a good end to the season.”
And the Hawks may just be peaking at the right time of the season.
Hsia-Coron’s 16:53 was his best time at Toro Park, and a seven-second improvement from the late September meet. The Anzar junior is still not satisfied, though.
“Compared to everyone else, I did pretty under par,” Hsia-Coron said. “I just didn’t have it today.”
Anzar’s top runner, who ran a 16:15 at Crystal Springs earlier this season, quickly directed the attention toward teammates Jacob Wilkinson and Izzy Parra, both of whom set sizable PRs on Thursday.
Parra’s 17:41, for instance, a time that placed him 19th overall, was roughly 40 seconds better than his previous PR of 18:19, set last year.
“It’s good, but I was still disappointed,” Parra said. “I thought I should have done a lot better. My potential at this point is a lot more.
“But as long as I’m getting better … as long as I’m helping the team … I’m happy with it, I guess.”
Wilkinson, meanwhile, set a PR with a 17:31 and finished in 14th place, some 16 seconds better than last year. Miguel Vega (18:54) and Armando Zepeda (18:55) finished in 38th and 39th, respectively, while Josiah Garza (19:23) and Diego Leon (19:28) took 46th and 47th.
Garza, who PR’ed by 15 seconds, owed the improvement to his all-oatmeal diet.
“Everybody PR’ed on varsity,” MacKinnon said.
On the girls side, Anzar’s Valerie Quezada ran a 23:02 to finish in 14th place, while Crystal Prado was 48th in 28:08. Krystal Ruiz-Rocha finished in 51st place with a time of 31:33.
The Hawks have two more cracks at York this season. The two teams will be in attendance at a Coastal Athletic League meet on Thursday at Gavilan College, which will be a mere precursor to the MTAL Championships on Nov. 6 at Toro Park.
“It’s good to have an adversary,” Wilkinson said of York. “It helps us train and have a goal.”
