By Chuck Lyons

Rosemead – They ran fast and then they danced at Rosemead High School’s 28^th Annual Cross Country Invitational on Saturday night, Sept. 19!

A total of 37 high schools with a combined total of 915 runners, a little less than last year’s 43 schools and 1,027 runners, possibly because of cutbacks in funding for school team trips, competed in an almost party atmosphere this year.

The course started by Rosemead High’s Marinelli Stadium and continued through Rosemead Park, including a run over some rolling hills and then down through the trees, also becoming known as “Panthers Runway,” and then went back to Rosemead High’s practice field before going into the stadium where loud, cheering crowds lined the field to the finish line where a County of Los Angeles Fire Dept. truck welcomed the finishers.

Runners appeared nervous and serious though, yet celebrated their efforts when a huge impromptu dance party after the last race when hundreds of runners, fans, a few coaches and parents danced to a couple of tunes from the music disc jockey while waiting for the final results to be posted. One coach commented, “Our runners are having a blast.”

Rosemead High Head Coach Fidel Dominguez, in his first year at the school, said the dance has to be a record for the number of participants dancing at a high school cross country meet.  “The  runners, coaches and fans had a lot of fun, and that’s what our Rosemead runners, coaches, parents and staff worked a lot to accomplish.

“Runners get nervous, then serious while they enjoy running, and at Rosemead we also like them to enjoy the invite when they’re not running. We offer a fast, interesting race course, reasonable prices for the invite tee-shirt, program and food, our staff does a good job of keeping the rest rooms clean and drinking water supplied at the finish line, and the runners appear to really like our medals and awards. The top 40 runners in each race earned a medal, the top five got a tee-shirt, and the winner got a trophy, and there were team awards.” There were 320 medals and 26 trophies won during the competition.

The opening ceremonies started with the Rosemead High choir singing a stirring rendition of the USA National Anthem, followed by welcome speeches by new Rosemead High Principal Larry Inflatable Water Slide Cecil on behalf of the school and El Monte Union High School District, and a City of Rosemead proclamation was presented by Rosemead Mayor Margaret Clark and Council Member Sandra Armenta to the school.

The competition was fast with South El Monte senior Jayson Perez (14:10) the “Fastest Male of the Meet,” and Mayfield senior Michelle Gonzales (17:22) the “Fastest Female of the Meet,” with both runners setting course records for the 2.92 mile course.

The spectator-friendly event with free admission and free parking got started with the freshmen girls race, won by Meghan Nevarez of Downey in 18:18, with teammate Allison Barrera in fourth (19:18) to help Downey win the team trophy with 99 points, followed by Etiwanda (123) in second, Arroyo (150) in third and Mayfield (177) in fourth. Other top local runners included Mayfield’s Karina Alvarez (19:08) in third, Mark Keppel’s Angela Lin (19:56) in fifth, and Mayfield’s Kennedy Dinius (20:13) in tenth.

In freshmen boys, Arroyo won with 28 points with Jesus Ocana (16:04) in first, Samuel Garcia (16:15) in third, Diego Lopez (16:32) in fifth, Andres Aparicio (16:59) in ninth, and Luis Lopez (17:12) in tenth. West Covina’s Lukas Guardado (16:39) was sixth. Rosemead’s David Moreno (16:58) was eighth to pace Rosemead to a fourth place finish with 130 points. In other team scoring, Etiwanda was second (78) and Santa Fe was third (79).

In sophomore girls, Katherine Turcek of Marlborough won in 17:54, although West Covina won the team trophy with 102 points and was led by Karissa Austin (18:51) in second, and Kristen Austin (18:56) in third. Other top locals included Kelly Shen (19:13) of Mark Keppel in fifth, Mayfield’s Charlotte Anderson (19:17) in eighth, and Rosemead’s Kelly Luc (19:26) in tenth. Estancia was second in team points at 141, Rosemead was third at 158, and Glendora was fourth at 202.

In sophomore boys, host Rosemead won with 124 points with Daniel Moreno (16:13) in sixth, Kelvin Zhong (16:24) in seventh, and Abraham Esparza (16:42) in 12^th leading the way for the Panthers. Walnut was second with 204 points, Etiwanda (218) was third and West Covina (228) was fourth. Cole McDowell of Alta Loma won the race in 15:05, Michael Valdez (16:09) was fourth, Andrew Pineda (16:11) of West Covina was fifth, Paco Rodriguez (16:34) of Don Bosco Tech was ninth, and Joshua Gonzalez (16:38) of Walnut was tenth.

By the start of the junior girls race the stars were coming out and lights lit the course.  Cristian Meza (17:59) of Montebello won the race, although the team awards were earned by Mayfield, first with 162 points, West Covina (188) in second, Arroyo (197) in third, and Montebello (200) in fourth. Other top locals were West Covina’s Lovella Perea (18:49) in fourth, Glendora’s Allison Mayo (18:54) in fifth, Arroyo’s Laura Gazca (18:56) in sixth and teammate Lucy Lopez (19:02) in eighth, Mayfield’s Melissa Gonzales (18:59) in seventh, and Westridge’s Kelly Riffenburgh (19:06) in tenth.

Tyre Hines (14:35) won the junior boys race to lead Etiwanda to the team title with 111 points, followed by Pioneer (124), second, West Covina (143) third, and Estancia (146) in fourth. Other top local were El Monte’s Brandon Martinez (15:25) in third, Alhambra’s Raul Herrera (15:54) in eighth, and West Covina’s Asad Amin (16:06) in tenth.

The senior races traditionally are closely-contested because it’s the last race at the invite for the runners and they didn’t disappoint. By this time the crowds had mostly left the stands to line parts of the race course.

Rosemead’s Brittnie Munoz (17:28) had won the invite her first three years in high school, and battled with Mayfield’s Michelle Gonzales (17:22), who gradually pulled away for the win to be the fastest female in the invite.

The Santa Fe girls didn’t place any runner in the top 15, yet won the team title with 153 points. West Covina, led by third place finisher Jessica Mendez (17:44), was second in the team standings with 162 points. Mayfield’s Ellen Banks (17:55) was fourth, and Etiwanda’s Rose Codilla (18:17) was fifth. Rosemead’s Elizabeth Lyons (18:43) was sixth ahead of Westridge’s Emily Honn (18:45) as Munoz and Lyons helped Rosemead earn third in team scoring with 184 points, and Montebello (264) was fourth.

In senior boys, Jayson Perez of South El Monte won in 14:10, and was followed by Steven Melena (14:25) of Eastside (Lancaster) in second, Alta Loma’s A.J. Licon (14:52) in third, and then there was a close group with Duarte’s Avedis Gertmenian (15:03) fourth, Arroyo’s Efren Alcala (15:08:16) fifth, Estancia’s Jorge Martin (15:08:59) sixth, Etiwanda’s Daniel Melling (15:09:18) seventh, Duarte’s Raul Quintero (15:09:59) eighth, Etiwanda’s Nebiat Hunegraw (15:14) ninth, and South El Monte’s Isaias Hinojosa (15:15) in tenth. Host Rosemead was paced by Christopher Le (15:51), 21^st, and Gilbert Ramirez (16:04), 27^th.

Eastside won the senior boys race with 79 points, and was followed by Etiwanda (104) in second, Northview (196) in third, and Alta Loma (197) in fourth place.

Dominguez said adding a disc jockey for music was new this year. He said the DJ was popular and will continue to be a part of the event in future years. He continued, “there were more food booths, more lighting, a greater participation from local businesses that made a professional color program possible for the first time this year, and continuing cooperation from the City of Rosemead Council, Public Works, and Parks and Recreation departments that helped make this event possible.”

Dominguez and Rosemead Assistant Coach Krista Marquez emphasized a big thank you goes to the City of Rosemead, program advertisers, Criscon Body Works athletic massage specialist for being a trainer and also volunteering along with American Medical Response emergency medical technicians and LA County Fire Dept. firemen to make the event safe and help any athletes needing medical attention, Southern California Road Runners for volunteering at the finish line and awards area, Greg Smotherman of www.smothermanimages.com for photographing the event, dyestatcal.com, and to the Rosemead High senior parents and school maintenance staff for helping with so many details on race day.

A list of all the results and more information is available at www.rhsxc.com.

Some runners waiting for race results after the last race at Rosemead High School’s 28th Annual Cross Country Invitational on Sept. 19, decided to start dancing as they listened to the music disc jockey and it appeared that hundreds joined them for “the largest dance at a high school cross country meet. One coach said “Our runners are having a blast.” Photo by C. Lyons.

Rosemead High School senior Elizabeth Lyons (far right) leads a group of runners right behind leaders at Rosemead's 28th Annual Cross Country Invitational on Sept. 19.