Bellarmine-Jefferson girls’ cross-country captures league crown
IRWINDALE — Backed by team and individual championships along with postseason qualifications, the Bellarmine-Jefferson High girls’ and boys’ cross-country program enjoyed success at Wednesday afternoon’s Santa Fe League championships at Santa Fe Dam.
Guards sophomore Caitlyn Couch captured her second consecutive league title to lead Bell-Jeff to a league championship, while freshman Nick Montijo qualified to the CIF Southern Section postseason as an individual.
“I wasn’t sure what to expect because we have two girls who play volleyball and so I told them to go out at their own pace and not to push it because they have a game tonight,” Bell-Jeff Coach Jim Couch said. “I was happy with how we finished as a team and I was really happy with Nick.
“Here’s a kid who hadn’t even run three miles before coming to Bell-Jeff and now he’s moving on. That’s a success story.”
Bell-Jeff won its third league meet in as many tries in capturing the league crown only a year after finishing third.
Caitlyn Couch held a minute lead at the halfway point of the race and ran away to victory in a mark of 18 minutes, 35.2 seconds.
“I just ran,” Caitlyn Couch said. “I had no strategy – I just wanted to run.”
Even with the win, Caitlyn Couch wasn’t exactly pleased.
“I wanted to go for [a 17-minute time] and obviously that didn’t happen,” Caitlyn Couch said. “I was really just going for time, so I’m disappointed with that.”
Fellow Guards sophomore Valerie Zavala placed second in 19:04.1 and also felt there was room for improvement.
“I’m not satisfied either,” Zavala said. “I felt actually real good when I started, but then my stomach starting killing me. I had to really push to finish.”
As a team, the Guards romped to a 26-54 victory over St. Matthias /Pius X, while St. Anthony was a close third with 58 points.
Freshman Samantha Geyer took third overall in 21:06, while Dalilia Rincon was ninth (21:33) and Cosette Balmy was 13th (22:33) for Bell-Jeff.
As for the boys, they finished fifth in league with 129 points, behind St. Matthias/Pius (40), St. Anthony (43), St. Genevieve (65) and Verbum Dei (108).
St. Anthony’s Evan Vance won the individual title with a mark of 17:30.
Montijo was his team’s bright spot, as the freshman was eighth in 18:02 and earned advancement as an individual to the Division V preliminaries in Riverside on Nov. 14.
“I had never run at this park before, so it was difficult,” Montijo said. “I wanted to try to get a league championship, but I’m happy I finished in the top 10. That was my goal and the goal of the team, to see if we could get someone in the top 10.”
Montijo was fourth midway through, but slowly gave up ground to more experienced runners.
“He let the seniors dictate that finish,” Jim Couch said. “That’s OK, he’s learning. From where he started to where he is now, I couldn’t be prouder.”
Sophomore Tim Carlson was Bell-Jeff’s only other top-25 placer and took 22nd in 19:13.