Daily Pilot Boys’ Cross-Country Dream Team: Young Garcia already a star
Newport Harbor High’s boys’ cross-country team had an embarrassment of riches.
Not many teams get to say that they have the top three runners in their league.
Even among that trifecta, there was clear separation.
It didn’t take long for those in the sport to notice that Alexis Garcia had become the crowned jewel of a Newport Harbor program that was due to have its day in the sun.
Garcia enjoyed modest success in his first year of running, becoming the Sailors’ No. 3 runner by the end of his freshman year.
Having a target helped Garcia achieve his rising stardom. The sophomore had watched teammate Ben Wilson win the Sunset League individually the previous season.
In the offseason, the Mexico City transplant made it his goal to catch and overtake his senior teammates – Wilson and Mark Field.
“My goal for this year, it was to be as fast as Ben,” said Garcia, the Daily Pilot Boys’ Cross-Country Runner of the Year. “I kept working with him, and then I started getting better than him. I think that’s how I improved that much because I never stopped training hard.”
Sailors Coach Nowell Kay saw the relationship develop, and he called his captain a good mentor for young runners like Garcia.
“Ben is a great teammate because he is a hard worker,” Kay said. “He always works hard, and that gave Alexis a model for his workout behavior. He was right there with Ben on all the runs and the workouts.”
He opened up the season with a second-place showing at the Laguna Hills Invitational. That was a grade-level race.
Two weeks later, he took seventh in a blazing time of 14:49 at the Dana Hills Invitational.
Sure, the Dana Hills High cross-country course was one of the fastest that anyone would see, stacking up against the likes of the traditionally quick-paced Woodbridge Invitational.
As much as pundits could have looked for ways to devalue the start that Garcia was having, there was no way to overlook his accomplishments when he took first at the Central Park Invitational.
Garcia won the race in 15:21, beating Santa Ana’s Jorge Suarez by four seconds. Suarez already had a name in cross-country, having received first-team All-Orange County honors the previous season as the Golden West League champion (Suarez successfully defended his title this year).
The Central Park Invitational had earned Garcia respect among his peers. His next race would cement his place among the county’s elite.
Reminder: This is a sophomore that we are talking about. Still, Garcia showed every sign that he had the guts to pursue the glory. He endured the physical pounding to stay with the leaders, taking second place in 15:05 in the sweepstakes race of the Orange County Championships.
He was runner-up only to Dana Hills junior Jack Landgraf (14:53), the Orange County Athlete of the Year. Just wait until those two go at it again, but unfortunately for racing fans, it didn’t happen again this season.
The Dana Hills Invitational had given Garcia a couple of goals to shoot for. It was the first race that the soon-to-be Sailors ace had beaten Wilson. He recognized that the potential to be Sunset League champion was there.
“I knew that I could be better than him,” Garcia said. “If I trained harder and harder, I could be the Sunset League champion.”
As a team, Newport Harbor placed sixth in the Invitational heat of the Dana Hills meet with a team time of 1:17:40.
Kay capitalized on the moment to tell his team that if it continued to run that well, it had a chance to make it to the state championship meet.
A light bulb went on in Garcia’s head. Qualifying for the state meet had become his top priority.
After his amazing performance at the county championships, the postseason was just two weeks away. Garcia delivered on all of his lofty goals.
In the Sunset League finals, his time of 15:20 paced the Sailors’ torrent trio. Field placed second in 15:25, and Wilson crossed the finish line third overall in 15:37.
Together, they helped earn Newport Harbor’s first league title since 2008.
Garcia had placed 15th in the league championship meet as a freshman. He leapfrogged five returning runners that had finished ahead of him to take the league title.
“My teammates were telling me that it wasn’t just them,” Garcia said of the runners he was trying to catch this year. “I told them that nothing is impossible and that I could beat the other guys on other teams.”
The Sunset League hosted one of the earliest league finals. Following a two-week layoff, Garcia did not hold back. He posted identical efforts of 15:06 in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 Prelims and Finals.
His performance in the sectional finals placed him 10th overall, and that was after he felt he had been tripped during the race. He had qualified for state as an individual.
Garcia became the first Sailor to compete in the cross-country state championship since Newport Harbor qualified as a team in 2007.
“Oh, definitely,” Kay exclaimed when asked if he enjoyed the road trip that Garcia earned. “It was a fun time. It was a learning experience for him. I think he’s looking forward to getting back next year and improving on what he did this year.”
Garcia placed 34th with a time of 15:55 in his first attempt at the state meet. The experience may serve him well as he rises to the ranks of upperclassman next season.
Athough he would have liked to have placed higher in the state final, Garcia was honored to receive the support that he was given by local athletes.
“When I went to the state meet, there were people telling me, ‘Show them what the Sunset League is all about,’” Garcia said. “I was very happy about it. I never thought that I could get this far.”
Garcia’s abilities may soon make him a household name in running circles. His humility has already earned him their respect.
Coach of the Year
Daniel Hurtado
Ocean View
For as long as he had raced, Hurtado had never known what it was like to be part of a competitive cross-country team. The Class of 2008 Seahawks alum vowed to change that when he took the head coaching position at Ocean View two years ago. Hurtado changed the culture of the program, leading the boys’ team to its first league title since 1983. “They were able to bring the community together,” Hurtado said. “When…I saw the mass of people who came out to support the team, I think that’s what hit me the most.” The team also made its second straight CIF-SS Division 3 Finals appearance, the only two in school history. Ocean View is relevant now, with the team taking on the best wherever it goes. The Seahawks were 11th at the Orange County Championships and eighth at the Mt. SAC Invitational, running the sweepstakes race in both.
First Team
Mark Field
Newport Harbor
Senior
Field’s ascension along with the meteoric rise of Alexis Garcia made for a three-headed monster atop the Newport Harbor lineup. He went from 14th in the Sunset League finals as a junior to the runner-up in the league championship meet this year. The senior placed second in a grade-level race at the Laguna Hills Invitational, announcing himself as a force to be reckoned with in his final season. At his next meet, he ran a sub-15-minute time to capture 11th at the Dana Hills Invitational. He showed up when the races counted the most, improving by 17 positions from the CIF-SS Prelims to the Finals.
Elliot Hachac
Costa Mesa
Senior
From water polo player to elite cross country runner, Hachac made it a magical year for the Mustangs. Costa Mesa was in the hunt for the Orange Coast League title. Hachac won the individual league crown, and he ran up with the leaders on a consistent basis. Garnering a reputation with Mustangs coach Steve Moreno as a runner that always raced for the win, Hachac placed in the top five of every race he ran through the CIF-SS finals. He won races at the Laguna Hills and Woodbridge Invitational as well as both league meets. He capped off his year by placing 13th in the CIF State Division 4 championship race.
Leif Hellgren
Corona del Mar
Senior
The senior entered the season as one of the area’s top runners to watch. He battled some demons in looking for consistency from week to week. Hellgren set his 5K personal record of 16:04 in taking fifth at the Clovis Invitational. The following week, he fell to 26th at the Orange County Championships. Nevertheless, the Sea Kings ace was at his best in Pacific Coast League competition. He was the runner-up at the league preview meet on Oct. 6. He overthrew his rival, Ryuya Souther of Woodbridge, for the Pacific Coast League championship. Hellgren was sixth at the CIF-SS Prelims and 20th in the Division 3 Finals.
Edwin Montes
Ocean View
Sophomore
Ocean View’s boys’ cross-country team had a year fit for a storybook. Five seniors completed their high school running careers by giving the school its first league title in 33 years. The Seahawks have promise in the future, as they get to keep their No. 2 and No. 3 runners. Montes accepted the challenge of running up front with team captain Ryan St. Pierre. He was fourth in the Golden West League finals, fifth in the CIF-SS prelims, and 21st in the sectional Division 3 finals (15:22). Montes added top-10 showings at the Riverside Showcase and Laguna Hills Invitational.
Ryan St. Pierre
Ocean View
Senior
Every story needs a protagonist, and St. Pierre was certainly that for the upstart Seahawks. Ocean View Coach Daniel Hurtado said that the ambitious senior captain made it okay for his team to dream big again. The Seahawks hadn’t won a league title since 1983, but they snapped that drought with the senior leading the charge. He finished third in the Golden West League finals. He was sixth in the CIF-SS Prelims, and he set a personal record of 15:22 in his final race at the CIF-SS Finals, placing 22nd.
Ben Wilson
Newport Harbor
Senior
The Sailors’ captain took the smallest leap forward of Newport Harbor’s “Big Three,” but he had the least amount of work to do to remain relevant. A tireless worker in the team’s training sessions, he elevated his teammates by setting the standard of intensity in workouts. After winning the Sunset League’s individual title as a junior, he finished third at the meet this year. That was a big contribution to Newport Harbor’s first team league title since 2008. He set a three-mile personal record of 15:03 at the Dana Hills Invitational. He also posted a ninth-place finish at the Central Park Invitational.
Second Team
Name, School, Year
David Brito, Ocean View, Jr.
Joseph Cianfrani, Corona del Mar, So.
Kevin Cortez, Costa Mesa, So.
Cody Groom, Edison, So.
Luc La Montagne, Laguna Beach, Jr.
Alekos Mitchel, Huntington Beach, Sr.
Gabriel Reiser, Brethren Christian, Sr.
Marc Tadros, Fountain Valley, Jr.
