Rodriguez Eighth in National Meet

Jimmy Rodriguez of Santa Ana Valley High School placed eighth in the boys’ division of the 10th Kinney National Cross-Country Championships Saturday at Morley Field in San Diego.

Rodriguez, a senior, ran the 3.1-mile course in 15 minutes 23.5 seconds.

“I was struggling all the way,” he said. “With 180 (yards) to go, I was dead. I don’t know how I kept running. With 100 yards to go, two guys passed me. I just kept running to finish, but I didn’t have a kick at all.”

Thirty-two high school runners--the top eight finishers from four regionals--competed in the boys’ and girls’ events.

Brian Grosso of Walled Lake High in Walled Lake, Mich., was the boys’ winner in 15:03.3 and Jason DiJoseph of Paul VI in Haddonfield, N.J., was second in 15:10.1.

While Grosso and DiJoseph ran in stride in the lead with about a half-mile to go, Rodriguez stayed with a pack of seven runners, 10 yards behind. At that point, the runners made their second lap up a steep hill on the east end of the course.

“The second lap at the hill, that’s when I got tired,” Rodriguez said.