CROSS-COUNTRY : Belmont Aims for Two More Titles

Belmont High, which has won eight boys’ cross-country City Section championships and three consecutive girls’ titles, would like to win two more before legendary Coach Gordon Weisenberger retires.

In Thursday’s preliminary races at Pierce College, the Sentinels showed they may succeed in their quest.

The Belmont boys were victorious in the second heat with 35 points, while the girls posted a perfect score of 15 points in their heat.

The top five teams and 10 individuals from each of the two heats qualified for Saturday’s finals at Pierce College. The state meet will be held Nov. 28 at Woodward Park in Fresno.

Wilburd Estrada was the first to finish for Belmont, placing fifth in a time of 15:57, but the Sentinels had four other runners finish among the top 15.

Cesar Guerrero of Locke posted the fastest time, running the three-mile race in 15:33. Garfield’s Fred Bailon was third at 15:43.

Huntington Park, which had the lowest team score in the second heat with 36 points, and Birmingham pose the biggest threat to Belmont for the boys’ team title. Defending City champion Alvaro Mejia had the fastest time of the day (15:16) to lead Birmingham to a second-place finish with 62 points. Jorge Perea of Huntingon Park was second at 15:26, followed by Roosevelt’s Jaime Moreno (15:27).

In girls’ heat one, Belmont had the first five finishers and eight of the top 11. Patty Trejo led the way for Belmont with a winning time of 18:40. Teammate Auria Roberto finished second at 19:24. Garfield came in second with 88 points.

Roseanna Heagerty won heat two in 19:22 to lift Birmingham to victory with 48 points.