Ashlee Gallegos delivers strong debut for Edison at Central Park Invitational
Ashlee Gallegos had plenty of supporters at Central Park in Huntington Beach on Saturday, but most of them wore green and gold.
The sophomore transfer from Fountain Valley High made her debut for Edison after honoring the 30-day sit-out period.
Gallegos said she changed schools because she lived closer to Edison. It just happened to be a coincidence that her first race as a Charger would come at the Barons’ host event in the Central Park Invitational.
In a showing that led all locals on the girls’ side at the meet, Gallegos placed seventh with a time of 18 minutes 29.6 seconds.
Cheered on by her new teammates, Gallegos took the race out fast and led as she approached the mile marker. It turned out to be too quick of a pace for her to maintain.
“I was just planning to stay with the front group the whole time, and then after the hill, maybe speed up a little bit,” Gallegos said, adding that she was nervous before debuting for her new team. “I think I started off too fast, and I got a little too confident.
“In the beginning, I started to lead, and it really backfired at the end, like the last mile.”
Santa Ana senior Maria Hernandez, who made the podium as a ninth-place finisher in the CIF State Division I final last year, ran 17:21.5 to win the race by 38.6 seconds. She will be among the favorites for the Orange County Championships at Oak Canyon Park on Oct. 19.
Huntington Beach finished sixth overall with 217 points, led by freshman Brooke Adams, who crossed the line in 15th place with a time of 18:59.8.
Corona del Mar took eighth with 237 points. Maya Buchwald, who dealt with stress fractures to her shins in the past, paced the Sea Kings. The senior broke 19 minutes for the first time and finished 12th in 18:55.9.
“I guess when I first got healthier, I felt like my form improved, so it was a lot easier to drop time,” Buchwald said. “Since it is my senior year, I guess I feel more motivation and energy to drop time.”
Junior Marikay Schwab (16th, 19:05.4) led Marina, which placed 11th with 275 points. Edison finished 13th with 349 points.
Newport Harbor did not enter enough runners to obtain a team score, but junior Isa Glassen (46th, 20:04.1) ran up front for the Sailors.
Edison led the area on the boys’ side, placing 10th overall with 337 points. Junior Jeff Ritter headed the Chargers’ pack in 16:09.1 for 41st place.
Senior Will DeBassio led the local boys, placing 17th in 15:49.0 to help Newport Harbor to 16th overall with 430 points.
The Fountain Valley boys finished 23rd as a team with 581 points. Junior Hunter Augustus’ time of 16:22.3 (63rd) paced the Barons.
Junior Ethan Bollman (40th, 16:08.8) led Corona del Mar, which placed 24th with 627 points.
Huntington Beach took 29th place with 718 points, led by junior Elin Mitchel’s time of 16:39.0 (98th).
BOYS’ CROSS-COUNTRY
Central Park Invitational
Large Schools Varsity
Team Results
1. Redlands East Valley 37; 2. Highland/CE 122; 3. Santa Ana 168; 4. Peninsula 174; 5. Westlake 205; 6. Los Alamitos 279; 7. La Quinta/LQ 303; 8. Mission Viejo 317; 9. Tesoro 330; 10. Edison 337
Individuals
1. MacFarlane (Peninsula) 14:52.2; 2. Yagers (Highland/CE) 15:03.9; 3. Casillas (Redlands East Valley) 15:15.2; 4. Opsahl (Redlands East Valley) 15:25.2; 5. Kobett (Westlake) 15:28.8; 6. Reyes (La Quinta/LQ) 15:29.7; 7. Santagata (Mission Viejo) 15:32.2; 8. Ocegueda (Yucca Valley) 15:34.4; 9. Miller (Redlands East Valley) 15:37.3; 10. Mapes (Redlands East Valley) 15:40.4
Large Schools Junior Varsity
1. Garcia (Ontario) 16:20.4; 2. Rubio (Warren) 16:46.1; 3. Flores (Warren) 16:51.0; 4. Lopez (Long Beach Millikan) 16:53.4; 5. Tsai (Long Beach Millikan) 17:06.9
Large Schools Sophomore
1. Carlin (Foothill/NV) 16:26.7; 2. Henderson (La Quinta/LQ) 16:35.5; 3. Felix (La Quinta/LQ) 16:39.4; 4. Fieux (La Quinta/LQ) 16:54.5; 5. Hashimoto (Peninsula) 17:05.0
Large Schools Freshman
1. McDaniel (Mission Viejo) 16:41.5; 2. Dominguez (Santa Ana) 16:44.4; 3. Burroughs (Westlake) 16:58.7; 4. Want (Redondo) 17:14.1; 5. Lynn (Arcadia) 17:20.8
Small Schools Varsity
Team Results
1. Foothill Technology 51; 2. Hacienda Heights Wilson 53; 3. Rancho Alamitos 141; 4. Redlands East Valley 172; 5. Culver City 206; 6. Rosemead 224; 7. Norwalk 229; 8. Chino Valley/AZ 233; 9. Portola 263; 10. El Segundo 281
Individuals
1. Zavala (Hacienda Heights Wilson) 15:29.3; 2. Villasenor (Foothill Technology) 15:29.3; 3. Pick (Foothill Technology) 15:38.3; 4. Diaz (Norwalk) 15:52.2; 5. Pfeiffer (Hacienda Heights Wilson) 15:59.6; 6. Garrell (El Segundo) 16:06.8; 7. Crouch (Foothill Technology) 16:08.6; 8. Castillo-Davidson (Edgewood) 16:10.1; 9. Hernandez (Rancho Alamitos) 16:11.8; 10. Rioquinto (Rancho Alamitos) 16:15.2
Small Schools Junior Varsity
1. Fajardo (Mountain View) 17:41.8; 2. Navarette (Hacienda Heights Wilson) 17:48.3; 3. Palacios (Hacienda Heights Wilson) 17:54.5; 4. Lopez (Saddleback) 18:03.5; 5. Kim (Whitney) 18:04.0
Small Schools Sophomore
1. Rodriguez-Boix (Whitney) 16:53.7; 2. Hernandez (Edgewood) 17:08.5; 3. Stilwell (Foothill Technology) 17:26.1; 4. Teehee (Foothill Technology) 17:33.2; 5. Quintero-Osborne (Culver City) 17:55.7
Small Schools Freshman
1. Billings (Foothill Technology) 17:14.5; 2. Arrizmendi (Saddleback) 17:28.4; 3. Bensen (Foothill Technology) 17:53.4; 4. Kirk (South Torrance) 17:58.5; 5. Nguyen (Rancho Alamitos) 18:20.6
GIRLS’ CROSS-COUNTRY
Central Park Invitational
Large Schools Varsity
Team Results
1. Coronado-Henderson 61; 2. Warren 100; 3. Los Alamitos 141; 4. Highland/CE 155; 5. Long Beach Millikan 213; 6. Huntington Beach 217; 7. St. Mary’s Oregon 235; 8. Corona del Mar 237; 9. Peninsula 238; 10. Santa Ana 257
Individuals
1. Hernandez (Santa Ana) 17:21.5; 2. Chavez (Chino) 18:00.1; 3. Eismann (Coronado-Henderson) 18:07.0; 4. Ayala (Paramount) 18:08.5; 5. Lenth (St. Mary’s Oregon) 18:17.1; 6. Felix (Desert Pines) 18:18.5; 7. Gallegos (Edison) 18:29.6; 8. Rawlins (Coronado-Henderson) 18:32.3; 9. Gomez (Warren) 18:42.0; 10. Covington (Westlake) 18:47.0
Large Schools Junior Varsity
1. Chavez (Warren) 19:54.3; 2. Danlag (Coronado-Henderson) 20:11.3; 3. Berg (Fountain Valley) 20:18.5; 4. Sangprasit (Coronado-Henderson) 20:21.1; 5. Romero (Long Beach Wilson) 20:22.5
Large Schools Sophomore
1. Verduzco (La Quinta/LQ) 19:36.5; 2. Martinez (Ontario) 19:45.7; 3. Pena (Ontario) 20:17.8; 4. Chavez (Lakewood) 20:33.5; 5. Callaway (Apple Valley) 20:44.9
Large Schools Freshman
1. Merager (Redondo) 19:20.0; 2. Fullmer (Foothill/NV) 19:23.3; 3. Lobo (Los Alamitos) 20:07.6; 4. Nadell (Los Alamitos) 20:24.1; 5. French (Redondo) 20:36.2
Small Schools Varsity
Team Results
1. Portola 65; 2. Foothill Technology 96; 3. Cerritos 113; 4. Redlands East Valley 131; 5. Hacienda Heights Wilson 140; 6. Culver City 166; 7. Norwalk 198; 8. Mayfield 208; 9. Nordhoff 215; 10. Chadwick 227
Individuals
1. Secreto (Foothill Technology) 18:00.9; 2. Zdanavage (Portola) 18:13.4; 3. Hong (Temple City) 19:09.6; 4. Kojima (Culver City) 19:26.3; 5. Bernhard (San Dimas) 19:36.8; 6. Scherrei (Foothill Technology) 19:37.5; 7. Smith (Portola) 19:39.8; 8. Ramirez (Nordhoff) 19:55.9; 9. Hesseling (Culver City) 20:00.1; 10. Kiechler (Mayfield) 20:01.6
Small Schools Junior Varsity
1. Cabrera (Buena Park) 20:41.0; 2. Chavez (Buena Park) 21:00.0; 3. McColgan (El Segundo) 21:06.6; 4. Pelayo (Estancia) 21:06.6; 5. Snelson (Mayfair) 21:14.1
Small Schools Sophomore
1. Trieu (Rosemead) 21:10.5; 2. Gutierrez (Westridge) 21:38.6; 3. Nimnual (Culver City) 21:39.5; 4. Wong (Rosemead) 21:40.5; 5. Liang (Temple City) 21:51.0
Small Schools Freshman
1. Schultz (Foothill Technology) 21:17.4; 2. Bowman (Foothill Technology) 21:33.3; 3. Le (Temple City) 21:53.1; 4. Northrop (Westridge) 21:59.1; 5. Hirai (Culver City) 22:37.1
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