LOWER LAKE >> Middletown’s Diego Munoz flirted with breaking 16 minutes on Wednesday afternoon during a four-team Coastal Mountain Conference cross country meet at the 2.8-mile Anderson Marsh course near Lower Lake.
Running well ahead of Fort Bragg challengers Elias Lehnhardt and Luke Lamboldt, Munoz crossed the finish line in 16 minutes, 8 seconds while leading the Mustangs to a team win over Willits. It represented quite an improvement from the last time Munoz raced at Anderson Marsh. He also won there on Oct. 14, only in 17:19. There were some mitigating circumstances on Wednesday with temperatures in the 70s — compared to the 90s on Oct. 14 — and with course conditions much more runner friendly after rain swept the area on Monday (reducing the dust and softening the hardpack dirt surface).
“All of my runners PRd (ran personal-best times),” said host coach Ann Nolasco of Lower Lake High School.
Other race winners were Amelia Wirt of Fort Bragg in the girls’ division (18:50) and Lower Lake’s Lucas Allie in the junior varsity boys’ division (18:09). Lower Lake’s top runner in the girls’ divison, Aleia Milano, was unable to compete because of a right knee injury. She won the girls’ race at Anderson Marsh on Oct. 14.
Varsity boys
Following Munoz across the finish line were Fort Bragg’s Lehnhardt (16:57) and Lamboldt (16:58), the only other runners to finish under 17 minutes. Middletown’s Jake Olson (17:10.14) and Justin Hingston (17:10.48) waged an impressive battle for fourth place.
Middletown’s other two scoring runners were Tanner Tarelli, seventh in 17:29, and Donnie Elder, eighth in 17:39. Yet another Mustang, Jack Shrive, came in 10th in 17:44.
Lower Lake’s top finisher was Alex Montanez, 12th in 17:59.
Girls
An anticipated battle between Wirt and Milano never materialized, leaving Wirt to dominate the girls’ race. She finished almost a full minute in front of Morgan Riley of Willits (19:48) and more than a minute ahead of her teammate, Haley Hutchinson (19:56), who took third.
Tiyanna Meek of Middletown led a strong effort by the Mustangs, who placed their fastest five runners in the top 11. Meek was fourth in 20:18, Kailei Foltmer finished sixth in 20:39, Natalie Jekel was seventh in 20:57, Grace Southern came in eighth in 21:05, and Kamrin Williams was 11th in 21:16.39, finishing just behind Lower Lake’s Jenny Landatta (21:16.07) in 10th place.
JV boys
Allie opened up a substantial lead before Fort Bragg’s Nathan Fontanillo made a late charge, closing to within four seconds of Allie at 18:13.
Aiden Isaia’s fourth-place time of 18:40 led Middletown. Also for the Mustangs, Caden McDowell was eighth in 19:08 while Jay Stalker was 10th in 19:26. Jared Meek of Lower Lake finished 11th in 19:30.
Conference meet
All of the CMC schools meet in Santa Rosa a week from today for the Coastal Mountain Conference Championships. Action begins with the JV boys’ race at 1 p.m.
