HIGHLAND SPRINGS >> Watch Yareli run. Watch Yareli run fast. Watch Yareli win big.
Yareli Lozano of Kelseyville went for a stroll on the 3.1-mile Highland Springs cross country course Wednesday, albeit at a more brisk pace than most people would find comfortable on a perfect fall afternoon. Her winning time of 22 minutes, 49 seconds easily topped the field during a four-team Coastal Mountain Conference meet involving all four of Lake County’s squads. It was almost a replay of the Lake County Meet held three weeks earlier at Kelseyville except this time Lower Lake was represented by a full compliment of runners.
One thing that hasn’t changed since the county meet last month is Lozano, who won then and hasn’t stopped winning since. She has four first-place finishes in four races, Wednesday’s victory being her second at Highland Springs this season.
“And she told me after the race she didn’t feel 100 percent,” Kelseyville coach Jeff Weller said of Lozano. “That’s a testament to her toughness mentally. All the hard work she’s put in on her own in the offseason is starting to pay off.”
Middletown’s Isaac Rascon (varsity boys) and Forrest Devine (junior varsity boys) joined Lozano as race winners. Rascon navigated Clear Lake’s home course in 21:15 while Devine finished in 23:05.
Girls
Lozano won by nearly a three-minute margin in the girls race against some strong competition in Middletown’s Grace Southern (25:45) and Kelseyville’s Laurel Weller (26:16). Lily Wetmore (27:13) of Lower Lake and Erica Kinsel (27:22) of Middletown also landed in the top five.
Approaching the halfway point on the course, Lozano’s closest pursuers were JV boys Isaiah Diaz and Devine. Diaz ended up second behind Devine in the JV boys race.
The next five girls to finish were Jenny Landeta of Lower Lake (27:24), Bailey Huggins (28:26) of Kelseyville, Mercy Cobb (28:45) of Middletown, Brianne Henry (28:59) of Kelseyville and Bailey Couey (29:04) of Kelseyville. Couey, a veteran runner for the Knights, is still recovering from a foot injury she sustained during his first visit to Highland Springs back on Sept. 20.
In team scoring, Middletown beat an incomplete Clear Lake squad while Kelseyville defeated Lower Lake 21-39.
Boys
Rascon set a fast pace early in the varsity boys race and held his lead although several runners in the lead pack changed places during the final half of the race. Clear Lake’s Ethan Wynacht was well back of Rascon at the midway point but made a strong move on the back side of the course. He not only picked off a numbers of runners, but rapidly closed ground on Rascon, finishing seven seconds behind him in second place at 21:22.
Kelseyville’s Jeff Amendola (21:32) placed ahead of teammate Luis Mosqueda (21:40), the Lake County Meet champion three weeks ago, and Mosqueda edged out Middletown’s Tyler Cobb (21:41) for fourth place as the pair staged an all-out sprint to the finish line.
A handful of runners briefly lost their way on the course before discovering their mistake and Mosqueda was among them, according to Weller.
“I don’t know how much that affected him but he still ran very well,” Weller said.
As did Amendola, a solid contributor to Kelseyville’s successful 2015 and ‘16 squads.
“He was very strong today,” Weller said.
Another good battle developed for sixth place and in another sprint to the finish it was Middletown’s Dimitri Imbrunetti (21:57) edging out Lower Lake’s Billy Melvin (21:58). Kelseyville’s Beau Marek (22:19) held off Middletown’s Jayson Tostie (22:20) for eighth place while Amida Verhey (22:41) of Middletown rounded out the top 10.
In team scoring, Middletown beat Clear Lake 19-42 and Kelseyville edged out Lower Lake 26-30.
JV boys
Middletown’s Devine ran near the front the entire way in the JV race and seemed to get stronger as the race progressed. Teammate Diaz held the early lead but eventually fell behind his teammate and came in second at 24:05, a little more than a minute behind Devine. Next to the finish line was Lower Lake’s Esteban Correa at 25:55. He was followed by Quintin Scott of Clear Lake, fourth in 26:25, and Jacob Stahr of Clear Lake, fifth in 27:08.
In team scoring, Middletown defeated Clear Lake 23-33 while Lower Lake beat an incomplete Kelseyville squad.
Schedule
Kelseyville hosts a four-team meet next Wednesday and will score against Clear Lake while Middletown scores against St. Helena. Lower Lake hits the road to score against Cloverdale in Fort Bragg.
