Millan, Minutelli run fastest times of season-opening meet; Poway continues to push forward, despite departure of Barranco

By Noah Monroy for DyeStat

One of the most consistent cross country performers in the San Diego Section, Poway’s Alejandro Barranco, won’t be returning for his senior year, but the annual season-opening Vaquero Stampede demonstrated Saturday that a pair of promising juniors are ready for their opportunities in the spotlight.

RESULTS | INTERVIEWS

Madeline Minutelli of Grossmont CA won the Division 2 girls junior-senior race, producing the fastest female time of the meet by clocking 9 minutes, 14 seconds to prevail against defending-champion Amy Brown of Ramona (9:23) on the 1.65-mile course at Lindo Lakes Lakeside County Park in Lakeside, Calif.

Minutelli, who ran a personal-best 11:16 in the 3,200 meters at the section track finals in May, improved from 10:05 at last year’s meet, placing fifth in the Division 2 freshman-sophomore race.

Minutelli’s effort was the fastest overall time at the event since 2017 and the best in Division 2 since Ramona’s Gwendalyn Gibson clocked 9:08 in 2016. Brown improved five seconds from last year’s winning mark.

Mira Mesa CA junior David Millan produced the fastest boys performance by winning the Division 1 junior-senior race, covering the 2.15-mile layout in 10:26, ahead of Cathedral Catholic CA junior Sebastian Radilla (10:28).

Millan, who won the Division 1 freshman-sophomore 1.65-mile race at last year’s meet and went on to place 13th at the San Diego Section Division 1 finals, said the key to his big jump in fitness was, “all about staying consistent during summer training.”

Barranco, who set the Division 1 freshman-sophomore 1.65-mile course record by clocking 7:58 in 2017, decided not to return to Poway this year in order to move to Mexico and complete his degree there.

Even without Barranco in the lineup, Poway still won the Division 1 junior-senior 2.15-mile competition by a 52-73 margin over San Marcos. The Titans had junior Jake Murray (10:33) and senior Zak Beckwith (10:38) secure fourth and fifth, seniors Josh Ligas and Alex Fernandez de la Vega finishing 11th and 13th, both in 10:53, with junior Jake Beckwith (11:09) taking 19th, in addition to two more seniors placing in the top 25.

Although Steele Canyon won the Division 1 girls junior-senior competition with 42 points, relying on a 32-second spread among its top five runners to prevail against Cathedral Catholic (61), Poway again demonstrated plenty of depth overall.

The Titans finished third with 73 points, but had seniors Katie Downs (9:20) and Eva Rethmeier (9:21) take the top two spots individually. In the Division 1 freshman-sophomore race, Poway swept the top three places, with sophomores Sophia Chittle (9:27), Mackenzie Rogers (9:29) and Alina Ruvalcaba (9:54) leading the Titans to a 44-104 victory over Eastlake.

In the Division 3 girls junior-senior race, a clash of two of the section’s most accomplished juniors resulted in a victory for Mission Vista’s Bella Longo in 9:25, with two-time Division 5 champion Alaina Zamorano of El Cajon Christian placing second in 9:42. Zamorano ran 9:38 last season to win the Division 3 freshman-sophomore competition.

Longo, who finished fourth at the Division 3 state final last season and has run 4:55 in the 1,600 on the track, used last week’s Wild Duck 5K as a tempo run at 6:03 pace. Longo was instructed by Timberwolves coach Joe Crosswhite to remain relaxed during the 1.65-mile race and run with even splits.

“It’s hard to not get tempted to wanna race and go for it,” said Longo, who didn’t compete at last year’s event after running 10:04 as a freshman.

Sweetwater CA senior Jose Galvan prevailed in a back-and-forth battle with Grossmont senior Devin Provence by a 10:32 to 10:34 margin in the Division 2 junior-senior race. Provence, who finished 23rd in the same race last season, improved his time by 51 seconds.

Holtville CA junior Alan Jimenez won the Division 3 junior-senior race in 10:46, improving from a fourth-place finish in the 1.65-mile freshman-sophomore competition last season.

Patrick Henry CA sophomore Caden Romaine Gleim produced the fastest boys 1.65-mile time of the meet by clocking 8:14 to win the Division 1 freshman-sophomore competition.