Long Beach Millikan sophomore Parra and Yorba Linda junior Rome produce fastest times on 3-mile course at Galway Downs; Ayala boys edge rival Glendora, Compton leads La Costa Canyon girls past Vista Murrieta to capture team titles

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

A clash of Division 3 girls standouts, a matchup of Palomares League rivals and another impressive performance from one of California’s top sophomore boys competitors highlighted the second edition of the ASICS Temecula Twilight Invitational on Saturday at Galway Downs.

The final leg of Southern California’s four night meets in a five-week span, following the Cool Breeze Invitational, Rosemead Invitational and Woodbridge Classic, showcased another fast 3-mile layout. Similar to the Cool Breeze Invitational at the Brookside Golf Course in Pasadena, the course featured a pair of 1.5-mile loops.

RESULTS | INTERVIEWS

Jason Parra of Long Beach Millikan High continued to demonstrate why he is one of the top 10th-graders in the country, pulling away from John Sesteaga of Glendora and Jonathan Aguilar of Katella in the second half of the race to triumph in 14 minutes, 41.8 seconds.

Sesteaga ran 14:47.9 for Glendora, which was edged by league counterpart Ayala for the team title by a 115-119 margin, in addition to prevailing over Vista Murrieta for second place on a sixth-runner tiebreaker.

Aguilar clocked 14:50.1 to take third, with seven athletes producing sub-15 performances.

Despite not having an athlete finish in the top 10, Ayala placed five scorers among the first 45 finishers to secure the victory. Glendora had its five scorers in the top 40, but Sesteaga was the only athlete for the Tartans to finish among the first 30 competitors.

Sydney Rome, a junior at Yorba Linda High, took advantage of a patient approach on the first loop, before pulling away from La Costa Canyon senior Kyra Compton and the rest of the pack in the girls varsity Sundown Showdown race to emerge victorious in 17:22.5.

Rome held a one-second advantage against Compton at the midway point in a matchup of two of the top Division 3 competitors in the state.

Compton finished second in 17:38.9, leading five Mavericks in the top 25 to capture the team title by a 72-83 margin over Vista Murrieta, highlighted by a third-place finish from Isabella Smith in 17:40.6.

Rome, one of seven athletes in the race to produce a sub-18 performance, helped Yorba Linda finish 10th overall with 208 points.

Danielle Hollander of Beverly Hills, a Division 4 standout, won the girls varsity race in 17:39.1.

Hollander, a junior, built a 40-second advantage at the midway point and maintained the significant gap on the second loop, as no other competitor eclipsed the 18-minute mark. She produced the third-fastest female performance of the meet from all races combined.

Woodbridge captured the girls varsity team title with a 96-141 victory over Norte Vista.

Alexandro Vielma, a junior at La Habra Sonora, held off Ernesto Ruiz of Norte Vista in a tight battle in the boys varsity race to earn the win in 15:12.4. Ruiz clocked 15:14.5, after a nine-second adjustment was made for all athletes in the race as a result of a timing correction.

Vielma, who was even with Ruiz at the midway point, helped Sonora take third overall with 136 points.

La Quinta captured the boys varsity team championship with a 75-124 win over Claremont’s ‘B’ lineup. The Wolfpack rested several top athletes in preparation for the ASICS Clovis Invitational on Oct. 9 at Woodward Park in Fresno.

Claremont coach Bill Reeves, who brought the event back to Temecula after the meet was canceled last season as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, had to make slight adjustments to the 2019 course layout since the event was being held simultaneously at Galway Downs with both a wedding reception and a haunted house.