Tri-meet wins mean undefeated dual meet season for boys cross-country team

Fallbrook High School’s varsity boys’ cross-country team finished the 2010 dual meet season undefeated after sweeping a November 5 tri-meet at Mission Hills High School.

“They really had one of their better races,” Fallbrook head coach Marco Arias said of his runners.

In a tri-meet, all runners compete in the same race, but each school is scored against each other school. Wins or losses are assessed as if the two schools had competed in a dual meet. Fallbrook defeated Escondido by a 24-32 score and took a 20-43 win over Mission Hills. A cross-country team’s score consists of the combined positions of the first five finishers, and while the sixth and seventh finishers from a team are not scored they can add to an opponent’s score.

“We knew Escondido was going to come out and establish something,” Arias said.

Escondido and Fallbrook had both competed at the Mt. SAC invitational meet October 23, and the Cougars’ team times were faster than the combined times of the Warrior runners.

“My guys got a big wake-up call,” Arias said.

Cameron Barela of Mission Hills was the first finisher in the tri-meet, completing the 5,000-meter (3.1-mile) course in 15:56.

Fallbrook senior Michael Froboese completed his high school dual meet career with a second-place finish and a time of 16:25 while Warrior senior Justin Jones had a third-place time of 16:29.

Jonathan Arellano was Escondido’s fastest runner, taking 16:31 and finishing fourth. Fallbrook senior Andrew Donnelly placed fifth with a time of 16:37.

Senior Nick Johnson had finished ninth at 16:49 while junior Enrique Rivera was tenth with a time of 17:04.

The tri-meet wins gave Fallbrook a final record of 5-0 in dual meets.

“We were very pleased at their performance,” Arias said. “They responded.”

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