Two newcomers among four Warrior boys medaling at Laguna Hills Invite

Fallbrook High School's boys cross-country team won the 2010 Avocado East League championship, prevailing in all five league dual meets before finishing first in the league meet, but the Warriors' top five finishers at last year's league meet were all seniors. The 2011 Warriors made their debut Sept. 10 at the Laguna Hills Invitational meet. Four Fallbrook runners, including two first-time competitors, earned medals for finishing among the top 40 in their grade-level races.

œOverall I was pretty pleased with the effort they gave, said Fallbrook coach Marco Arias. œWe looked good.

Elijah Roque was Fallbrook's only runner in the freshman race. He had a time of 18:28 on the 3.0-mile course to give him 25th place in the Division I freshman boys race which had 180 runners. œGreat first race, Arias said.

Roque's time placed him eighth among all Fallbrook runners. œHe's stepping up and trying to crack that varsity lineup, Arias said. œHe's already made some great improvements.

Four sophomores competed for Fallbrook at the Laguna Hills Invitational. Rene Hernandez, who played football in 2010 before running track in spring 2011, made his cross-country debut and finished 57th with a time of 18:20. œHe got too excited, went out faster than he needed to, Arias said.

Hernandez led the race after one mile, posting a time of 5:30 for that segment. œHe couldn't hold that, Arias said.

Fallbrook had six other runners in the Division I sophomore race, although none of them finished in the first half of the 201-competitor field.

Two juniors medaled for Fallbrook. Connor Froboese had a 27th-place time of 16:52. œOverall I'm pleased with it, Arias said.

Israel Michel's first cross-country race gave him 33rd place and a time of 17:00. Michel had run track as a sophomore. œHe showed some promise, and I convinced him to come out for cross-country, Arias said.

The 147 runners in the Division I junior race included three Fallbrook athletes who finished in the bottom half.

Enrique Rivera finished 11th among the 97 athletes in the Division I senior race, posting a time of 15:48. The time was only six seconds slower than the 2010 performance of Michael Froboese, who finished eighth in last year's senior race.

Although Michael Froboese is now a freshman at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Justin Jones is now a freshman at Harvey Mudd College, Rivera trained with the two 2011 Fallbrook graduates during the summer. œI'm looking forward to Enrique's senior season, Arias said. œHe's going to be something special to watch this year.

Rivera had a time of 16:22 in last year's junior race at the Laguna Hills Invitational.

Eric Ingerson was the second of Fallbrook's six senior runners, posting a personal record of 17:32 and finishing 51st. œA very quality race, Arias said. œA nice performance for Eric.

Ingerson earned Most Improved honors for Fallbrook's junior varsity at last year's post-season banquet. He did not compete in the 2010 Laguna Hills Invitational but had a time of 21:32 in the 2009 sophomore race. œI think he's going to just keep improving, Arias said.

Ryan Maultsby placed 66th in the senior race with a time

of 18:24.

œI'm happy, Arias said of four medalists. œI'm not completely satisfied. I think we're a little bit better than that.

Arias feels that his runners will improve with competitive experience. œIt's a younger group. They're learning how to race, he said.

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