Sports briefs: Bears in CIF Finals

DOWNEY - The Warren High School boys' cross country team took first place at the C.I.F. Southern Section cross country prelims last Saturday at Mt. SAC.The Bears competed in heat three of Division I to advance. This Saturday the Bears will compete in C.I.F. Finals, which will also be held at Mt. SAC, for a chance to compete at the state meet. Advancing to the state meet has been, and continues to be, the goal for Warren's cross country team. The Bears finished in first place with a team time of 1:16:51 and score of 31. Burbank was second with 59 and El Rancho was third with 99. The Bears were paced by junior Benjamin Gonzalez. Gonzalez finished 2nd in the third heat in a time of 15:11. Junior Andres Barragan finished 5th in a time of 15:14, senior Micheal Hernandez finished 6th in a time of 15:16, senior Faustino Diaz finished 7th in a time of 15:30, junior Jonathan Rodriguez finished 11th in a time of 15:40, senior Miguel Cabada finished 20th in a time of 15:55 and junior Ricky Beltran finished 62nd in a time of 17:12. Cross-town rival Downey placed seventh in heat four of Division I but did not advance. Senior Adrian Munoz paced the Vikings in a time of 15:55 and placed 21st. Junior Luis Munoz finished 31st in a time of 16:09, sophomore Bryan Pluma finished 32nd in a time of 16:13, senior Geovany Salinas finished 35th in a time of 16:18, sophomore Jary Solis finished 51st in a time of 16:34, junior Erick Ayala finished 62nd in a time of 16:44 and senior Cris Becerra finished 66th in a time of 16:52. The Vikings finished in a team time of 1:21:09 and score of 168. Loyola was first in the fourth heat with 35, El Toro was second with 52 and Long Beach Poly was third with 84. ** The Warren High School girls' cross country team finished in fifth place at the C.I.F. Southern Section cross country prelims last Saturday at Mt. SAC. The Lady Bears have qualified for C.I.F. Finals at Mt. SAC this Saturday. The Lady Bears are hoping to perform well and advance to the state meet. The Lady Bears competed in the first heat of Division I. Great Oak won the heat with a score of 27, Vista Murrieta was second with 90, Dana Hills was third with 96, West Ranch was fourth with 131 and Warren was fifth with 145. Warren finished in a team time of 1:35:14. The Lady Bears were paced by senior Yajaira Zarate who finshed 12th in a time of 18:25. Sophomore Gwendolyn Hurtado finished 28th in a time of 18:57, senior Silvia Gonzalez finished 32nd in a time of 19:07, sophomore Janeane Hernandez finished 36th in a time of 19:16, senior Elsa Vazquez finished 41st in a time of 19:29, junior Sofia Ramos finished 43rd in a time of 19:30 and sophomore Samantha Tabares finished 50th in a time of 19:43. The cross-town rival Downey Lady Vikings finished sixth in the fourth heat of Division I and narrowly missed qualifying for this Saturday's competition at Mt. SAC. Yucaipa finished first in the fourth heat with a score of 45, San Clemente was second with 76, M.L. King was third with 93, Long Beach Poly was fourth with 105, Knight was fifth with 152 and Downey was sixth with 162. The Lady Vikings were paced by junior Marissa Pluma's 6th place finish in 18:25. Junior Brittney Martinez finished 20th in a time of 19:06, senior Stephanie Perea finished 43rd in a time of 20:04, senior Joanna Bautista finished 44th in a time of 20:09, freshman Alexandra Gurrola finished 54th in a time of 20:25, sophomore Jailene Orozco finished 66th in a time of 21:11 and junior Erika Garcia finished 75th in a time of 21:59. Pluma did advance to run this weekend in individual competition. ** The Downey High School football season has come to an end. The Vikings were defeated by Diamond Bar at Downey last Friday night 63-29. The Vikings finished their season with an overall record of 6-5 and a league record of 4-1. For their efforts, the Vikings earned a S.G.V.L. tri-championship with Dominguez and Paramount. This marks the third year in a row the three teams have shared the league title. Interestingly, the formulas have been the same all three years. Downey loses to Paramount and beats Dominguez. Paramount beats Downey but loses to Dominguez. Dominguez beats Paramount but loses to Downey. These matchups are what make high school football so much fun to watch. Diamond Bar scored the first touchdown of the game on a 15-yard touchdown pass. The PAT was good and Diamond Bar led 7-0 at the 10:00 minute mark. The Vikings recorded a safety at the 8:00 minute mark. The score now stood at 7-2 Diamond Bar. Diamond Bar scored their second touchdown at the 7:00 minute mark. The PAT was good and the Brahmas led 14-2. Downey running back Justin Huff then scored on a one-yard touchdown run. The PAT was good and Diamond Bar led 14-9. Jorge Reyna then scored on an 11-yard touchdown run with just under a minute to play in the first quarter. Downey tried a two-point conversion but did not convert. Downey led 15-14 at the end of the first quarter. This was shaping up to be an exciting, offensive game. Diamond Bar scored two touchdowns in the second quarter and converted on both PATs. Downey did not score in the second quarter. The score going into the locker rooms at halftime was 28-15 Diamond Bar. Despite trailing, the Vikings were still very much in this game. Diamond Bar added two more touchdowns in the third quarter and started to pull away. Downey added a touchdown but trailed at the end of the third quarter 42-22. Diamond Bar scored three more touchdowns in the fourth quarter to put the game away and won 63-29. Diamond Bar junior quarterback Tyler Peterson completed 22/29 passes for 222 yards and accounted for three touchdowns, two rushing and one by pass. Brahma senior running back Tyler Brown carried the ball 18 times for 250 yards. Brown had three rushing touchdowns and a touchdown reception. ** The C.I.F. Southeast Division playoffs have begun and we have already seen two upsets in the first round. The biggest upset was second-seeded Diamond Ranch's loss to Santa Fe 31-28 at Diamond Ranch (2-15 matchup). Diamond Ranch was the second-seeded team behind Norwalk. The other upset was reigning C.I.F. Southeast Division champion Downey losing to Diamond Bar 63-29 at home (4-13 matchup). Top seed Norwalk defeated West Covina 42-27 (1-16 matchup), Dominguez defeated El Rancho 41-0 at Dominguez (8-9 matchup), Los Altos defeated Paramount 40-10 at Los Altos (5-12 matchup), Muir defeated La Mirada at Muir 53-35 (6-11 matchup), La Serna defeated Burbank Burroughs 55-7 at La Serna (3-14 matchup), Diamond Bar defeated Downey at Downey 63-29, Burbank defeated Mayfair at Burbank 49-14 (5-12 matchup) and Santa Fe defeated Diamond Ranch at Diamond Ranch 31-28.

********** Published: Nov. 21, 2013 - Volume 12 - Issue 32