Sports Briefs: Lady Vikings win SGVL cluster meet in La Mirada

DOWNEY – The Downey High School girls’ cross country team won the first S.G.V.L. cluster meet last Thursday afternoon at La Mirada Regional Park. 

Downey runners finished fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth to finish with the lowest team score. In cross country, each team can enter seven runners but only the top five finisher times are counted in the final result.

Downey defeated Dominguez 15-50, defeated Gahr 15-42, defeated Lynwood 15-49, defeated Paramount 20-36 and narrowly defeated cross-town rival Warren, 25-30.

Downey senior Elsa Delgado finished fourth overall in a time of 19:46, junior Aadriana Higuera finished fifth in a time of 19:48, senior Morelia Venegas finished sixth in a time of 19: 52, sophomore Laura Velasco finished seventh in a time of 20:02 and senior Brianna Orozco finished eighth in a time of 20:12. Lady Viking runners finished in a total time of 1:40:07 and a team time of 20:01.40.

Downey’s sixth and seventh place runners were senior Alexandra Gurrola who finished twentieth overall in a time of 21:52 and freshman Jazmin Orozco who finished 28th overall in a time of 23:51.

Warren senior Trinity Gomez won the overall race in a time of 19:12, Warren senior Carlota Conant was second in a time of 19:33 and Paramount freshman Rebecca Mejia was third in a time of 19:46. 

■ The Warren High School boys’ cross country team won the first S.G.V.L. cluster meet last Thursday afternoon at La Mirada Regional Park.

Warren finished in first, third, fifth, seventh and tenth to seal the win. In cross country, each school is allowed seven runners to enter a race but only the five fastest times are counted in the final team time.

Warren defeated Dominguez 15-50, cross-town rival Downey 16-46, Gahr 17-45, Lynwood 15-50 and Paramount 23-32. Warren finished in a team time of 1:21:02 and an average time of 16:12.40.

Warren senior Daniel Ramos finished first in a time of 15:54, senior Alexander Garber finished third in a time of 16:06, senior Christian Gonzalez finished fifth in a time of 16:10, junior Emiliano Rodriguez finished seventh in a time of 16:17 and junior Adan Castellanos finished tenth in a time of 16:35. 

The Bears’ sixth place finisher was senior Kevin Antuna, 13th overall, in a time of 16:56 and seventh place finisher was sophomore Anthonie Avila, 16th overall, in a time of 17:07.

Paramount junior Diego Mejia finished second overall in a time of 15:58, Paramount junior Genobevo Franco finished fourth overall in a time of 16:10, Gahr senior Adrian Casa finished sixth overall in a time of 16:13, Downey senior Miguel Lopez finished eighth overall in a time of 16:24 and Paramount senior Alexis Vargas finished ninth overall in a time of 16:31.

■ The Warren High School football team was defeated by St. Paul at St. Paul last Friday night, 47-37. 

With the loss, the Bears are 0-4-1 and still seeking their first win of the season. The Bears concluded their preseason schedule at the conclusion of the St. Paul game. 

Warren has a bye this week in preparation for the start of S.G.V.L. play next week against Paramount at Paramount.

In the St. Paul game, the Bears were tied with the Swordsmen 14-14 at the end of the first quarter. St. Paul outscored the Bears 12-10 in the second quarter and took a 26-24 lead into the locker rooms at halftime. 

The Swordsmen outscored Warren 7-0 in the third quarter and led 33-24 entering the fourth quarter. St. Paul outscored Warren 14-13 in the fourth quarter and came away with the hard fought, 47-37 win.

Bear quarterback Chris Venegas completed 18/37 pass attempts for 233 yards. Venegas threw for three touchdowns and had two interceptions. Venegas completed passes to six different Bear receivers. Jordan Mayes led all Bear receivers with six catches for 35 yards and also had one touchdown.

The Bear ground game accumulated 191 yards on 36 carries. The Bears also had five different players carry the ball. Sebastian Valencia led all Bear rushers with 92 yards on 15 carries and also had one touchdown rushing. 

The Warren defense was led by Donovan Taylor’s four solo and three assisted tackles, Nicholas Cid’s four solo and two assisted tackles and M.J. Togafu’s two solo and four assisted tackles. 

■ The Downey High School football team defeated Chino Hills at Downey last Friday night, 42-22, improving to 4-1 on the season. 

Downey does not have a game tonight as they are in their bye week. They begin S.G.V.L. play next Friday night at home when they host Dominguez. 

In the Chino Hills game, Downey scored early and often and led 42-14 mid-way through the fourth quarter. Viking quarterback Trevor Hill completed 16/23 pass attempts for 177 yards and two touchdowns. 

Downey’s ground attack accumulated 240 yards on 41 carries using six different ball carriers. The receiving corps amassed 177 yards on 16 receptions to seven different receivers.

Baraq Ross led the Downey running backs with 11 carries for 81 yards and two touchdowns. Tony Ramirez led the Viking receivers with four receptions for 49 yards. Michael Cabrera led the Viking defense with five solo and seven assisted tackles. 

Malcom Perry had eight solo and two assisted tackles and Jack Chapman had three solo and seven assisted tackles in the strong defensive effort.