By Jay Stepp, Yuuca Valley HS --
      (MORENO VALLEY, CA.) -- You would have thought running at 10:00 AM in the morning would have avoided the hotest part of the day.  However, the weather decided otherwise.  With temps pushing over 80 and no breeze to be found, the De Anza League held its championships in Moreno Valley at Riverside Community College.  It wasn't until after the awards ceremony that the clouds and the breeze made an appearance. 
      As the races got underway there was little doubt who has the lock on De Anza League titles. Big Bear Boys captured their 5th title in a row by surgically dismantling the league over the 3 contests.  After sweeping the first 2 contests, Big Bear had a lone runner break up its bid for perfection.  The double duo of Alex Caballero, Ryan Lambert, Miles Fulton & Eric Jasperson coasted their way to a 1-4 finish with all four under 16:10 at the very hilly Riverside cross country course.  Michael Korcha of Yucca Valley put a band aid on the hemoraging the rest of the league has felt by placing 5th in 16:14. Big Bear & Yucca caputred the last 2 First Team All-League honors with Kevin Magdiel (BB-16:23), edging out Caleb Metzger (YV-16:25) in the final downhill stretch.  Big Bears' Scott Reynolds (8th-16:46) & Andrew Nettlebeck (9th-16:49) were next to cross the line with Yucca's Eric Snyder (16:52) rounding out the top 10.  Yucca Valley was 2nd overall with 53 pts. & 29 Palms was 3rd with 78 pts.
      Big Bear didn't make it any easier in the Junior Varsity dept.  They swept Yucca Valley 15-49 on the team side.  Individually Roy Bowling (16:40), Connor McCutchen (16:50), Jake Murie (16:51), Michael Doss (17:41), & Aaron Larson (17:59) grabbed the top 5 spots.  Yucca Valley's Domenic Pasqualichhio was the rest of the leagues top finisher in 7th place, posting an 18:19.
      The girls side had a revesre of the top 2 spots in which Yucca Valley got its 5th title in 6 years posting 19 points to Big Bear's 51 points with 29 Palms (69 pts.) getting the Bronze.  Individually, Katarina Ratkowiak (YV-19:02) cruised the course to capture her 3rd straight MVP title over teammate Harlie Hitchcock (19:41) by 39 sec.  Sara Chatham of Big Bear (3rd-19:48) split the Yucca Valley's top four, outdistancing Jackie Fox (19:54) & Chelsea Watkins (20:09).  Shonte Brown (6th-20:12) of 29 Palms split the next duo of Trojans to capture First Team All-League Honors over Kelcie Adams (7th-20:34) & Nicole Watkins (8th-20:38).  Cassidy Tokunaga (BB-20:48) & Cameo Lakey (29 P-20:49) finished off the top 10.
      The JV Girls side had Yucca Valley as its only team scoring.  Yucca took the top 7 spots in the 10 person race, with Christine Martinez (21:44) getting the best of her twin Melissa  (21:57) by 13 sec. Marissa Salomon (22:04), Ashley Lazarescu (22:08) & Cheyenne Couzens (25:10) rounded out Yucca's scoring.

Boys Varsity Team Results
Big Bear - 16 (79:43)
Yucca Valley - 53 (85:11)
29 Palms - 78 (89:17)
Desert Hot Springs - 108 (98:32)
Desert Mirage - 117 (104:17)

1 Alex Caballero (12) Big Bear #1 15:34
2 Ryan Lambert (12) Big Bear #2 15:35
3 Miles Fulton (12) Big Bear #3 16:02
4 Eric Jasperson (12) Big Bear #4 16:09
5 Michael Korcha (11) Yucca Valley #1 16:14
6 Kevin Magdiel (11) Big Bear #5 16:23
7 Caleb Metzger (11) Yucca Valley #2 16:25
8 Scott Reynolds (12) Big Bear #6 16:46
9 Andrew Nettlebeck (12) Big Bear #7 16:49
10 Eric Snyder (11) Yucca Valley #3 16:52
11 Jose Mercado (10) Desert Hot Springs #1 16:53
12 Christian Maldonado (12) 29 Palms #1 17:05
13 Isaac Zapata (11) 29 Palms #2 17:14
14 Gregoire Cholat (12) 29 Palms #3 17:29
15 Bruce Gabbard (11) Yucca Valley #4 17:39

Girls Varsity Team Results
Yucca Valley - 19
Big Bear -51
29 Palms - 69
Desert Mirage - 98

1 Katarina Ratkowiak (12)           Yucca Valley #1                 19:02    
2 Harlie Hitchcock (10)             Yucca Valley #2                 19:41    
3 Sara Chatham (11)                 Big Bear #1                     19:48    
4 Jackie Fox (10)                   Yucca Valley #3                 19:54    
5 Chelsea Watkins (9)               Yucca Valley #4                 20:09    
6 Shontae Brown (12)                29 Palms #1                     20:12    
7 Kelcie Adams (11)                 Yucca Valley #5                 20:34    
8 Nichole Watkins (11)              Yucca Valley #6                 20:38    
9 Cassidy Tokunaga (11)             Big Bear #2                     20:48    
10 Cameo Lakey (11)                  29 Palms #2                     20:49    
11 Rhiannon Jund (12)                Yucca Valley #7                 20:54    
12 Breanna Musella (12)              Big Bear #3                     21:09    
13 Kellie Rogers (10)                Big Bear #4                     21:41    
14 Jessica Watterson (9)             Big Bear #5                     21:47    
15 Megan Tree (9)                    29 Palms #3                     21:54