Daschbach produces fastest time ever by Arizona athlete on 2.93-mile course to hold off Grover in team sweepstakes race, with Lee edging Macfarlane in individual sweepstakes battle; Great Oak grinds out another tough effort to add to Mt. SAC legacy

By Landon Negri for DyeStat

Leo Daschbach’s tear through the Golden State has been impressive enough.

To think that the Highland High senior from Gilbert, Ariz., is always working on a plan and getting better is scary.

But that’s what Daschbach was up to Saturday at the 72nd Mt. San Antonio College Invitational in Walnut, Calif. He employed race strategy, some lessons learned from two weeks earlier at the ASICS Clovis Invitational, and his talent to win the Division 1-2 boys team sweepstakes race.

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And while the University of Washington commit was continuing an outstanding senior season, Great Oak’s boys were continuing an outstanding decade by winning their sixth consecutive grand sweepstakes title at Mt. SAC in convincing fashion, even if the Wolfpack said it was not their best day.

Daschbach gave Newbury Park’s Nico Young all he could handle in the championship race Oct. 12 at the Clovis Invitational before finishing second in the fastest time ever produced by an Arizona runner on the 5-kilometer layout.

Daschbach said that day that he doesn’t chase times; he chases victories. He proved that Saturday.

He sat on the leaders for most of the race, which meant running with or just behind JSerra senior Anthony Grover before overtaking him at the end to win in 14 minutes, 32.4 seconds, equal to the No. 15 all-time performance on the 2.93-mile course.

He became the second consecutive Division 1-2 team sweepstakes winner from outside of California. Crayton Carrozza of St. Stephens Episcopal in Texas won in 14:35 last year.

“I kind of let them take control of the race,” Daschbach said of Grover and Thousand Oaks senior Michael Mireles.

“Most of my racing was just to react to how they moved. I was really relaxed and comfortable, especially in the last 800 and 400. I was feeling really good. I had a lot of juice left.”

Daschbach’s mark routed the former record by an Arizona runner at Mt. SAC, shared by Sherod Hardt of Queen Creek and Steve Magnuson of Ironwood Ridge, both established in 2009 at 14:55.

But he also set a similar mark at Woodward Park during the Clovis meet. He said he did use his Clovis experience to help Saturday.

“Just the racing on the hills at Clovis,” he said. “I kind of knew what to expect – at least how the hills would feel, and how to run uphill and downhill.”

Though he conceded he doesn’t see Mt. SAC-like courses – with the distinct Switchbacks, Poopout and Reservoir hills – in Arizona.

“Nope,” he said, “not where I’m from. This is the hilliest course I’ve ever run.”

Grover, a Wake Forest commit, was right with Daschbach until the closing stretch of the race, after Reservoir Hill. He placed second in 14:36.3.

“Once we got on the flat sections after the last downhill, that’s when (Daschbach) made a big move and he got away,” Grover said.

Still, he was pleased with his time and being able to go toe to toe with one of the country’s elite runners. He didn’t mind setting the pace, either.

“We definitely wanted to close the gap between me and the top guys in the country,” Grover said. “I think we did that nicely today.”

Mireles grabbed third in 14:41. He was followed by Bellarmine Prep CA junior Colin Peattie, who was fourth in 14:52.5.

Ranked No. 1 in the country as a team, Great Oak continued its excellence of pack running this season, resulting in a 55-point effort.

The victory over second-place Bellarmine was by 86 points and was led by what the Wolfpack described as a true team effort. After falling to Newbury Park at Woodbridge, and then scoring a triumph over it at Clovis, the Wolfpack said Saturday was a grind.

Gabe Abbes, looking as if the fractured bone in his foot is fully behind him, had his best race in a year, finishing fifth in 14:54.5 Fellow senior Chris Verdugo was sixth Saturday in 14:59.5.

Junior Christian Simone was 11th in 15:13.3 and senior Aric Reza was 12th in 15:15.2. The Wolfpack’s team time of 75:49 was solid – equaling the No. 9 performance in course history – but didn’t threaten their meet-record mark of 74:31 from 2017.

“We’ve just had a really tough five weeks,” Verdugo said. “We keep motivating each other and keep bringing each other up. No matter who’s down on our team, we’ve all get each other.

“We just went out there today and did really well.”

Bakersfield Ridgeview CA senior Alex Cuevas finished seventh in 15:07.3, and Bellarmine junior Nolan Topper gave that program its second finisher in eighth place at 15:07.7. De La Salle CA junior Patrick Curulla was ninth in 15:08.6; La Costa Canyon CA senior Caleb Niednagel was 10th in 15:11.6.

In the boys Division 1-2 individual sweepstakes, Trabuco Hills CA junior Landen Lee outlasted Peninsula CA junior Ewan Macfarlane and won in 15:06 in his first Mt. SAC start.

Lee stayed to the front of the race for the duration, and needed a strong sprint to hold off Macfarlane.

“It was really tough,” Lee said. “I was just always trying to stay with the core group in the front, working really hard, and just in the end, it helped me out.”

While Divisions 1 and 2 race together, the top finishers in each are considered division winners. West Torrance, led by senior Jake Parker (15:18.8) placing 15th, earned the Division 2 boys sweepstakes victory by six points over Thousand Oaks.

In the individual sweepstakes, Macfarlane earned the Division 2 victory over Capistrano Valley senior Sean Robertson (15:14.7) and Vacaville senior Daniel Hernandez (15:24.1). Loyola prevailed over Long Beach Poly by a 120-130 margin in the team showdown.