She didn’t have that normal spring in her step, but Palisades High freshman Jacklyn Bamberger handled the pressure of her first big race like a seasoned pro, running the three-mile course at Pierce College in 18 minutes, 32 seconds to place third at Saturday morning’s City Section cross country championships. Bamberger was in the lead group from the start but couldn’t maintain the brisk pace set by San Pedro senior Laura Delgado, who pulled away in the last half mile to win in 18:16 and spur the Pirates to their seventh team title in 11 years. Senior Fany Alvarado of Taft came in second, three seconds ahead of Bamberger. Bamberger easily qualified for Saturday’s state meet in Fresno–an experience she is looking forward to. ‘Definitely. It will be a lot of fun,” she said. “I’m anxious to see what that course is like.” Bamberger ran a personal-best 18:20 at the City prelims one week before the finals–clocking the fastest time in any of the three qualifying heats. She predicted she would need to run under 18 minutes to beat City contender Jaclyn Walles of Venice, who was under the weather at prelims and ran 18:42. Walles wound up fourth in the finals in 18:43 and also qualified for the state meet. “When I was warming up, my legs just felt heavier than usual today,” said Bamberger, who set several school records this season for a ninth-grader. “I gave it my all but it’s hard to know when you’re going to have a good day or a bad day.” Saturday’s performance was perfectly fine for Dolphins’ coach Ron Brumel, who believes the sky’s the limit for his freshman phenom. “If she continues to work at it, there’s no telling how good she can be by the time she’s a senior,” Brumel said. “What’s she’s done already is amazing considering that she’s only been running competitively for a short time.” Senior Michelle Colato was the Dolphins’ second scorer, completing the course in 20:27 and finishing in 36th place. Sophia Stone (20:50) was 49th, Jamilett Maldonado and Wendy Gomez crossed the line together in 22:51 and Melissa Tallis finished in 24:52. As a team, Palisades’ girls placed 10th with a cumulative total of 227. “It hasn’t really sunk in yet that I made state,” Bamberger said. “I’m a little disappointed I didn’t win, but the two girls who beat me are seniors so hopefully I’ll have more chances.” Sophomore Grant Stromberg has paced the boys’ team all season and did so again the boys’ finals race. He started in the middle of the pack but began to pick off tiring runners late and finished 20th in 16:05, falling a few spots short of a berth in the state meet. Freshman Drake Johnston finished in 44th place in 16:46, followed by Danny Escalante (17:55), Daniel Hernandez (18:22) and senior Carlos Bustamante (18:30), who persevered despite being hampered by injuries all season. He has served as a mentor to the Dolphins’ up-and-comers and hopes to return to form on the track this spring. Evan Shaner (18:44) and Alex Hernandez (18:54) rounded out the PaliHi squad, which was 13th in the team competition with 228 points. San Pedro senior Pablo Rosales, a friend and rival of Bustamante the last several years, won in 14:31, a new City finals record. Stromberg was the fastest sophomore at this year’s City championships and ran the eighth fastest time for a 10th grader in finals history. Not to be outdone by his older PaliHi teammate, Drake Johnston was the fastest freshman at the finals and ran the ninth fastest time for a ninth-grader in finals history.
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