Carrozza of St. Stephens Episcopal TX wins boys team sweepstakes race; Ramos equals No. 7 all-time performer to repeat in individual sweepstakes

By Landon Negri for DyeStat

There were the usual names and faces one might expect from a Mt. San Antonio College Invitational, and then there was one that wasn't so usual.

RESULTS | RACE VIDEOS | INTERVIEWS | PHOTOS

The 71st running of Mt. SAC included a another sweepstakes championship sweep of both genders by Great Oak CA and the flirtation with a course record by Rubidoux CA senior Kevin Ramos.

Crayton Carrozza, a 19-year-old senior from St. Stephens Episcopal in Austin, Texas, won the Division 1-2 boys team sweepstakes race in what appears to one of his few chances to run this fall. Carrozza was ruled ineligible to compete in Texas this year reportedly due to his age. He turned 19 five days before the competition cutoff in his state.

But he was eligible to run Saturday at Mt. SAC and made the most of his opportunity, winning the 2.95-mile event in 14 minutes, 35.3 seconds. Great Oak senior Tyler Tickner was second in 14:44.7 and Long Beach Poly CA senior William Frankenfeld was third in 14:47.4.

So many of the big California names and big-name teams competed, and Carrozza didn’t know any of them, other than a passing mention of Great Oak, he said.

“They don’t really ring a bell that much,” he said, “but I know there are really fast people in California – probably the fastest.”

Adding to the intrigue was race placement. St. Stephens Episcopal is a small school that competes in the Southwest Preparatory Conference in Texas and was originally going to run Friday in the lower-division sweepstakes race. Carrozza said the team asked to move up to a faster race and got its wish, finishing 10th, despite one runner not finishing the race.

“It was pretty weird coming from a different environment, just because I don’t really know anybody,” said Carrozza, who has said he still hopes to qualify for the Foot Locker Championships in December.

“I was pretty nervous because I didn’t know who to look for or who to stay on, so I just stayed with the pack and just tried to follow them and then just see at the end if I could kick or not.”

He did kick, and that gave him an individual title, but did not produce the fastest time of the day. That honor went to Ramos, who earned a Mt. SAC invitational win for the second consecutive year to become the first male athlete to repeat in the individual sweepstakes since Elias Gedyon of Loyola CA in 2009-10.

It couldn’t have been more different than a week ago at Riverside, when he negotiated rainy conditions to set a 3-mile course record by running 14:25.1. On Saturday, it was dry and in the mid-80s.

Ramos surged ahead of JSerra's Anthony Grover in the second half of the individual sweepstakes race to win for the second consecutive year in 14:28. He conceded afterward he was going for Austin Tamagno’s course record of 14:23.2 set in 2014. His run Saturday ranks equal to No. 7 all-time at Mt. SAC.

“I came pretty close,” Ramos said, before adding, “overall, this competition was great, either way.”

Grover, the reigning state Division 4 state champion, called the results “mixed,” but feels like he’s on the right path. He outkicked Canyon Country Canyon CA senior Ethan Danforth (third, 15:01.5), teammate Peter Herold (fourth, 15:02) and San Pasqual CA senior Franky Varela (fifth, 15:03.9) to the finish.

“I just think if I keep trusting my coach and doing the workouts, at the end of the season, he’ll have me where I need to be,” Grover said.

In the team sweeps, Tickner led the Wolfpack – on a week when several of their runners battle the flu – to a decisive win with 50 points over runner-up La Costa Canyon CA with 113. Long Beach Poly (145 points) was third and Loyola (162) was fourth.

“I think I went out a little bit too fast coming off the switchbacks on the downhill portion,” Tickner said, “and I think I paid the price for that a little bit on the last hill.”

Great Oak placed its first four scorers – Tickner, juniors Chris Verdugo (seventh, 15:00) and Gabe Abbes (ninth, 15:07) and sophomore Mateo Joseph (15th, 15:18) – in the top 15 of the race.

In addition to five consecutive sweepstakes wins, Saturday marked the fifth year that both the boys and girls won team sweepstakes titles.

“It’s a beautiful thing when you can have that many kids that are part of that streak,” Great Oak coach Doug Soles said.

Frankenfeld chased Tickner right into the chute and seemed in disbelief of his time afterward.

“I hit 15:05 last year and I thought that was the greatest time I could ever hit,” he said. “It was the second-best time at our school, so I woke up today being like, ‘You’re just going to race and whatever happens, happens.’”

La Costa Canyon has been lurking in the San Diego Section all season. Finally with a chance to match up against more Southern Section competition, the Mavericks downed everyone not named Great Oak. That included state Division 2 foe Loyola.

Senior twin brothers Jacob Stanford and Garrett Stanford finished fourth (14:57.2) and fifth (14:58.4), respectively.

Ongoing construction at Mt. SAC altered the course ever so slightly at the finish. Instead of turning right and finishing along the soccer field – it doesn’t exist anymore thanks to the building of the campus’ new stadium – runners stayed and finished on the airstrip.

“I love the finish,” Frankenfeld said. “Having that straightaway, you don’t need to worry about slowing down for the turn or the slight uphill, You just go. It’s almost like a track finish.”