{"id":519138,"date":"2026-11-05T05:54:07","date_gmt":"2026-11-05T05:54:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/519138\/"},"modified":"2026-11-05T05:54:07","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T05:54:07","slug":"hector-diaz-leads-millikan-boys-cross-country-to-fourth-straight-league-title-press-telegram","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/519138\/","title":{"rendered":"Hector Diaz leads Millikan boys cross country to fourth straight league title \u2013 Press Telegram"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Long<\/p>\n

Long Beach Wilson\u2019s Audrey Buckley finishes in first place in the girls Moore League cross country final on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, at Heartwell Park in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Millikan<\/p>\n

Millikan senior Hector Diaz finishes first in the boys Moore League cross country final on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, at Heartwell Park in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Long<\/p>\n

Long Beach Wilson\u2019s Audrey Buckley finishes in first place in the girls Moore League cross country final on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, at Heartwell Park in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Millikan<\/p>\n

Millikan senior Hector Diaz opens up a big lead and goes on to win the boys Moore League cross country final on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, at Heartwell Park in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Top<\/p>\n

Top two finishers Audrey Buckley, left, and Avery Errecart from Wilson High run side-by-side in the girls Moore League cross country final on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, at Heartwell Park in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Millikan<\/p>\n

Millikan senior Hector Diaz has an early lead and goes on to win the boys Moore League cross country final on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, at Heartwell Park in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Runners<\/p>\n

Runners compete in the Moore League girls team cross country finals on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, at Heartwell Park in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Wilson<\/p>\n

Wilson runners gather before starting the final and going on to win the Moore League girls team cross country title on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, at Heartwell Park in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Millikan<\/p>\n

Millikan runners start the race in the Moore League cross country meet Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, at Heartwell Park in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Wilson<\/p>\n

Wilson seniors Audrey Buckley, left, and Avery Errecart finished first and second, respectively, in the girls Moore League cross country final on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, at Heartwell Park in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Top<\/p>\n

Top two finishers Audrey Buckley, left, and Avery Errecart from Wilson High run side-by-side in the girls Moore League cross country final on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, at Heartwell Park in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Long<\/p>\n

Long Beach Wilson senior Audrey Buckley competes in the girls Moore League cross country final on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, at Heartwell Park in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Millikan<\/p>\n

Millikan senior Hector Diaz finished first in the boys Moore League cross country final on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, at Heartwell Park in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Millikan<\/p>\n

Millikan senior Hector Diaz finished first in the boys Moore League cross country final on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, at Heartwell Park in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Millikan<\/p>\n

Millikan senior Hector Diaz leads in the boys Moore League cross country final on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, at Heartwell Park in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Runners<\/p>\n

Runners compete in the Moore League girls team cross country finals on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, at Heartwell Park in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Runners<\/p>\n

Runners compete in the Moore League girls team cross country finals on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, at Heartwell Park in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Runners<\/p>\n

Runners compete in the Moore League girls team cross country finals on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, at Heartwell Park in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Runners<\/p>\n

Runners compete in the Moore League girls team cross country finals on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, at Heartwell Park in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Runners<\/p>\n

Runners compete in the Moore League girls team cross country finals on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, at Heartwell Park in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Runners<\/p>\n

Runners compete in the Moore League girls team cross country finals on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, at Heartwell Park in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Runners<\/p>\n

Runners compete in the Moore League girls team cross country finals on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, at Heartwell Park in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Runners<\/p>\n

Runners compete in the Moore League girls team cross country finals on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, at Heartwell Park in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 23<\/p>\n

Long Beach Wilson\u2019s Audrey Buckley finishes in first place in the girls Moore League cross country final on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, at Heartwell Park in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

LONG BEACH \u2014 Millikan senior Hector Diaz and Wilson senior Audrey Buckley used similar wire-to-wire styles before pulling away late to win individual titles Wednesday in the Moore League Cross Country Finals at Heartwell Park.<\/p>\n

Diaz won his first Moore League title with a time of 15 minutes, 20.6 seconds on a flat 3-mile course. He finished Mile 1 in 4:55 and Mile 2 in 10:10.<\/p>\n

Diaz previously won the league\u2019s first two cluster meets.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got kind of nervous, not going to lie, because I heard some guys were kind of near me,\u201d Diaz said. \u201cSo I tried to push it more. Don\u2019t know if I actually did or not, but I tried, and it turned out good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Long Beach Poly sophomore Sawyer Chesnin finished second in 15:30.1. Wilson sophomore David Nader finished third (15:41.6) and Lakewood junior Matthew Rangel finished fourth (15:47.8).<\/p>\n

Millikan\u2019s depth showed up as it secured the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth positions to win the team title with 27 points. It is Millikan\u2019s fourth consecutive league title.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means a lot,\u201d Millikan coach Pedro Ramirez said of winning the Moore League title. \u201cFour in a row, haven\u2019t done that before. But I\u2019m especially happy for Hector because he\u2019s been like our top runner in the past, and not everything has gone right. But he put everything together (Wednesday) and had a good race.\u201d<\/p>\n

Millikan senior Brandon Hinojosa-Garcia was fifth (15:52.1), Ricardo Linarez-Gutierrez was sixth (15:55), senior Jack Walsh was seventh (15:58.3) and sophomore Sebastian McKiernan was eighth (16:00.8).<\/p>\n

Wilson finished second in the boys race with 50 points and Poly was third (59 points).<\/p>\n

On the girls side, Buckley won her first Moore League individual title with a time of 17:26.9, a record for Wilson on the Heartwell Park course.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means so much,\u201d Buckley said. \u201cThe past four years I\u2019ve spent training for this and doing all the work to get here. So it really means a lot that I was able to execute it. Obviously, I was kind of nervous going into this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buckley, who previously won the league\u2019s first two cluster meets, led early and came through Mile 1 in 5:44 and Mile 2 in 11:38.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat she\u2019s doing is she\u2019s just trying to outwork everyone,\u201d said Wilson coach CJ Brewer when asked about his team\u2019s No. 1 runner. \u201cAnd when she says she wants to earn it, she\u2019s working really hard to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson senior Avery Errecart finished second (17:41.5), which also bettered Wilson\u2019s course record.<\/p>\n

The Millikan girls made it a race by finishing third, fourth and fifth. Senior Jocelyn Jimenez led the Rams in 18:06.3.<\/p>\n

Wilson claimed its second straight league title with a low score of 25 points. Sophomore Ella George finished sixth (18:33.1), senior Isabelle Gabisan finished seventh (18:39.2) and senior Leticia Tovar placed ninth (18:55).<\/p>\n

Millikan\u2019s girls finished second with 36 points.\u00a0Poly, led by junior Sienna Young\u2019s eighth-place result, finished third with 59 points.<\/p>\n

The first three teams in the boys and girls races qualified for the CIF-SS Division 1 cross country prelims at Mt. San Antonio College on Friday, Nov. 13.<\/p>\n

Millikan\u2019s boys are ranked No. 12 in Division 1. Wilson\u2019s girls are ranked No. 9.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m super excited,\u201d Buckley said. \u201cI think everyone is feeling confident. I think we know what we can do and what we deserve. I think the goal is obviously state, and everyone knows what it takes to get there from last year, and so I\u2019m really excited to see what we can do.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Long Beach Wilson\u2019s Audrey Buckley finishes in first place in the girls Moore League cross country final on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":519139,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[7,5479,14411,2044,131,133,132,137,127],"class_list":["post-519138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-california","tag-high-school-all-sports","tag-high-school-cross-country","tag-high-school-sports","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-los-angeles-county","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=519138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519138\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/519139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=519138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=519138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=519138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}