Cal State San Marcos

Bits and pieces from the local sports scene:   Local 8-year-old wins California all-around championship : Resident Dylan Young can already call himself a state champion — and he’s only 8. Young, who attends Gymnastics Olympia in Van Nuys, won the Level 5 all-around title at the State Gymnastics Championships on March 14-15 in Riverside. He won the all-around crown with a score of 90.350, finishing ahead of Brandon Hsu of New Hope Gym (89.300)

CLOVIS — If nothing more and nothing less, Western Nelson proved he could run among the best of the best — both on Saturday and throughout an ultra-successful senior campaign. Running for the first time in the CIF-State Track and Field Championships, the Indians standout flirted with the frontrunners in Saturday night’s 3,200-meters race, but inevitably finished 16th in 9 minutes 6.68 seconds. “I put myself in a position to do good, but I didn’t really do that good,” Nelson said.

Bits and pieces from the local sports scene . Former Burroughs athletes have solid results : A group of former Burroughs High runners ended their collegiate seasons with fine performances. Jonathan Alpizar , a 2008 Burroughs graduate who runs for Cal State San Marcos, placed ninth in 25 minutes 48 seconds over eight kilometers at the AII-Big West Conference Championships in San Diego. In addition, he was 121st (26:45) at the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics National Championships in Vancouver, Wash.

Keeping up with area athletes competing in college . Western Nelson (Burroughs High, 2009) Cal State San Marcos men's cross-country : The former Indians standout earned All-America honors and helped the Cougars to a second-place finish at the 2011 National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics National Championships on Nov. 19. The Cougars came into the race at Fort Vancouver, Wash. as the No. 8 team, but finished the season at No. 2 after the runner-up finish. San Marcos returned to the podium for the first time since a fourth-place place finish in 2003.

BURBANK — Just as Anthony Monroy was getting ready to take part in the most important race of his life, the heavens seemed to open up. "It seemed like just before the race the rain started coming down hard," said Monroy, a junior cross-country runner at Burroughs High. "And during the race the rain got pretty bad. " Despite the precipitation, the wet weather couldn't dampen Monroy's spirits Saturday at the CIF-State Cross-Country Championships at Woodward Park in Fresno.

Give Burroughs High distance runner Western Nelson his share of credit. The senior has done something no other Indians boys’ runner has been able to accomplish, as he has qualified for state competition in both cross-country and track and field during the same school year. Only former teammate, Sadee Martinez — who accomplished the impressive double in 2007 — has been able to advance to both competitions. In fact, Nelson and Martinez are the only two individuals to accomplish the feat in city history.

Keeping up with area athletes competing in college : Western Nelson (Burroughs High) freshman, Cal State San Marcos men's cross-country : The former Leader Male Athlete of the Year had a fine performance last weekend in the San Diego Collegiate Challenge, hosted by University of California San Diego. Nelson won the men's 3,000-meter race by 10 seconds, posting a time of 8 minutes 37.72 seconds. In the same race, Jonathan Alpizar — another Burroughs graduate — placed fifth in 8:52.

Western Nelson is no stranger to tough, top-notch competition, as he faced his share of difficult opposition during his senior year as a distance runner at Burroughs High. In both track and fiend and cross-country, Nelson had to face formidable competition in the Pacific League, running against some of the best athletes in the state. In addition, he also took part in premier invitationals and went head to head with top athletes in the CIF Southern Section Masters Meet, the CIF Finals and in two trips to the state meet.

Bits and pieces from the local sports scene.   Former Burroughs runners do well in recent events : A host of ex-Indian standout athletes found success in a number of invitationals last weekend. At the Occidental Distance Carnival on March 12 at Occidental College, Daniel Anderson of the University of California San Diego placed second in the men’s Section 1 800 meters in 1 minute, 53.53 seconds. Also at Oxy, Vivian Ochoa of Glendale Community College placed 12th in women’s Section 2 1,500 (5:01.

CLOVIS — If nothing more and nothing less, Western Nelson proved he could run among the best of the best — both on Saturday and throughout an ultra-successful senior campaign. Running for the first time in the CIF-State Track and Field Championships, the Indians standout flirted with the frontrunners in Saturday night’s 3,200-meters race, but inevitably finished 16th in 9 minutes 6.68 seconds. “I put myself in a position to do good, but I didn’t really do that good,” Nelson said.