A big thank you to all of the parents who stayed last night to support ourtwo varsity teams who ran at 7:20, and in the Sweepstake's Race at 9:15. Our#2 varsity team finished third(ran 92.40, thirty-five seconds slower thanlast year's #1 team) to Fountain Valley#1 and Saugus#2(top ranked in thestate, #3 in the nation), and our Varsity #1 team finished sixth(89.48,averaging under eighteen minutes per girl) in the Sweepsake's Race, wherethe second through sixth place teams were within forty-six seconds of eachother. Makenna Smith(10)-17.41(19.07 last year), SabrinaRathor(11)-17.44(18.30), Lori Hoffman(11)-17.53(18.39), KristinArkin(12)-18.05(19.25), and Hayley Niles(11)-18.25(19.31) combined for aforty-four second gap, while Rachel Moore(12) continued her rapid ascentthrough this program, running 18.29(20.19). Our #2 team witnessed XimenaCruz(11) run 18.09(20.11 last year), Whitney Wiles(12), in her first raceafter a long rehab, ran 18.23, Emilie No(10), in her FIRST YEAR of crosscountry ran 18.29, Kamilah Foley(10) ran 18.42(21.37-a 2.55 improvement from2006, WOW!), and Meredith Suman(12)-18.57(19.55), all post solid efforts. Asyou can see, and echoing my comments after last year's season, thecompetition for the seven varsity spots is fierce...six seconds separatedour numbers six through nine girls(Wiles, H.Niles, Moore, No) last night,and I expect this to continue the entire season.The junior varsity race saw Kristine Andersen(11) run 20.08, verycommendable after an extended rehab, and Rebecca Murillo(11) run 20.27, asolid PR in her first year of cross country. The second place sophomore teamcombined Brittany Hernandez running 19.47(22.00 in 2006), KatelynLockwood-19.55, her first solid effort of the season, Amanda Lee-20.00, abig PR, Justine Rea-20.01 in her FIRST YEAR of cross country, and AmandaSummers-20.12(21.04) to a more than respectable finish. The second placefreshmen team were led by Dani Brabender-19.36, Sarah Daily-19.42, ShelbyNiles-19.43, Jessica Lee-20.49, and Taryn Davis-20.54, kudos on theircollective efforts, and our NOVICE team was led by AmberMosier(9)-23.18(Previous PR 27.12), and Karina Nurmberg(9)-23.19.
There were other notable occurrences...Kristyn Summers(10)-19.30(20.24 in2006), Kasie Dorr(10)-20.21(20.59), Sarah Brewer(10)-20.26(21.59), andKatrina Otto(10)-21.52(23.38) all enjoyed noticeable improvements. JessicaVarela(10) fell during the varsity race, sustained a nasty abrasion near herknee, got up, finished, and ran a respectable 19.16. Coach Mama Clemons andmyself are proud of not only the above-mentioned accolades, but our entireprogram's accomplishments last night as well. We ran well, the girls lookedlike winners, and the program conducted itself with class. We did not justrun in the Sweepstake's Race(our FIRST in the program' history), we made astatement in the process. We belong, and we plan on staying; however, ourtask is far from finished. Foothill, a Sea View League rival, benefittingfrom a key senior transfer(#2 runner), and her freshman sister(#3 runner)from Corona del Mar, defeated us last night. We meet on October 4. Seventeams qualify for State, and five(Saugus, Esperanza, Redlands, MurrietaValley, and Fountain Valley) all defeated us last night; although, otherthan Saugus, we were on the radar of the rest of the teams. My number onepriority as of this moment is Monday's workout, I will let future resultstake care of themselves, and it's now on to Boise, Idaho, and Dana Point.Again, thank you for your support last night, I look forward to the rest ofthe season, and GO BLUE!!!
