Congratulations to the Boys who start their first dual meet with a win over Fullerton! Juniors led the way by running over to Fullerton High School, a tradition: Luis, Roman, Eduardo, Alex and freshman, Tayyab!

Angel Aguirre, Erick Pacheco and Alex Torres went 1-3 in the varsity 1600 meter run as did Tayyab, Roman and Josh for the frosh/soph. Improving their times in this event were: Brad Cooke, Daniel Diaz, Matthew Vo, Jason Yee, Jesus Escobar, Moises Gonzalez, Ivan Jimenez and Tayyab Khan.

The Varsity girls were led by Alyssa Lees who won the 1600 meter race with Ana Montenegro scoring 2nd. Mia Kissick improved her time in this event. America Rojas was competitive in the FS race and came in 2nd with Rosie Pulido finishing strong for 3rd place. 

Scorers in the 800 meter races were: Luis Avellaneda and Angel Aguirre for varsity boys; Roman Gutierrez, Shivnay Kumar, and Jordan De Haven for FS boys; Arlin Sandoval and Kelly Pipkin for Varsity Girls and Kelsey Hoskins and America Rojas for the FS Girls.

Luis and Erick came back to place 1st and 2nd in the 3200 meter run with Tayyab winning the FS race followed by Diego Baiza and Steven Suarez. Vicky Ablir placed 2nd for the Girls Varsity.

The 4 x 400 races are always exciting and this meet was no exception! The varsity boys race was close with My Nguyen, Ricky Dhupar, Eduardo Casio and Danny Gonzalez placing 2nd. FS boys won their event and featured three teams! Troy Czegledy, Brad Cooke, Jordan DeHaven and Daniel Diaz made up the FS relay team for the Tigers. 

The boys frosh/soph and Varsity recorded a win against Loara in a very close duel meet. The meet came down to the Discus where the Tigers came in 1st and 3rd. We hope the distance runners can make sure future meets are not this tight again!

Scoring for the Varsity boys was Talal Khan and Luis Avellaneda in the 800 meters (1st and 2nd place), Jose Gutierrez and Alex Torres in the 3200 (1st and 3rd place) and Angel Aguirre, 3rd in the 1600 meters. 

The frosh/soph boys were led by Josh Rangel and Diego Baiza placing 2nd and 3rd in the 1600 meters; Tayyab Khan won the 800 meters, and Steven Suarez scored in the 3200 meters.

The girls varsity team is strong as a whole but lost a close one against the Loara girls. Nadia Sandoval competed to win coming up a little short, placing 2nd as did Arlin Sandoval in the 3200 meters. Alyssa Lees helped the effort with her 2nd place in the 800 meters. 

Sajel Patel won both the 1600 and 800 meters for the frosh/soph girls! 

 Congratulations to Talal Khan who placed 4th in the Invitational 1600 meter run at the Trabuco Hills Invite. Talal ran pretty even splits, got caught in a box in lap 3, but finished with a kick and set a PR, 4:19!

The Boys Varsity, Boys FS and Girls Varsity teams all came away with a win against League opponent, Pacifica. On the Varsity Boys side, Talal, Angel Aguirre, and Luis Avellaneda swept the 1600 meter run; Talal, Luis and Paul Goslin went 1,2,3 in the 800 meters; and Angel and Alex Torres placed 1st and 2nd in the 3200 meter run.

FS Boys were led by Tayyab Khan who won the 1600 meter and 3200 meter run, and Troy Czegledy who won the 800 and placed 2nd in the 1600 meters! Brad Cooke continues to shine for the team, placing 3rd in the 800 and running on the winning 4 x 400 team. Roman Gutierrez scored 2nd place points in the 3200 meter run. Troy, Brad, Matthew Vo and Diego Baiza won the 4 x 400 relay! Hard working Ruben Aguilar recorded a PR, 5:10 in the 1600, congrats to him!

The Varsity Girls were paced by Nadia Sandoval who run two great races against some of the strongest girls in the league, placing 2nd in the 1600 meters and the 800 meters. Arlin Sandoval was amazing in her win of the 3200 meters as she was not feeling well and only ran to help the team win. Remarkable, she won the event and also set a new personal record! Ana Montenegro tied her best time in the 1600 meter run. Alyssa Lees stepped up in the 800, placing 3rd and scoring a varsity point!

The FS Girls did very well too, with America Rojas leading the way by winning the 1600 and 800 meter runs!  Sejal Patel was 2nd in both events. Kelsey Hoskins and Alejandra Soto set new personal records in the 1600 while Shin-Ning Leu broke her best time in the 800 meter run.

The Tigers got a great start at the Arcadia Invite 4 x Mile with Talal taking it out fast and alone leading the race and the team on his leg of the relay running a 4:21.1 mile (4:19.5 converted to 1600 meters)! Angel Aguirre was our #2 runner turning in a 4:36.5 mile (4:34.8 1600m), his fastest time for this season so far. With the team in 7th place now, he hands off to Luis Avellaneda who runs a saavy first two laps, then picks it up to pass a couple of teams and records a fine 4:29.5 mile time (4:27.9 1600m), a personal best! Erick Pacheco anchors for the team and runs solid for three laps before falling off the pace the last lap, 4:51.3 (4:49.6 1600m). Erick gave what he had, but it was tough running against everyone elses #1 runner! All 'n all, a good experience!

The Arcadia Invite featured some amazing performances, check out the top races! Chris Derrick, 13:55 5k (9:03 for 3200 meters, then kept going...faster!)

Cypress is the team to beat as they showed at the duel meet 4/10/08. We hope to come at them fast and fresh at the Empire League Finals and avenge our loss!

The meet featured some fine races with a highlight of 3 freshman now below the 5:00 mark in the 1600 meters as Brad Cooke unleashed a great kick to record a 4:59! Roman Gutierrez, Tayyab Khan, Troy Czegledy and Brad Cooke continue to be the Frosh/Soph work horses, scoring a lot of points for the team in the distance events. The FS races alo featured some PR's: Ruben Aguilar (again, the PR hog!), Matthew Vo, Michael Pope (2 PR's), Chase French, Connor McCullough, Shivnay Kumar, Ian Merna, Jackson Keller, Joseph Tran, Mathias Riegg and Alex Vu.

Talal won the 1600 with Angel running strong to place 3rd. Talal placed 3rd to the strong Cypress half-milers in the 800 meters.

Arlin Sandoval ran a personal record in the 800 meters, helping her get ready for League Finals in the 3200. Nadia ran a strong 1600 meters, her best time of the season. Frosh/soph runner, America Rojas placed 2nd in the 1600. New PR's were run by: Kelsey Hoskin Mariam Fazil and Shin-Ning Leu in the 1600; and Sejal Patel, Alejandra Soto and Pavan Rahkra in the 800 meter run.

It was an amazing day at Orange County Championships as each Tiger athlete ran their best races of the season so far! Sean Krinik is the 2008 Orange County FS Champion in two events and Talal Khan placed 2nd in the Varsity 3200 meter run and 4th in the 1600 meters! The 3200 meter race was especially exciting as Talal went head to head with eventual winner, Riley Sullivan of Trabuco H.S. for 6 of the 8 laps. 

Congratulations to Sean Krinik who won both the FS 400 meters and came back later to also win the 800 meter Orange County Champion title! He recorded best times in each event, 50.6 and 2:00.6, nearly breaking the 400m OCC record too.

Roman Gutierrez and Troy Czegledy represented the FS 1600 meter runners with Roman placing 3rd and both running best times! Troy now puts himself 8th on the Top Ten list for freshman in the 1600. Tayyab Khan and Brad Cooke ran the FS 3200 brilliantly for freshman, with Tayyab's 10:13 placing him 3rd on the Top Ten fastest freshman for that event. Brad showed tenacity and courage, recording a 10:43 in his first ever try at this distance!

Nadia Sandoval and Arlin Sandoval ran smart races and were rewarded with a season best time for Nadia, and an All-time PR for Arlin in the varsity girls rated 1600 meter run.

Talal and Luis Avellaneda competed in the Varsity seeded 1600 meter run with Talal 4th in 4:17 (PR) and Luis 19th in 4:28. Angel Aguirre ran an even split race in the 3200 meter run placing 11th and his season best time of 9:34. 

The Tigers are looking good going into the Championship part of the season! The best is yet to be! 

Luis Avellaneda is really stepping up for the Varsity Boys this season as evidenced by a determined win in the 1600 meters and this following a big PR at Arcadia! Another highlight of this meet, was Danny Gonzalez placing 2nd in the Varsity Boys 300 Hurdles after only 1 day of practice in the event! It took courage to try a new event and especially the hurdles! Ricky Dhupar also took the challenge and finished strong as well.

The Boys Varsity was a very close meet and it came down to the 4 x 400 meter relay, the last event! Danny Gonzalez ran his best time (55.1) as the lead off runner, handing off to Kelii Jackson who also PR'd (51.6). Talal was 3rd leg and ran a solid 53.8 and Sean Krinik anchored and assured the win with a 51.6 time, it was an exciting race! The boys FS remain undefeated in League. 

Freshman, Brad Cooke continues his improvement with a win in the FS 1600 outkicking opponents and teammates alike! Tayyab Khan was 2nd. Matthew Vo PR'd on his birthday with a 5:14! Also recording best times were Michael Pope, Chase French and Daniel McGuigan.

Nadia Sandoval placed 2nd in the 1600 meters, as did Arlin Sandoval in the 800, running a best time for that event. Maricruz Colin did a great job PRing in the 1600 and running the 3200 meters for the FS girls. America Rojas is really a team runner, scoring in the 1600m, 800m and then coming back to help the team in the 3200 meters!

Troy Czegledy and Roman Gutierrez went 1-2 in the FS 800 and Talal Khan won the varsity race. Ivan Jimenez, and Moises Gonzalez ran best times for the 800 as did Alejandra Soto for the girls FS.

Ruben Aguilar and Diego Baiza added 8 points to the FS score by finishing 1st and 2nd in the 3200 meters with Ruben running a PR. 

The Frosh/Soph boys looked sharp at the final duel meet of the season with Kennedy and finish the season as Empire League Champions! Varsity Boys end up in 2nd place to Cypress (4-1) with the win over Kennedy and the Varsity Girls end the season with a win and a 2-3 record.

The FS milers took turns leading the 1600 meter race, leading to some personal best times. Tayyab Khan won the race with a PR 4:52, Roman Gutierrez was 2nd and Diego Baiza was 3rd with a PR, breaking 5 minutes for the first time! Also recording PR's were: Steven Suarez, Chase French, Connor McCullough, Michael Pope, Jesus Escobar, Chris Meneses, Ivan Jimenez, Moises Gonzalez, Jason Yee, Victor Varela, Alex Vu, Jackson Keller, and Calvin Ferniza.

Arlin Sandoval led the entire race, trying to separate herself from the pack, and finished 3rd, getting outkicked at the end, a very exciting race! Ana Montenegro and Vicki Ablir PR'd in this race. America Rojas and Sejal Patel placed 2nd and 3rd for the FS Girls 1600 meters with Maricruz Colin, Shin-Ning Leu and Madison Tang running to best times. The 800 meter run for varsity featured Alyssa Lees running very competitively, placing 2nd and recording a best time! Amercia and Alejandra Soto placed 2nd and 3rd for the FS Girls with Alejandra, Mariam Fazil, Rosie Pulido and Pavan Rakhra earning PR's for the 800 meters.

Sean Krinik continues his winning ways with 800 meters, placing 1st with Luis Avellaneda 3rd for the varsity boys. Brad Cooke won for the FS Boys, with Troy Czegledy, and Roman rounding out the sweep of scoring positions. Daniel Aldama, Brad, Roman, Marcus Carline, Chris Meneses, and Joseph Tran ran best times.

Danny Gonzalez won the varsity boys 300 meter Hurdles with Ricky Dhupar placing 3rd. Not bad for their second week working on the event!

Erick Pacheco and Angel Aguirre went 1-2 in the varsity 3200 unopposed and help the FS boys to some very nice times as they took 1st through 3rd. Diego won with a big PR, Chase French 2nd and Michael Pope 3rd. Arlin Sandoval won the varsity girls pacing Vicki Ablir to a 25 second PR! Sejal Patel was 2nd in the FS girls 3200, great effort for her first time in the event.

The 4 x 400 meter relays are always fun for distance runners and good for developing speed. Alex Torres, Brad, Marcus, Connor, and Arlin all ran PR's for their 400 meter split times.

Tigers survive Monday's heat to advance to Friday's Empire League Finals at Cerritos College!  

Despite the heat their were new personal records set by: Roman Gutierrez, Brad Cooke, Matthew Vo, Michael Pope, Jordan DeHaven, Chase French, and Ivan Jimenez in the 1600 meter run. In the 800 meters, My Nguyen, Paul Goslin, Roman, Matthew, Nadia Sandoval, Ana Montenegro, Sejal Patel, Alejandra Soto and Kelsey Hoskins ran their best ever times!

1600 meter qualifiers:

•  FS Boys: Roman Gutierrez, Brad Cooke, Troy Czegledy, Tayyab Khan, Diego Baiza
• FS Girls: America Rojas, Alyssa Lees, Sejal Patel, Kelsey Hoskins, Mariam Fazil
• Varsity Boys: Talal Khan, Luis Avellaneda, Karin Zaldana
• Varsity Girls: Nadia Sandoval, Arlin Sandoval

 800 meter qualifiers: 

• FS Boys: Troy Czegledy, Diego Baiza, Matthew Vo
• FS Girls: Sejal Patel, Alyssa Lees
• Varsity Boys: Sean Krinik, Talal Khan, Luis Avellaneda

It took some pretty fast times to advance to the CIF Finals this year in the distance events but Talal was ready and qualified in both the 1600 meters and the 3200 meter runs! Sean Krinik ran personal best times in the 400 meters and the 800 meters and ended up qualifying in the 400 and is the 2nd alternate in the 800. They will compete next Saturday at Mt SAC.

Talal ran 4:18 to qualify in the 1600 meters leading for 2 laps to make sure the heat was fast enough to advance to Finals, it was a smart race. The 3200 meters was really fun to watch as Talal and three others formed an aliance to help keep the pace fast enough to match the first heat of the 3200. Talal qualified in 9:21, a personal best time.

Sean used his strong finishing kick to place 2nd in his heat of the 400 and advance to Finals with 49. best time. The 800 meters was challenging as it was run as a waterfall start with Sean on the inside lane! He was boxed in for most of the race, finished with an awesome kick, and finished second in his heat in 1:57. also a best time.

Nadia Sandoval gave it what she had, hung on as long as possible and ends her senior season at Prelims. Nadia had a great season and influenced the younger runners with her no fear, super competitive racing style.

Luis Avellaneda and Angel Aguirre also end their seasons at Prelims. Luis ran the 1600 meters and finished with a solid time and a big jump from last year. He gains experience and should be back next year! Angel Aguirre ran the 3200 meters and almost pulled it off, making all the right moves through 5 laps. Angel will be missed and put together an amazing four years as a Tiger distance runner!

Kelii Jackson, Brandi Straughter and Brian Berkeley competed and end their seasons by running best times in their events.

Congratulations to Talal Khan, CIF Champion in the 1600 meters for Division II! Talal did not let the 100 degree temperatures deter him from his goal of running to win this race. He took over the race going into the 3rd lap and never looked back. The Loyola runner challenged and briefly took the lead with 200 meters to go, but Talal responded with a fierce kick over the final 100 meters to earn the title with a 4:18 clocking! Talal came back later in the day to compete in the 3200 meters. He was very competitive until the weather and earlier effort took its toll leaving him in 5th place overall for Division II, a pretty good double.

Sean Krinik finished his stellar season competing and finishing 8th in the 400 meter finals, great sophomore year in track and cross country!

Talal ran brilliantly at the CIF Masters Meet! He broke the school record for the 1600 meters and qualified for the State Meet! Talal ran 4:13.33, a huge personal record and now is ranked in the top 10 in the State, woo-hoo!

It was an amazing season for Talal Khan and it came to an end at the State Meet Prelims where he placed 8th in his heat. Talal led for 3 laps and it took its toll on the final lap but what a season...CIF Champion and our new school record holder!

German Fernandez and Christine Babcock ran National records at the State Meet Finals and that really sums up how strong the California runners are and how difficult it is to even make the California State Meet, so great job Talal and we wish you continued success at UC Riverside!

Training runs at Chino Hills and Carbon Canyon... miles and smiles! Click on pictures to enlarge slideshow.