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Corona Girls Finish #8, Boys Finish #14 at CIF Finals
CIF Finals Proves to be a Tough Ride for Corona
Corona was one of the few schools to qualify BOTH squads to the CIF Finals! But, as the day got hotter and drier, the day became a tougher one for Corona. Despite the subpar performances and disappointment, both squads combined to be the the best of any Corona XC program in its long history!
After a GREAT CIF prelims race, our boys managed to run to their highest finish in school history (14th place. Team MVP Geron Craig had been fighting an undetected infection for over a week and staggered the last 400 meters. He fell from 15th place to 36th place as the viral infection proved to be too much for Geron. His strength and determination still led him to the finish line, but Geron was worse than anybody imagined. (After being in the hospital for over 3 weeks, he is now as healhy as ever!) Eric Larios ran a solid race, but Raul Arcos had a tough race. Raul had put together four GREAT races in a row and the long, successful season took its toll. One bright highlight was senior Jantsen March. Jantsen ran his best race of the season (last in a great career). All in all, this was the most successful season in school history! They won their 4th league title in the past five seasons to go along with becoming the first team in school history to break 81:00 at the prestigious Mt. SAC Course! We will graduate four of our top five athletes. We will be rebuilding in 2006, but looking to win another league title and return to the CIF Finals! Geron Craig ended up being 1st Team All-County while Eric Larios was 2nd Team All-County. Raul Arcos was the #2 sophomore in Riverside County and was on the 3rd Team All-County team! The boys ended up being ranked #2 in Riverside County behind a strong Murrieta Valley group! Coaches, parents and fellow athletes could not be more proud of the season this group of boys gave us!
On the girls' side, our ran to their highest finish at the CIF Finals in school history! But, an 8th place finish was one spot away from qualifying for the California State Meet! High expectations and anticipation may have taken its toll on the girls as they finished 27 points away from 7th place Dana Hills. Ashley Evans and Alma Escobar led us with a strong 1-2 punch. Malaysia Alexander and Elizabeth Sanchez put up some strong races and scored where they were expected to! Our other three runners had tough days and if anythng, this young squad (we return 10 of our top 11 girls in 2006) will be more hungry than ever in their quest to go to the state meet! They walk away with five straight league titles and four straight CIF Finals appearances (only 7 schools in Division I can claim that). They gained the experience of running at a high level and against some of the best competition in the state! Ashley Evans was runner-up as Riverside County Athlete of the Year while she was 1st Team All-County. Alma Escobar earned her 3rd straight 1st Team All-County Award. They walk away with a new school record on the Mt. SAC course and with the hunger to acheive even greater things in the future!
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