For the second year in a row, Corona traveled up the picturesque California coast and opened the season up at the Morro Bay Invitational. Booster Club President John Mynes outdid himself as he orchestrated an incredible group of parents to make this trip simply awesome. Traveling in the comfort of a charter bus along with a trip to Hearst Castle on Friday night, the race was just a part of greater bonding experience for the athletes. Simply put, Corona High opened up the 2008 season with great success! Thank you to all of the parents that made this happen! For some incredible pictures of the trip go to http://flickr.com/photos/mg_dad/
The course changes slightly from year to year (this year it was 2.71 as opposed to 2.63 last year) as the tide of the ocean plays an impact at times. In the shadow of the incredible Morro Bay Rock, our kids rolled to some great efforts. With the extra distance, times varied between 25-40 seconds slower than last year.
Our varsity boys gave everybody a glance of why they are ranked in the Top 15 for all of California. With patience in the first 1/2 mile along with a very relaxed sense of confidence, our boys placed four in the top 11 our of over 120 athletes! If scoring the meet, our boys would have rolled in an overwhelming victory. In one of their toughest weeks of training, the varsity boys saw Michael Gauger easily move away for the overall victory (15:18). Perhaps the surprise of the day was Patrick Mynes, who finished 3rd with a 15:37. Chase Williams came in 5th overall with a mark of 15:43, and considering the slower course, he was over a minute faster than last year. Alan Cuevas finished 11th overall with an effort of 16:01. Franklin Sloat continues to be a potent #5 man as he was, by far, the top #5 scorer in the entire meet. If the meet had been scored, Corona would have scored under 40 points wheras the next team, Ventura, would have scored between 95-100 points.
Our varsity girls continue to improve week by week! Freshmen Haley Brzycki (8th overall) and Desirae Santana (19th overall) raced as if they were seasoned veterans as both moved out with a consistent pace only to pass over 10 athletes over the last half of the race. Solid as ever, Malaysia Alexander ran a great race in finished 10th overall. The greatest surprise on this day was Alexxis Martin. With an awesome last 1/2 mile, Martin finished stronger than ever with a 26th place finish and almost two minutes faster than last year! Lauren Cochran and Brieanna Pantele were right there with Martin in finishing 28th and 33rd overall. If they had scored the meet, our girls would have won the varsity race, finishing just ahead of Atascadero and Ventura.
Girls Results:
Haley Brzycki (9) 19:05
Malaysia Alexander (12) 19:18
Desirae Santana (9) 19:50
Alexxis Martin (10) 20:15
Lauren Cochran (10) 20:20
Brieanna Pantele (12) 20:29
Aubrey LeAnce (11) 21:07
Nathalie Aguilar (9) 21:17
April Lawson (10) 21:29
Suzanna Aguilar (9) 21:31
Liz Ortiz (10) 21:58
Rachel Ruiz (11) 22:32
Alexis Sabala (10) 22:58
Marlene Ramirez (10) 23:14
Marisa Boren (9) 23:28
Lauren Welker (12) 23:45??
Hailey Smevog (9) 24:15
Angelica Castagna (11) 24:15
Kayley Carson (10) 24:38
Hannah Smith (9) 25:05
Amber Withrow (9) 25:35
Raeanna Smith (9) 25:55
Flore Pillard (11) 26:22
Meghan Iteen (10) 27:46
Barbara Issac (9) 27:49
Gloria Cruz (9) 27:55
Rebekah Bates (9) 28:17
Isabel Cruz (11) 29:57
Boys Results:
Michael Gauger (10) 15:18
Patrick Mynes (12) 15:37
Chase Williams (12) 15:43
Alan Cuevas (11) 16:01
Franklin Sloat (12) 16:32
Fernando Cerda (11) 16:56
Jimmy Gauger (9) 17:04
Garrett Williams (9) 17:05
Julian Semaan (10) 17:45
Antonio Garcia (10) 17:47
Tom Fitch (11) 18:21
Michael Sveinson (10) 18:21
Julian Hernandez (9) 18:32
Ulises Banos (11) 18:35
Ryan Fierro (9) 18:38
Jonathan Erickson (10) 18:43
Scott Davis (9) 19:00
Cesar Brodowski (10) 19:14
Marcus Andonic (12) 19:32
Jeremiah Blackburn (10) 19:34
Brendon Pantele (11) 19:38
Austin Pantele (9) 19:51
Faran Imani (10) 20:07
Raistlin Hale (9) 20:09
Brad Sharpe (10) 20:14
Brandon Shaw (10) 20:28
Trevor Gibson (10) 20:37
Bobby Farahmand (10) 21:10
Jeremiah Bell (9) 21:30
Tony Guzman (10) 21:40
