updated 9/24 with overall times...
With the sun setting and more and more heads cascading over the landscape, we love watching the reactions of all of our new athletes (and parents) when they truly realize how awesome and big Cross Country truly is a sport. Of course, we're describing the Woodbridge Classic which is the 2nd largest and the only night time high school meet in the nation. With over 185 schools competing throughout the day, races have up to 300 athletes and at times, you will find 5-10 athletes all leaning at the finish line giving everything they have. Unfourtuately, and for whatever reason, they altered the course this year and for most boys, it ran 12-15 seconds slower and for most girls it ran 20-25 seconds slower. We're hearing that it was 80 meters longer than 3 miles and perhaps, 120 meters longer than it was in 2007. With several of our experienced athletes disappointed in their times, there's a reason...the course was longer and a good number of veteran coaches confirmed this. Putting things in perspective, it only magnifies how awesome our squads did compared to past years...
With perhaps the greatest team performance in the program's history, our varsity boys took 4th place in the Sweepstakes Race. Entered in the race for the first time, the boys handled the pressure with poise and precision as they knifed their way through the field after a very patient first 1/2 mile. After three scorers, Corona was in 1st place and after four scorers - we were in 2nd place! Michael Gauger (5th best sophomore of the entire invite) ran an impressive 15:06 but Alan Cuevas (4th best junior) and Patrick Mynes simply hammered that last mile and finished together in a 5:10! Chase Williams ran over a minute faster than last year with an awesome 15:31 and Franklin Sloat (sick all week) ran his best race to date with a 16:03! Fernando Cerda continues to build his fitness (only been out for a month) and ran awesome with a 16:21. The only teams that finished ahead of Corona were Buchanan (#2 in the state), Vista Murrieta (#3 in the state) and Arcadia, who along with Corona, will move into the top 6-8 teams in the state. Rankings are nice but do not mean a thing - it's all about what you do in November. But, even a 90 minute (12 miles) run on Thursday and 20 x 400 on Wednesday could not slow this group down! Meanwhile, Our fab freshmen took the highest team plaque of the day with their 2nd place finish. Garrett Williams (16:27) and Jimmy Gauger (16:34) took 3rd and 4th place in their race and ended up being #11 and #15 for all freshmen in the entire invite. Corona was only one of two squads to have two freshmen in the top 20 overall... Lorenzo Marquez also ran to an awesome pr with his 16:32 in the junior race.
On the girls' side, we saw some awesome surprises on the day. Leading our varsity girls' squad was freshman Haley Bryzcki. Not only did she run to an 18:34, but she was the 6th fastest freshman of the entire invitational! Malaysia Alexander turned another solid performance while Lauren Cochran easily broke 20:00 for her first time ever with an impressive 19:16. Our 4th finisher was Brieanna Pantele (19:35) while Alexxis Martin and Desiree Santana were right behind her. In the girls junior varsity race, Aubrey LeAnce rolled with a strong 8th place finish and a new pr of 20:29. Freshman Nathalie Aguilar also continues to improve with her 20:41 time in her race.
BOYS RESULTS
Michael Gauger (10) 15:06 - new sophomore school record and #3 all-time
Alan Cuevas (11) 15:10 - #2 junior mark and #4 all-time
Patrick Mynes (12) 15:10 - #2 senior mark and #5 all-time
Chase Williams (12) 15:31
Franklin Sloat (12) 16:03
Fernando Cerda (11) 16:21
Garrett Williams (9) 16:27
Lorenzo Marquez (11) 16:32
Jimmy Gauger (9) 16:34
Logan Shyrock (11) 17:01
Antonio Garcia (10) 17:05
Julian Semaan (10) 17:06
Angel Pineda (11) 17:06
Michael Sveinson (10) 17:20
Julian Hernandez (9) 17:40
Jonathan Erickson (10) 17:41
Ryan Fierro (9) 17:53
Marcus Andronic (12) 17:57
Tom Fitch (11) 17:58
Ulises Banos (11) 18:10
Scott Davis (9) 18:37
Brandon Shaw (10) 19:19
Eduardo Cerda (9) 19:27
Austin Pantele (9) 19:37
Brad Sharpe (10) 19:40
Cesar Brodowski (10) 19:41
Raistlin Hale (9) 19:48
Faran Imani (10) 19:48
Jeremiah Blackburn (10) 19:48
Benny Ambriz (11) 19:50
Brendon Pantele (11) 19:54
Trevor Gibson (10) 20:08
Stratton Lee (9) 20:21
Jeremiah Bell (9) 20:28
Tony Guzman (10) 20:56
Bobby Farahmand (10) 21:25
GIRLS RESULTS
Haley Brzycki (9) 18:34
Malaysia Alexander (12) 18:50
Lauren Cochran (10) 19:16
Brieanna Pantele (12) 19:35
Alexxis Martin (10) 19:41
Desirae Santana (9) 19:45
Ashley Evans (12) 19:49
Aubrey LeAnce (11) 20:29
Christina Ledesma (10) 20:33
Nathalie Aguilar (9) 20:41
April Lawson (10) 20:41
Reyna Gutierrez (12) 20:52
Suzanna Aguilar (9) 21:07
Corinna Gutierrez (11) 21:25
Tania Merida (12) 21:42
Lauren Welker (12) 22:10
Rachel Ruiz (11) 22:16
Malene Ramirez (10) 22:16
Alexis Sabala (10) 22:40
Liz Ortiz (10) 22:42
Marisa Boren (9) 22:49
Hailey Smevog (9) 23:25
Angelica Castagna (11) 23:44
Rachel Torres (9) 23:45
Kristina Jurdi (9) 23:58
Katie Anderson (12) 24:00
Flore Pillard (11) 24:55
Hannah Smith (9) 25:14
Sarah Patterson (10) 25:25
Amber Withrow (9) 26:05
Barbara Issac (9) 26:48
Gloria Cruz (9) 26:55
Rebekah Bates (9) 27:51
Rebecca Cruz (12) 28:31
Isabel Cruz (11) 29:06
