Inland Empire Cross Country Challenge: Welcome

Thanks, as well to Rozina and Smith Physical Therapy from Upland who's tremendous level of expertise was added to provide medical assistance and care to the athletes as needed. Enough can't be said about the quality of care and attention tho health and well being of the athletes which they provided.

As the meet directors, we always strive to put on the best meet possible for the enjoyment of everyone involved not least of which are the volunteers as well as the participants. A deep sense of gratitude goes out to all of the volunteers who came out in the wee hours of the morning to prepare for the day's racing.

Race day re-cap

The Sweepstakes Race gave everyone a real treat as some of the best teams in the State competed to grab the headlines and the title of best team in the Inland Empire. With many people saying that the Rancho Cucamonga Boy's team could be number 1 in the state, the Cougars certainly laid down the gaunlet to take one more step towards a State Championship bid! RCHS captured the County title as well as the overall Inland Empire Challenge Championship, finishing well ahead of all challengers. With a score of 30 points, they far outdistanced a fine Vista Murrieta squad led by the Inland Empire Individual Champion, Porter Reddish. Vista Murrieta scored 99 points to finish ahead of Roosevelt, Corona, and Redlands East Valley high schools.
The head to head duel with Luis Gonzales (RCHS) and Porter Reddish that see-sawed between them was not determined until the final few strides with Porter nipping Luis by a half second 14:54.7 to 14:55.2, a new course record! After that the RCHS crew finished within 25 seconds of their leader, each showing themselves to be capable of holding their own on any other team competing. These were Calvin Davis,4th, Austin Esposito, 5th, Kevin Matthews, 9th and Jon Deliva, 10th.

The Girls' racing was highlighted by an upfront battle of individuals, all four capable of running for the State Championship. JW North's Mariel Mendoza, Centennial's Adrianna Olivas, Vista Murrieta's Erika Reddish, and La Quinta's Megan Huebner battled for the title. While Mendoza and Olivas were fighting up front during the early stages of the race it was ultimately Reddish and Huebner who dueled in the final stages to claim individual honors. Megan ultimately won in classic fashion and broke the course record (Hannah Valenzuela, Apple Valley, 17:13.1, 2010) with an outstanding 17:12.6, a scant 2.6 seconds ahead of Erika Reddish's 17:15.2.  Watch video!

On the team side of the racing, Great Oak, running with basically their B team, still took home the title of Inland Empire Champion with 40 points. Finishing second, Vista Murrieta with 54 points placed very well. These two teams represented the Riverside County very well for 1st and 2nd.

Rancho Cucamonga, and their very estatic coach, Mark Cushman, finally claimed the San Bernardino County Championship trophy, finishing 3rd overall (77 points) ahead of runner-up, Granite Hills. Rancho Cucamonga's team of Carolina Guzman (18:31), Kiana Matthews, Brittany Bailey, Casey Barahona, and Ashley Collier combined a 55 second time gap to take home the SB County Crown.