2008 Spreadsheet of times  (by person and race)

League Meets
Big 8 #1   Girls JV   Girls Varsity   Boys Varsity   Boys JV (no score nor times due to course mixup)
Big 8 #2  Girls JV   Girls Varsity    Boys JV    Boys Varsity
Big 8 League Finals Girls JV  Girls Varsity   Boys JV   Boys Varsity

Invitationals Seaside Invitational     Mt.Carmel     Central Park    Clovis   Mt.SAC  

CIF Prelims  Girls   boys 
CIF Finals   Girls individual results   Team results
State Finals  results   Pdf version

For the first time in King High's 10 year history, the cross country teams notched three All-State Selections in a single season.  The most previously was in 2006 when Kelsi Tippets and Carissa Bowman earned the distinction.

Congratulations to Lane Werley, Devin Becerra and Kelsi Tippets for working their way to the top of their individual grade levels in the entire state of California!

Read what dyestatcal.com had to say about each:

Kelsi Tippets (ML King, Riverside-SS) - Kelsi had a couple of super efforts when it counted, with a fifth in the tough Section Division I Finals and top 25 finish at the State Meet. 

Lane Werley (King HS, Riverside-SS) -- A convert from basketball the sensational youngster revealed great promise for the future with multiple quality races, including a fine 15:56 at the Clovis Invitational.

Devin Becerra (ML King, Riverside-SS) -- While teammate Lane Werley caught our eye early in 2008, Devin moved into the frame by late season too. His 16:44 run at the early-season Mt. Carmel Invitational showed promise, with a 16:32 run on the state meet course fulfilling those views.

Click here to read the full lists

Kelsi Tippets is as competitive as they come. We knew that from literally her first day of summer practice her 9th grade year, when, after a late start to the "rookie run" she doggedly took off, catching every one and making it back to school with room to spare despite the half-mile head start the group had on her. It was obvious right then and there; give this girl a start and finish line, she wouldn't waste anytime in between the two.

In the 21st running the California State Championships, she had before her those two lines once again, and typical of the talented junior, she gave everything she had in the deepest and fastest race of the five held Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno.  The pace got out very quickly with the leaders coming by the 800 mark under 2:45. Kelsi was gamely in that group, just off to the right of a large pack that spanned 12 wide, devouring the entire width of the path. By the mile the demands of chasing some of the best runners the entire state has to offer were being felt.  "I was thinking, I shouldn't be feeling like this already" she said after the race.  Coming by at the mile  at 5:38, it would be the second mile that would exact the price paid for the first. That fee was found in a move back to the second group, sliced some twenty places behind the eventual race winner, Alex Dunne of San Clemente. True to her nature however, Kelsi battled hard through the rolling hills that took her to mile-two. From there, she hung on, occassionaly exchanging places with two others before showing that trademark grit over the last 300 meters to move up on two more and ultimately finish in 23rd (out of 196 finishers) and at 18:25 for 5K.

For her first go at the State Finals, Kelsi did everything she had to do and left nothing to the nagging, post race question of "what if...?" Her stated goal from last June was to achieve a position on the starting line at the State meet and she did just that.  Despite an outcome not exactly to her wishes, the way in which she conducted herself between the lines exemplified the competitive integrity and determination she brings to the sport and to every race she contests. Win lose or draw ... Compete!  Therefore it was another great race for Kelsi and quite an accomplishment. Her baptism to State-level racing was one by fire, and will certainly bode well for her when she perhaps toes that line again in 2009. 

Making the race and the journey to Fresno a bit more enjoyable was a large group of teammates - guys and girls - who came along to cheer and represent King Cross Country in grand style. For the up-and-coming guys team, the experience hopefully proved an eye-opening one to see what can be achieved by hard working, motivated and disciplined teenagers. For the girls, who just missed their chance as a team this year, the meet looms ever larger next year as a destination for not just spectators, but as competitors.

Just as Kelsi was today in the biggest meet of the season.

Full Results    Photo Album

Want to check out results from every State Championship in history? Up for a little comparison of past and present? Check out this incredible website!

On Saturday, the team entered the race for the seventh time in seven years, but this go-around came with the stated goal of "having fun" and "doing our best".  A reversal of previous misfortunes was "Job One." Well, it's been said that "seven" is a lucky number, and perhaps there was a little Irish on the day, for the team raced well and for the first time ever, cracked the "Top 10" in their division.  They finished tenth with 231 points in what is annually the toughest division in the entire state. (For comparison, the girls' team time would have been 6th in D2, 3rd in D3, and 1st in both D4 and D5)

As expected, the race got out quickly, with a big lead pack of twenty cruising through the 800 meter mark. Kelsi Tippets and Carrie Soholt lurked just off that lead pack through the mile, while Kasey Tippets, Katrina Graham and Hanna Peterson were making up King's scoring group by the top of the Switchbacks.  A gap opened up after that point, as Kelsi rolled along with the lead group that had splintered into a handful-and-one by two miles.  From there, Kelsi was firmly in control of her race and a potential top 6 placing. She finished very strong, crossing the line in 5th place while holding a bag of distinctions: a school record for the course, the first King girl to break 18:00 at Mt.SAC, All CIF honors, the highest CIF Finals finish of any King runner and an individual berth at the California State Championships Thanksgiving weekend.   That's some bag! 

Even with a couple of the girls having less than "on" races, the team still battled tremendously, something the group found difficult to do in the 2007 race.  It showed in one statistic: All five scorers PR'd on the course and ran King's #2 All Time team time (95:15) and the fastest CIF Finals time any King team has ever achieved. The 10th place finish was also, for what it's worth, the second-fastest Riverside County team in the race, a nice distinction given the high quality programs that herald from the IE. Carrie Soholt notched King's #5 all time mark, Kasey and Hanna were 7th and 8th all time, and Katrina raced to the 13th fastest mark all time. With Casey Candelaria and Aubrey Bowman rounding out the group, it was a very fine overall performance by the entire squad. PR's and All-time lists on the last day? We'll take it!

It was a good day for King, and one we hope will prove itself to be a stepping stone of success on the journey to even greater success in the future. With only one graduating senior in the group, the possibilities are incredible to behold should these young and talented runners make goals to not rest on the great accomplishment of today, but now look with eager anticipation at what awaits them in 2009.

Three more had both squads finish in the top five of their heats at CIF Prelims: ML King, Corona and Long Beach Poly. 

King XC - Girls and Boys - finishes in the top 10% of the most competitive and most populated division in CIF.

I always hesitate to crunch numbers for the "what ifs..." for it can only leave a bitter taste. However, without crying over the "if only we had been in the other heat" scenario, we can rejoice knowing the goal to make Finals, set so long ago, came oh-so-close to happening, and with a different seeding, the effort shown yesterday would have indeed brought home the goal. Great job, guys!

Riverside County boys teams, girls teams, Division 1, team times for the 2.1 mile course :

For the King harriers, the day posed a challenge for one of the most challenging meets of the year. Faced with a "go big or go home" scenario, the confusion of heat, smoke and fire -- not to mention a newly-minted two mile course -- could well have disrupted the focus and intent. When all was said and done, neither team buckled and both ran superb efforts.

The girls of King have excelled at the CIF level for a long time, carrying into the meet today a string of six-straight CIF Finals berths, spanning two different divisions. They carried as well today, some internal question marks.  Casey Candelaria, normally the team's #3 scorer, spent the night with the stomach flu, a nasty bug that took out nearly her entire family. Though she would valiantly take the line, the depletion of energy and fluids took their toll and by the mid-way mark, she stepped out of the race. Her teammates were carrying the load though with tremendous style. Kelsi Tippets led the race for much of the first mile before eventually finishing in 3rd. Carrie Soholt, still on the comeback trail after three weeks missed due to shin splints, steadily moved up through the crowd to finish 6th, passing four runners in the final half mile. Kasey Tippets, Katrina Graham and Hanna Peterson ran superb scoring efforts, holding down the fort in Casey's absence and helping to seal the second place finish (top four would qualify for Finals) and punch the team's ticket for their SEVENTH straight CIF Finals berth. Simply amazing!

The girls' joy was tempered abit at the end of the meet when the boys finished one place and 20 points shy of their qualifying goal as well. It was not for a lack of effort though, as the guys' team approached the line confident and ready to go. After a disappointing League Finals 10 days ago, there was a sense of "pay back" among the seven. The race got out fast, as it had to with only 10 minutes or so from start to finish. Lane Werley and Charlie Alvarez found good position early, while the pack of Devin Becerra, Derek Nelson and Jarod Nocella moved forward to close a gap.  Derek and Jarod made up ground in the second mile along with Daniel Balcazar who joined the scoring set,  but it was just short of successful.

The team's 5th place finish matched the highest finish ever for King at prelims (the 2005 team was the last to do it) and far out did the 13th place finish last season and the 11th place finish in 2006. Though the guys were naturally disappointed, the final result does little to change what has otherwise been a truly remarkable season for this group. Motivated to excel one year ago, they set goals to be better -- much better -- in 2008.  They formed the Lobos Club in the winter of 2007, started training, took track seriously and hit the summer with momentum. They took on more mileage, two-a-day's all season, smoothly moved into a tougher league and placed well at big invitationals, setting a team time 5K school record in the process.  It has been a season of incredible growth, done exactly the right way. They were coachable, enthusiastic, team-oriented and willing to work all year long. Simply put, this group -- made up almost entirely of guys that ran last year -- put miles between themselves and where they were a year ago. All success is gained over time, nothing great comes easily, and this is especially so in distance running. But from "also-ran's" a year ago, to contenders in 2008, the maturation of this young squad has been something to behold. On a personal note, I am extremely proud of all of them, and thankful for the season they put together.

But the girls will take it another week, as they have for over a half-decade now. It's an amazing streak, one achieved through talent, work and a willingness to risk. All three traits will be on display next Saturday at the 2008, CIF Division One finals.

Complete Results     Photo Album

Girls		Aprx. 2 miles	Boys	Aprx. 2 miles
3	Kelsi Tippets	12:29	10	Lane Werley	10:38
6	Carrie Soholt	12:39	21	Charlie Alvarez	11:04
18	Kasey Tippets	13:11	35	Jarod Nocella	11:15
20	Katrina Graham	13:18	36	Derek Nelson	11:15
23	Hanna Peterson	13:23	41	Daniel Balcazar	11:19
42	Rebecca Asplund	13:57	47	Austin McKell	11:26
dnf	Casey Candelaria		53	Devin Becerra	11:30

Eights. They were all over the place at the inaugural Big 8 Cross Country Championships Thursday at Mountain Gate Park in Corona. For the King girls, the Big 8 title would be their 8th in a row, in this, the year 2008. It made for a catchy little slogan going into the race, but once they were off, the girls got down to business and ran very solid team efforts at both the varsity and JV levels

The varsity race started as the other two league meets have, with Adriana Olivas sprinting off the line, daring the others to go after her. Like the first two meets, the pack, led by Kelsi Tippets refused to bite right away, but as the gap between Olivas and Tippets grew to some 60 meters, the race was indeed on. Kelsi managed to race one of her most patient and disciplined three miles in her career, steadily bringing the hard-charging, yet slowing 9th grader from Centennial back into her sights. Within a hundred meters of the finish, Kelsi was able to slip by her and sprint home for the victory, King's 5th straight individual title. Her teammates were busy running a great race themselves, with the "Mighty KC's" (Kasey Tippets and Casey Candelaria) doing battle in the pack along with Carrie Soholt, who returned to action after an injury layoff. Hanna Peterson and Katrina Graham rounded out the scoring group, while Rebecca Asplund finished out the squad. Their team time of 93:47 was about 2 and a half minutes faster than three weeks ago on the course and second only All-Time to the super flat Seaside Invitational mark set earlier this year.

Danielle Fillmore and Aubrey Bowman were at the front of the JV race, leading a much better team effort at this level than King showed 21 days ago. Danielle had her best race of the year, finishing at 19:41 and leading wire-to-wire. Aubrey fell back to third but had an incredible finish to snag second with a lean over Corona's top runner. A group of Corona Panthers pushed the remaining King scorers back a way, but the effort for the Lady Wolves was still strong. Sara Strasbaugh finished 8th, Kayla Cunningham was in 12th, followed by Rebecca Trupp and Samantha Enriquez. Monique Carrasco also had a terrific run, coming off an injury that took her out of most of the last month. Courtney Mort finished off her season of huge improvement with a time of 24:25, some five minutes faster than she ran back in July. Franciska Lee also had a great improvement over the second league meet.  All told, 59% of the girls that ran both the league championship and the second league meet on this course ran a PR today. Still, despite running 7 minutes faster as a team than they did three weeks ago, King was outmatched by Corona's depth and had to settle for second place in the league.

So from the humble beginnings in the Sunkist League way back in 2001, through the Ivy league for the last four, and now into the Big 8, the girls from King continue to run strong. Will it be 9 in '09? Time will tell.

Results:  Varsity    JV Girls     Improvements from 2nd league meet to the Championship (same course)   Photo Album

The lead pack got out very quickly, essentially daring anyone to follow. Lane Werley lurked back abit in 8th place by the mile, but eventually worked his way forward to finish in 4th overall. In all three contests this season, the league has seen a different first-place runner, as Michael Gauger of Corona took round one, Lane round two, and Jonathan Lopez of Roosevelt the winner today. Lane was 12 seconds ahead of the time he ran three weeks ago on the same course, a testimony to the pace set by the leaders. Devin Becerra continued his remarkable 9th grade season with another superb race. He finished 12th overall to earn 2nd Team All-League honors and was 11 seconds faster than the second meet. Charlie Alvarez, Jarod Nocella, Derek Nelson, Austin McKell and Daniel Balcazar all finished in a row from 16th-20th, and while King placed their 7th man in front of Roosevelt's #5, the Mustangs still snuck through to take second in the race. King's better record in the season allowed the guys to finish the season second overall.

Mark Gardner, the knowledgable coach of Corona who keenly observes every team in the county said, "this is the best B team in the Inland Empire." It's hard to tell for sure, but one thing was clear, they were the best team in the Big 8 today by a long way. Led by Nick Rini who captured the individual title and Jason Schupp, they were followed by Marc Jimenez who finished out his first season of cross in truly grand style. The sophomore has had a superb rookie year, and his 16:54 time today was 27 seconds better than the first time on the course.  Chris Miller, Brad Sheets, Brandon Rogers and Andrew Huscher were all in the top 9 overall, while Rafi Perez had a very good race to finish 12th at 17:36, a 24 second improvement. Harrison McMillan also had a huge PR on the course, as did Chris Power with a 46 second dropand Joey Tompkins who shaved 1:59 off. Hayden Traver finished his career well with a course PR too. Kyle Nugent, Tyler Parrish, and Nic Williams all dropped over two minutes from the race three weeks ago.

The meet met all it's expectations, with solid team battles and great individual performances across the day. 77% of King's runners ran faster on the course this day than they did three weeks ago. With that kind of improvement, one can only look forward to even greater things to come next season.

Results: Varsity       JV    Improvements made from second league meet to the Championship (same course)    Photo Album

The 61st running of the Mt.SAC invitational, the nation's largest meet, was held under bright skies full of sun. The athletes, trying to be full of run, found the very dry, very hot conditions a tough battle. With a steady stream of ambulances and paramedics coming and going with the ill-prepared and unfortunate souls, the meet directors took action by first shortening the course to 1.9 miles, then ultimately cancelling the last two races of the day. It was a hard day on a hard course, but through it all, King came away with some surprisingly strong showings, despite the adverse conditions.

The girls varsity team was entered in the Individual Sweeps race, purposefully scheduled in the relative cool of the morning hours. Blessed with temps in the mid-60's, the Lady Wolves fielded an incomplete squad and one that had a couple of cyllanders clogged with colds. Carrie Soholt rested due to shin splints, Casey Candelaria was busy taking the ACT test, so with two of the top four missing, the walk to the starting line was a purposeful one for the seven who did run. Kelsi Tippets battled gamely despite a week-long illness, Aubrey Bowman was under the same physical conditions. Rebecca Asplund had to drop out after a mile with leg pain. Katrina Graham raced for the first time over the course. All these concerns were present despite being entered in what would become the fastest-paced race of the day. Even with the odds stacked against them, the team finished 10th of 17 squads and actually recorded the 4th fastest King team time on the course all time. Not bad!  Hanna Peterson and Kasey Tippets ran very solidly in the scoring group, putting a nice ending to an otherwise "off" day for the team.

A couple of hours would pass before the next race for King, and in that time, the temperatures would rise to the upper 80's, though with the humidity below 10%, the dry air seemed to sizzle.  With PR's thrown to the Santa Ana's, the varsity boys instead focused on places, and place they did!  Led by Lane Werley's school record 15:56 and 2nd place finish (1:32 faster than last season at the invite!), the team raced head to head with Capo-Valley, ultimately winning 52-56; third a distant 100 points. The victory was secured by a strong race out of Daniel Balcazar who broke from his normal 6-7 spot to go 3rd for King. Charlie Alvarez was the 2-man, Devin Becerra set a freshman record at 16:49, and Derek Nelson came through with a strong race. With Jarod Nocella and Austin McKell in by 22nd place, King placed all seven runners under 17:00 for the first time in our history, again, despite near-90 degree conditions.

The Sophomore Boys were the first King squad to christen the 1.93 mile, heat induced course. The competition heated up quickly with Great Oak of Temecula and Arcadia, two very successful XC programs. GO put three up front early, with Nick Rini and Marc Jimenez drag racing right there with them. By the abreviated finish line, Nick would finish third, sandwiched between GO's top two and Arcadia's top two. It was the pack of Jimenez (8th), Ben Huscher (11th) Rafi Perez (17th) and Chris Miller (19th) that took home the nail-biting victory with a 58 point victory over Arcadia's 62 and GO's 63.  A great reminder again that in this sport, every guy counts!  The JV races are traditionally not scored at Mt.SAC (and a poor tradition at that!) but King's guys ran aggressively nonetheless. The group was led by Brad Sheets who finished 10th at 11:05 and Andrew Huscher at 11:11.

Jonathan Torres had a terrific, 10th place finish in the freshmen boys' race, to lead the group to a third-place plaque and finish. Adam Schupp, Mitchel Cleland, Ryan Esterberg and Nathan Meier combined to score 142 points.

The only girls to see action were the sophomores and freshmen for King, as the JV race was cancelled, leaving Sara, Rebecca, Anna and Casey high and dry. Samantha Enriquez ran a great race in the sophomore race, finishing 10th overall. Kaitlyn Gonzalez, Taylar Amiot and Courtney Mort all had good runs in the frosh race, despite not having a scoring five.

So it was a tough day, but victorious in many ways anyway. Proof positive, that when the main street in Adverse City is full of potholes and danger signs, the strong and the prepared can always find a way to get out of town alive. The good news for King on this hot day was not only did they get out of town alive, they took some of the city's hardware with them.

Girls D-1 Overall Results   Boys D-1 Overall Results    King Results  Updated All-time list  Photo Album  

Right out of the gate, the JV girls saw a swarm of Corona's red uniforms envelope the opening mile and any competitors wishing to mix themselves in.  Their numbers were the main difference, making the contest much tougher for King's Lady Wolves. Rebecca Asplund led the way with a second place finish and Samantha Enriquez was 5th overall. Corona was able to put all seven girls in before King's third and it was too much to handle. King finished second with 44 points to Corona's 21. Poly came in third.

Three weeks ago the JV boys race turned out to be full of wrong turns and the race was a wash in chaos.  Things got off to a slightly similar start again this time, with the three race leaders going astray early on, among them Derek Nelson. By the time he had realized the error, he was running somewhere in the middle of the field of 139 runners. Though he'd play major catchup and ultimately finish in 7th and score for the team, his teammates were dominating the race from very early to the line. Marc Jimenez again did great pacing duties for the first half, Brad Sheet ran a well paced race, while Nick Rini moved up to finish in second. Andrew Huscher had a solid performance as well, helping the team to win the race 22-36 over Corona. Poly finished in third. Hayden Traver had a good race at 18:47, with James Echavarria right behind him. Joey Tompkins continued to improve with a 3 mile PR, and Kyle Nugent was right there with him.

With a couple of normal varsity runners out of the lineup for the girls, they rest of the team had to rely on one another to make up the gap. They did just that. Kelsi Tippets had a fine victory, dueling through two miles before pulling away with an impressive 18:25 over the rolling course. The Mighty KC's (Kasey Tippets and Casey Candelaria) shored up the middle of the lineup with another great race for the both of 'em. Katrina Graham ran well in 8th place, while Aubrey Bowman and Hanna Peterson and Danielle Fillmore rounded out the squad. The score was not surprisingly closer than the first go, but still an fairly unpressed victory.

One point separated Corona's highly ranked team and victory in the first meet, as King pulled out a shocker that day to win by one. Corona had their racing flats on and a full team this time around, taking no chances, and it was off to the races. King's Seven ran a great race, packing well and racing hard, making Corona work for their points. Despite going down on pavement within the first quarter-mile, Lane Werley worked himself back into contention and was able to hammer a great kick to separate himself first from Roosevelt's top guy, and then Michael Gauger of Corona. Gauger, a sophomore like Lane, made a great effort, but Lane's galloping stride was the better and he took home a great individual victory. Corona packed well, placing four in front of King's second, (Charlie Alvarez) and it was more than enough. Standing out in the midst of all that was a fantastic performance by Austin McKell who raced very strong and scored as King's fourth man. Just five races ago, he finished 19th for King; quite a move-up!

Results: JV Boys   JV Girls   Varsity Boys   Varsity Girls   Photo Album

Team Time all-time list

Fall came to Fresno with chilly, clear skies canopying the Clovis Invitational in beauty. The 30th annual meet is always a stage for great things, and for the harriers from King, the Fall air brought falling times. Ineed, King was flyin' through Fresno on Saturday!

The girls "Championship Race" fielded most of the strongest squads of the day, among them, the girls from King. With a sense of poise that has been growing of late, the King Seven took the line, and at the gun characteristically took a reasonable approach to the frenzied first 1000 meters. Much of the field was ahead by that point, but within 6 minutes, the group was starting to move. They were led by Carrie Soholt and Kelsi Tippets who found themselves at the back of a large front pack of 15 by the mile. Casey Candelaria, Kasey Tippets, Aubrey Bowman and Hanna Peterson were further back, but beginning to make their way through the crowd. By two miles, Carrie moved to the lead and was side-by-side with the leaders; Kelsi just a few folks back in 6th. Casey Candelaria was fashioning her best effort his season, ultimately PR'ing at 19:10 for 5K, the #2 senior time in King's history, and the fourth best Woodward Park time ever for King. Soholt and Tippets would finish 4th and 8th respectively, their splits of 18:10 and 18:25 the #1 and #3 King times on the course, with Carrie's mark a new school record for any course! Kasey Tippets, Aubrey and Hanna rounded out the pack to secure a 9th place finish, but more significantly for this young group, a new team time SR on the course by over 4 minutes! Kasey ran King's #3 all time mark for sophomores and became only the third soph to crack 19:00 over three miles, with only Carrie and Carissa Bowman ('08) ahead of her. Incredible individual and team races!

Scene two moved to the guys' "Championship Race', a race that was being billed by the meet director as "stacked" with many of the top programs state-wide. "It's going to be flying," Rob Brenner of Clovis High said. Indeed it was. The lead pack went by the mile in 4:40, leaving the field to hang or die trying. King's best guys have made it clear that their goals for '08 are set high, so despite not having the horses to hang on the early pace, the guys welcomed the chance to see what a studded field could do for their own season-long goals. What they found out by the finish line was, again, this King squad is vastly improved, capable, and now officially, the fastest team King has ever assembled.

Despite a 17th place finish in the race, their team time of 82:15 spoke volumes about just how fast California XC is, as well as how fast this group has become. The mark for King, shattered their previous school record on the course by 1:15, set back in 2005. The effort was led by Lane Werley's 15:56, a 32 second drop from the previous course best held by Jeremy Baugus. Charlie Alvarez, Devin Becerra, Jarod Nocella and Daniel Balcazar put together a terrific pack, just 9 seconds apart. Alvarez, Becerra and Nocella would notch the #3, 4, and 7 fastest King times on the course ever, with Balcazar coming across #11 all time. Jason Schupp and Derek Nelson would also place their names in the all-time list. 

King's "second-seven" teams ran varsity races and held their own admirably. Danielle Fillmore led the way for the girls, with a PR on the course at 20:12 (5K). Samantha Enriquez also had a strong performance, quite satisfying after her year of injuries.  The boys were led by Austin McKell who reached his personal goal of going sub-17 with a 16:59!  Nick Rini was right behind him at 17:13. Marc Jimenez quietly did his job of running another great race -- this rookie is strong! -- and placing himself in King's all-time list for Woodward Park. Their team time was #8 All Time for 5K at King!

Whether it's a mid-season target race or a tune-up for the State Meet held in Novmeber over the same undulating paths, the Clovis Invitational is quite a stage.  And on a great Autumn morning, the King Kids took full advantage of the setting and created for themselves another moment of accomplishment that should carry them closer to their ultimate goals.

King Results    Overall Results    Race Video of Girls Championship Race  Race Video of Boys Championship Race  Photo Album   Dyestatcal.com's coverage    Woodward Park All Time List    5K Team Time All time List  

Results from Riverside County XC Website

115 full girls teams throughout the day... King finishes 11
134 full boys teams throughout the day ... King finishes 23
Dual meet with our neighbors -- Woodcrest Christian boys vs. King Boys:  28-28 ... tiebreaker goes to King (Jason Schupp)
1573 boys finished the race ... our first guy was 54th, our 14th guy was 885th
1198 girls finished the race ... our first girl was 9th, our 13th girl was 1013th

Devin ... 3rd fastest 9th grade boy on the day
Carrie ... 3rd fastest 10th grade girl on the day
Kasey ... 30th fastest 10th grade girl on the day
Lane ... 7th fastest 10th grade boy on the day
Kesli ... 5th fastest 11th grade girl on the day
Casey ... 25th fastest 12th grade girl on the day

total miles raced on the day ... 8,590.1

An old cliche says, "better late than never" and in this case truer words were never spoken as a tardy didn't kill the energy and racing ability of the King Kids who put together another strong collective effort. The sophomore boys were victorious, as were the varsity girls, and the varsity boys took home a fifth place trophy.

Chris Miller broke out in the soph race with his finest hour of the season thus far. The talented rookie played a bit of catchup as the race wore on, ultimately finishing in the top 10 overall. Marc Jimenez, another rookie, had done the pace setting for King for much of the race and notched his strongest race in the process. Daniel Balcazar ran well along with Ben Huscher and Aaron Youngren who put together the back end of the scoring five.

The varsity girls have been practicing the art of patience this season, learning to not get carried away in the early going and then pull in the wilting over the final miles. Today was no different, as the team leaders, Carrie Soholt and Kelsi Tippets found themselves back in the upper 20's place wise at the half-mile. But by the 2 mile mark they had worked themselves into the top seven and by the line were 2nd and 4th respectively. Following their lead was the pack of Rebecca Asplund, Kasey Tippets and Katrina Graham who were aggressively picking up lower points like candy beneath a pinata. Kasey passed five runners in the last 50 meters. The collective effort brought home a victory for the team. Aubrey Bowman was 6th overall, and Rebecca Trupp and Anna Gonzalez ran their first-ever varsity races in great form!

Illness and missed practices left the boys varsity team a couple of men down, but the cobbled crew would not be denied a good race and put together a great effort to make up the gap. Charlie Alvarez led the way for King the boys varsity race, before relinquishing to fast-finishing underclassmen Lane Werley (15th overall) and Devin Becerra. Perhaps the most exciting development of the race was the performance turned in by Nick Rini and Austin McKell, who both took their first opportunity to run varsity and made the most of it. Both ran lifetime bests, but even better, they raced hard over the last half, passing numerous opponents and making a bold statement that they can run with the big dogs.

The 91 mishap had the biggest effect on the JV boys who did miss their race at 8:00 am, but were allowed to run in the "smaller school" division which started at the end of the "large school" division. The relatively weaker competition made the group look quite dominant, but in fact, the team ran well and placed all five scorers, (Jarod Nocella, Andrew Huscher, Brad Sheets, Sean Lee and Brandon Rogers) within 58 seconds of each other. The team most likely would have won the race, but relinquished the trophy to the division's rightful schools.

Hanna Peterson and Samantha Enriquez had great races in the Frosh Soph contest. Jonathan Torres led the way for the 9th grade boys at 18:14, a PR. Adam Schupp and Mitchell Cleland look strong as well, just a few seconds above 19:00. Hayden Traver ran a PR in the JV race, as did Michael Woolls.

A wag's wisdom would say that being late allows one "to make your entrance known." We're doubtful that anyone noticed King's big fat tardy, but based on the amount of hardware the teams carried back to the bus at meet's end, one might say that they ultimately arrived "fashionably late." It was, after all a great meet, and worthy of a return in 2009. Just next time, we'll be on time.

King Results    Full Results     Photo Album

Well those questions were answered on Wednesday at Butterfield park in Corona. The answer was, YES.

King opened up league action in a big way with victories in all four races. The girls JV race led the way, and despite a confusing and poorly marked course, the team, led by great front-running efforts by Danielle Fillmore and eventual race winner Hanna Peterson set the stage for a sweep. Hanna came storming back in the final meters of the race after going off-course to snag the win, Danielle was close on her heals, and then a pack of Sara Strasbaugh, Samantha Enriquez and Rebecca Trupp followed them in to finish the scoring and the win.

The boys JV was led off course within the first half mile and so the entire field ended up improvising the remainder of the race. They ended up running the entire three miles but had to follow mid race instructions from spectators to change and add a loop here or make amends there. It was all quite confusing and disconcerting, but one thing remained very clear: King was leading with command throughout the crazy, unprecedented, race.

Daniel Balcazar led almost wire to wire for a strong performance. Austin McKell, Nick Rini and Marc Jimenez ran terrific races to bunch nicely behind Corona's #1 and ahead of Roosevelt's front two. Finishing out the scoring set was Chris Miller, Brad Sheets and Brandon Rogers. With all the confusion that governed the last mile of the race, a number of "lapped" runners mistakenly missed the final loop of the course and were placed in the finish order after having crossed the line a tad early. Due to the chaos, it was determined that times would not be recorded.

Corona's well-coached and talented boys team has gotten off to a terrific start to their season, winning the Morrow Bay Invitational and placing very well at the prestigious Woodbridge Sweeps race last weekend. All this, while grinding through the high, base-phase mileage any top program must endure. Today, they took a "long view" of the meet and held out their normal #2 runner.  King, still in the process of developing a confidence and identity of their own, has put together a solid start to the season in their own right, though not quite in the same Division One spotlights that Corona finds itself.  With a school record team time and personal records set at Seaside Invite and a top 11 finish at Mt. Carmel, the team has been looking to legitimize the work they've done all summer, and today's race moved them closer to that goal. Battling right from the start, the seven broke up a formidable Corona pack and then hung on to place just right by the finish line. Lane Werley scored in third, followed by Devin Becerra and Charlie Alvarez in the top eleven. But it was the 4-6 guys that made the difference, as they so often do in this sport. Derek Nelson, Jarod Nocella and Jason Schupp nailed down a great pack that was in front of Corona's 5th and final scorer, and the win was recorded ... by one mere point, 54-55!  Roosevelt ran well too, making the top three teams just nine points apart by the time it was all done.

A BIG start to the Big 8. With a lot of miles and training and racing still to go for all involved, teams must guard from putting too much emphasis on a victory in September. That said, for a group of guys and gals looking to establish their own credentials of accomplishment, this meet today was no small thing.

Results:JV GIRLS   JV BOYS     VARSITY GIRLS  VARSITY BOYS
(No times were recorded for JV boys due to the confusion on the race course. Some runners did not run the full three miles. Some of the placements are inaccurate as well.  No corrections will be made, chalk it up to a "learning experience!")
  
 Photo album

Perfect (and typical) San Diego weather rolled in for the Mt. Carmel invitational Saturday, as teams from across Southern California and Arizona were drawn to the cool climate and perhaps more importantly, a great XC course. The  Mt. Carmel course is almost identical to the layout for the annual Footlocker National Championships held in December.   

For King, the meet is an annual staple, and with seven years of running along the shaded lanes and hills of Morley Field, we’ve been able to amass a history that gives ample opportunity to compare the past and the present. This much was true today: The present is much improved over the past.  Once the grade level races were finished, the computers did the work, combining the times from all runners in both divisions, large and small schools. When all runners were merged into one large race, the girls -- running without two of their normal top five scorers -- managed to finish 9th out of 65 teams. The boys, running at full strength, finished 11th overall in a meet that featured 63 full teams.  Quite a day!!
 

There were some big improvements on the course for the King harriers.  (The boys cover 2.95 miles and the girls go 2.7  miles).  Lane Werly dropped almost 1:30 from last year while setting a school record for the course and finishing second overall in the soph race. Devin Beccerra and Charlie Alvarez had fine days as well and notched their names in King’s all time top 10. Nick Rini exploded for an almost two-minute improvement over last year’s frosh time  of 19:46; watch out, Rini's on the rise!   Jarod Nocella also took two minutes off, finishing this year at 17:22. Derek Nelson was a minute ahead of last season’s pace, as were Sean Lee, Brandon Rodgers, Jason Schupp, Rafi Perez and Daniel Balcazar. Strong performances! Michael Woolls was two minutes ahead of his time from 2007, and Austin McKell played a great game of catch up over the course to pass many and finish with King’s 8^th fastest time of the day.  All told, the King guys put 5 runners in the all-time top ten list for the Mt. Carmel course.  An even more amazing stat from the day, is that when one added up all the seconds of improvement made by the same runners from 2007 to 2008, the boys who raced the course both seasons chopped a grand total of 16:03 seconds off of the cumulative time! Awesome!

The 9^th grade boys are a large group, and led by Becerra’s strong pace setting, they are holding their own. John Torres, in just his first race proved that despite less than full fitness, he can run well, going 18:36. Adam Schupp, Mitchell Cleland and Nathan Meier weren’t far behind, showing that should this group stick with it over the coming years, the future will be bright for King!  Ethan McAbee had a great race as well, showing vast improvement from his first race last week. 

The girls were not completely outdone by the boys. At the end of the day, the girls who repeated the race from '07 were collectively 5:13 faster than they were twelve months ago. Kelsi Tippets and Carrie Soholt led the way for the ladies in the  11^th and 10^th  grade races, each employing a “come from behind” strategy that worked well for the talented duo. Both ended up 4^th in their respective races and notched the #2 and #3 times for King all time on the course. Aubrey Bowman put together a stellar performance, smashing her time from last year and racing very aggressively. Katrina Graham, only in her second-ever XC race ran a tough second-half of the race to finish fourth overall for the Lady Wolves. Rebecca Asplund and Danielle Fillmore were right on her heels. Hanna Peterson, coming back from an injury in track made great progress with a great effort, and at 18:08 was three minutes ahead of last year’s mark!  Kaitlyn Gonzalez and Courtney Girard led the freshman crew.

With an important first league meet just five days away, the Mt. Carmel meet posed as a chance to race without pressure and stress. “Go have fun” was the charge and so many did, clogging along in their training shoes over hill and dale; many earning medals for their sweat investment. But even with the diminished expectations, a lot of kids ran really, really well, not only dropping significant chunks off their previous course bests, but competing strong too.  Such are the results of hard work in practice.  So it was a great day for King and a momentum builder for the Big VIII meet next week.

King Results   King All time Course List  Overall Results (by grade and overall by gender)   Photos of the meet

The 15th annual Seaside Invitational on the coastline of Ventura has been dubbed by some as the “Sprintside” invitational for it’s yearly crop of fast times.  Boasting an impressive all-time list with the names of current American elites and Olympians notched near the top of the heap (Deena Kastor and Meb Keflezighi), the table-flat course was indeed a setup for some remarkable efforts and quick clocks.

King’s purpose was to get the season off on the right foot, and we found out the right foot was pretty fast. After a great summer of preparation, it should be. The girls team time school record was destroyed by over three minutes. 96:34 was the old mark from 2004, the five today dropped it to 92:58.  The last boys team to win a league title for King was in 2005 and set that day the SR of 80:56; today’s team effort hammered it down to 79:47. Though King XC rarely runs flat courses and has a number of traditional meets that are less than 3 miles (making team time records inaccessible), certainly these times today would have been hard to beat by previous record-holding squads.

The groups that ran those SR's today had stellar races. Lane Werley moved into the fast lane early on and stole the show by running away to a commanding victory in the sophomore race, going 15:17, the fastest mark ever over three miles by a King runner and ultimately the fourth fastest time of the entire day, all races combined.. Doug Speck of dyestatcal.com and one of the nation’s experts on high school running commented after Lane’s race, “King has quite a gem”.  Glittering in his own right was Devin Becerra, who showed that his talent has it’s own sparkle. The freshman got his career rolling with a 16:17 time, a 9^th grade record and a second place finish overall in his race. The remaining three were all upperclassmen and all ran lifetime PR’s. Charlie Alvarez went under 16 with a 15:43 mark, Jason Schupp was at 16:13 as was Jarod Nocella. Carrie Soholt and Kelsi Tippets became the first ever King two-some to drop below 18:00 on the same day. Carrie played catch up after a crowded start, moving from the 20’s  to top 5 by the line. Kelsi ran a different race, challenging the lead pack from the start.  Perhaps the breakout race came from Kelsi’s little sister however, as Kasey Tippets showed her quiet talent with a very strong and impressive19:07 PR. Rebecca Asplund went under 19:00 for the first time ever and Casey Candelaria rounded out a great pack to her name in the record book along side the other four.  The boys' team time ended up finishing them in fourth overall, and the girls were 3rd, behind nationally ranked Saugus and state ranked Trabuco Hills.

Outside of those scoring sets, there were great races all around. Monique Carrasco had a fine first-ever race in the 9^th grade contest, earning a medal in the top 20 overall. Aubrey Bowman went under 20:00, and Hannah Peterson continued her impressive comeback from injury with a time under 21:00. Danielle Fillmore cracked 19:50. Adam Schupp was King’s #2 9^th grader at 19:35. Rafi Perez smoked his best ever race at 17:00 and Marc Jimenez was right on his tail with a very impressive inaugural  XC race at 17:11. Aaron Youngren, another rookie sophomore was right there with Marc at 17:23. Sean Lee had a lifetime PR (and snagged the last available medal in the race). Nick Rini also ran well, Hayden Traver started his  4^th season of running in fine fashion with a time under 19:00. Sara Strasbaugh, another of our 4 year runners – the above-mentioned Jason Schupp is as well – also put  out a good first race of her final campaign, finishing 9^th overall of the King girls. Michael Woolls was two minutes faster than his previous best. He, along with so many others got introduced to "their new you."

It was a fast course, no doubt about it, and  the cool overcast conditions made it even sweeter. But there was a palpable sense of anticipation heading into the meet as the training that the King Kids had patiently applied to their talents indicated that the season could, and perhaps should, in fact start with a sprint. The challenge will be to see if the teams can carry the pace set here in the flatlands of  “Sprintside” all the way to the “Hillsides” of MtSAC in November.  Unlike the races run today, the journey to that race will take some time, and time will tell.

Photos of the Meet     King Results   Overall Results   Updated grade level records