Suburban League Finals: Four Races & Four Individual League Champions
Hickman, Reyes, Jones, Garcia lead the way, Chavarria & Manzo Runners-up
Thursday, November 5, 2009 was a perfect day for the Matadores to race their final race of the season. Having trained since early July, each athlete knew this would be their final opportunity to test themselves in a race before the championship portion of the season began. As is the tradition in the Suburban League, the JV teams contest the first races of the day followed by the varsity teams.
A pack of JV Lady Mats led by Ambar Hickman, Aja Labasan, and Charlene Gantan took the early lead on the 3.07 mile course. Having finished 2nd for 5 consecutive years, the girls were hoping to earn their first league title since 2003. As the race neared the finish, the early leaders were joined up front by the Chavarria sisters, Liana and Maria, whose frenetic finish enabled Liana to place second and Maria fifth. In the end, the Lady Mats placed 7 girls in the top 10 spots and took home first place with a unbeatable score of 15 points.
Up next were the JV boys. Their goal for the day: 2nd place at league finals and move into the 3rd spot in the league standings. Leading the way for the boys were juniors, Raul Reyes, Louie Lozano, and sophomore, Eric Wong, all of whom were predicted to finish in the top 10. As the race progressed, the big question for the coaches was, "Is any other JV boy going to break into the top 20?" Entering the last mile, it didn't look promising. Freshman, Mauricio Pavano had other thoughts, however. With a finish that propelled him past four runners, he moved in 18th place and closed the gap on the leaders. In the end, the boys finished behind Cerritos, one point short of 2nd place.
Since 2000, when they were overtaken by Bellflower at League Finals, the varsity Lady Mats have put together a streak of 102 consecutive league wins. Still, when they made their goals for the 2009 season, a league title was never mentioned. There was a more important agenda: the CIF-SS championship season was their ultimate goal and would be their true test. Having been ranked in the "Top 10" most of the season, the girls knew they would qualify for CIF prelims even with a less than quality performance at league. It wasn't until freshman Taylor Jones was told the week of League Finals that she might not race, that the girls seriously considered the consequences. With a renewed commitment, each of the varsity seven did what needed to be done to secure the top spot in league. With Jones and last year's league champion Celinda Manzo cruising up front just ahead of the chase pack, the girls held on to 7 of the top 9 spots as the race passed the first mile. Entering the 500 meter straightaway along the riverbed, Ashley Casanover and Emily De Boer worked together to keep 4 Lady Mats in the top 5. Close behind, in 7th place, was sophomore, Nicole Hammonds. In the end, the top seven girls finished under 20 minutes with Hammonds at 20:02 in 8th place. Just a month ago, the individual time for the Lady Mats averaged 20:33, a full minute slower than their average of 19:28 for this race. With their performance, the girls extended their league winning streak to 108 league meets and secured their 9th consecutive league title.
