SEASON KICKS OFF AT MORRO BAY!!!

The 2008 campaign began in beautiful and cool Morro Bay on the Central Coast.  Our annual reward trip for those that attended the most summer practices was a huge success.  Other than a malfunctioning DVD player on the bus, everything went better than planned.  We made our way up the coast on Friday morning and after settling in, took to the course to get a workout in and become familiar with the conditions.  This was followed by a couple of hours on the beach, where some braved the frigid water, while others tasted defeat at the hands of Coach O's frisbee football team.  We walked back to the park adjacent to the motel and a fabulous dinner awaited us, assembled by the Aylors with assists by the Greaves and Krizmans. 

Conditions were beautiful on race day and the beach sand was as thick as ever.  A few changes to the course make it difficult to compare times as does the changing tides from year to year, but many raced well and others see that there is more work to be done. 

These trips are not the work of any one person, but instead, the combined efforts of all.  Thanks to my coaching staff for their hard work, the moms who chaparoned on the bus (Melton, Eubanks and Edwards), the Aylors for their incredible efforts in making our meals perfect, the Greaves and Krizmans for helping with the meals and much needed coffee, and most of all the athletes for their great spirit and cooperation on the trip.  If anyone has pictures you want posted, email them to me or bring a disk.  Here are the individual meet results:

Boys Varsity:  (121 athletes)  7. Daniel Hawkins - 15:52;  12. Ethan Krizman - 16:03;  35. Joe Lopez - 16:54;  41. Scott Aylor - 17:03;  43. Chris Delgado - 17:09;  89. Roberto Leon - 18:38;  95. Erik Strong - 19:10 

Girls Varsity:  (142 athletes)  4. Lexie Bravo - 18:59;  20. Melissa Edwards - 19:52;  24. Elle Farrar - 20:03;  32. Tori Greaves - 20:28;  62. Rebecca Roberts - 21:21;  64. Hannah Haerr - 21:23;  73. Alejandra Lugo - 21:43;  81. Jacci Enriquez - 21:59;  103. Meghan Dominguez - 24:09

Boys Novice:  (150 athletes)  21. Andy Hollist - 19:33;  23. Bobby Rodriguez - 19:40;  37. Ian Peace - 20:23;  40. Ben Dhami - 20:32;  43. Adam Gonzalez - 20:34;  53. Wesley Ewart - 20:50;  96. Tim Laws - 22:32;  136. D'Andre Pouchie - 24:54;  144. Jerry Edwards - 25:53

Girls JV:  (172 athletes)  9. Janelle Myers - 21:10;  39. Madison Kitchen - 22:52;  57. Kelsey McCauley - 23:29;  60. Madison Melton - 23:34;  72. Lauren Eubanks - 24:03;  73. Brianna Gallardo - 24:04;  96. Sara Garcia - 24:43;  116. Makenna Schlappi - 26:08;  127. Christiana Rodriguez - 26:37;  130. Mireyah Soto - 26:44;  161. Laura Martinez - 29:44

GRIZZLIES BATTLE AT WOODBRIDGE!!!

It was a beautiful evening for racing in Irvine on Saturday as the Grizzlies took to one of the athletes favorite courses.  While not the most important meet of the year, it does give us a snapshot of where we are at and while many had fine races, the snapshot was a little out of focus.

The last two weeks have been rough for the girls, as various injuries and ailments have plagued some of our top runners.  The decision to split the squad into grade levels paid off as the sophomores brought home a team plaque with a 3rd place finish as both Elle Farrar and Tori Greaves cracked the top 10.

The boys always run in grade levels here and turned in the 2nd best team time in school history.  However, the Baseline League is stacked on the boys side this year.  Upland and Rancho Cucamonga are ranked in the top 20 in the state of California, and the Grizzlies find themselves a full minute behind a young and improved Claremont team.  The senior boys also brought home a 3rd place team plaque led by a 5th place finish by Ethan Krizman.  Certainly a highlight was a dominating performance by Daniel Hawkins in the sophomore race as he won easily, smiling the entire way!  With the thousands of runners throughout the day, he had the 75th fastest time.

Thanks to the Hollist and Dhami families for providing drinks and snacks for the meet!  Here are the complete results with improvement from '07 noted.  Qualifiers for the Stanford Invitational are marked with "***"

Novice Boys (115 total):  102. Jerry Edwards - 26:45 (-1:02 from '07)

Novice Girls (229 total):  161. Amber Wall - 27:47;  182. Laura Martinez - 28:27;  194. Jenna Hamilton - 28:53;  226. Alex Soto - 32:13;  Mackenzie Tavernier - 36:07 (-:15 from '07)

JV Girls (185 total):  126. Victoria McNamara - 23:43 (-1:10 from '07);  161. Mireyah Soto - 25:51;  164. Danielle Yellen - 26:35

Frosh Boys (351 total):  174. Ian Peace - 19:50;  205. Ben Dhami - 20:11;  206. Taylor Friday - 20:13;  207. Wesley Ewart - 20:13;  289. Adam Gonzalez - 21:35

Frosh Girls (203 total):  46. Jessi Tighe - 21:30; 145. Madi Kitchen - 24:05; 162. Brianna Gallardo - 24:57;  189. Sara Garcia - 27:07;  192. Makenna Schlappi - 27:13

Soph Boys (320 total):  ***1. Daniel Hawkins - 15:25 (-:30 from '07 and #4 mark all-time in school history);  ***30. Christian Navarro - 16:47;  97. Roberto Leon - 17:50 (-:01 from '07);  134. Scott Palti - 18:22 (-:39 from '07);  192. Kevin Pasma - 19:16;  217. Bobby Rodriguez - 19:41 (-:07 from '07);  259. Ryan Massie - 20:16;  310. Tim Laws - 22:23;  319. Jeohnny Newell - 23:08

Soph Girls (180 total):  ***4. Elle Farrar - 16:46 (-1:00 from '07 and #10 mark all-time in school history);  ***9. Tori Greaves - 20:07 (-1:47 from '07);  ***19. Janelle Myers - 20:38;  38. Jacci Enriquez - 21:37 (-3:04 from '07);  57. Madison Melton - 22:05;  76. Becca Roberts - 22:40;  84. Emily Torres - 22:49 (-:23 from '07);  103. Dayna Mann - 23:18 (-1:22 from '07);  114. Lauren Eubanks - 23:36 (-1:54 from '07);  148. Christiana Rodriguez - 25:25;  157. Kaitlin Madden - 25:48 (-2:06 from '07);  158. Lauren Brown - 25:51;  164. Makenna Lynch - 26:25

Junior Boys (236 total):  80. Scott Aylor - 17:34 (-:35 from '07);  102. Ryan Winn - 17:58 (-:09 from '07);  123. Erik Strong - 18:25 (-1:18 from '07);  230. D'Andre Pouchie - 23:36

Senior Boys (230 total):  ***5. Ethan Krizman - 15:33;  ***15. Tommy Cottam - 15:55 (-:10 from '07 and #7 mark all-time in school history);  ***54. Joe Lopez - 16:38;  ***56. Roman Scott - 16:39;  ***60. Chris Delgado - 16:47 (-:07 from '07);  209. Chase Tavernier - 20:19

Varsity Girls (137 total):  ***7. Lexie Bravo - 18:48;  ***28. Melissa Edwards - 19:31;  ***61. Anya Watford - 20:19;  ***80. Alyssa Scheidemantle - 20:40;  93. Alejandra Lugo - 21:04 (-:01 from '07);  104. Hannah Haerr - 21:38;  128. Meghan Dominguez - 22:59

GREAT TRIP TO THE BAY AREA!!!

BOTH TEAMS FINISH IN THE TOP 10

For the third straight year, the varsity team made their way to the Bay Area, returning this year to the prestigious Stanford Invitational.  The spots were given to the top 7 boys and girls from the Woodbridge meet, although other commitments forced the coaches to go a little deeper into the roster on the girls side.

Thursday was the travel day as the team arrived late at the Bay Landing Hotel in Burlingame, easily the nicest of the three we have stayed at.  After a light breakfast on Friday came the pre-meet workout, which varied from 5 to 10.5 miles along the beautiful San Francisco Bay Trail which ran right outside our hotel.  The team made their way into the city with photos across the Golden Gate Bridge, free time at Fisherman's Wharf and another outstanding meal at Tai Chi.  From there, we hit the movies to see "Eagle Eye" and then it was off to bed.

After sleeping in on Saturday and eating a big breakfast, we made our way to Stanford University for the meet.  The temps were easily 15 degrees warmer than outside our hotel on the bay, and with 2:00 races, it took it's toll.  The boys persevered with a 5th place finish of 37 scoring teams led by a career race by Tommy Cottam, who took 5th overall.  Daniel Hawkins led for the first half of the race (lots of TV time!) and managed to hang on for 11th place.  Despite 5 of the 7 either getting over illness or in the midst of illness, the girls still managed a 7th place finish out of 30 scoring teams, led by a 25th place finish by Lexie Bravo.

It was at this point that the "smooth running" trip took an unexpected turn.  For all those times when the athletes think to themselves, "Why is Coach O so hardnosed about physical forms?"  On this day, they got their answer.  With parents back home, Lexie spent the next 3 hours at Stanford Medical Center after collapsing following her race.  The rest of the team became very familiar with the cafeteria as Lexie received fluids via IV and plenty of tests before she could be cleared to travel with the team.  More tests will be required before she can run this season, but the important thing is that her condition improved throughout the 3 hours, although slowly, and she is in good spirits today and we are thankful for that. 

Thank you to the athletes on the trip for outstanding behavior and cooperation (the most prompt group we've taken in three years!).  Also, for their patience at the hospital as it delayed our departure and forced us to arrive very late at night (or early in the morning if you want to look at it that way).  Thanks to the parents who made the journey to support their athlete and to all the parents for their understanding our difficulties with the return trip. 

The complete races can be seen on ESPN 360.  Here are the team results for the 5K course:

Boys:  5th of 37 teams (249 total runners)  5. Tommy Cottam - 16:31;  11. Daniel Hawkins - 16:41;  53. Joe Lopez - 17:26;  55. Chris Delgado - 17:28;  115. Christian Navarro - 18:15;  132. Roman Scott - 18:23;  156. Ethan Krizman - 18:43

Girls:  7th of 30 teams (221 total runners)  25. Lexie Bravo - 20:23;  45. Elle Farrar - 20:59;  48. Tori Greaves - 21:09;  68. Melissa Edwards - 21:37;  114. Jessi Tighe - 22:31;  129. Jacci Enriquez - 22:46;  143. Janelle Myers - 22:58

HOT DAY AT GLEN HELEN!!!

GIRLS FINISH 2ND, BOYS 4TH

Los Osos co-hosted the first Baseline League Meet at Glen Helen Regional Park on Wednesday.  With construction at Guasti, both this meet and the IE Challenge on the 11th will be held at Glen Helen.  A short, flat course compensated for the heat, but the team found out that much work must be done to accomplish their goals for the season. 

The girls, without top runner Lexie Bravo, managed a 2nd place finish behind Upland as sophs Elle Farrar and Tori Greaves led the team.  They will work to close the 20 point gap at Red Hill Park on the 22nd.  The boys, without top runner Ethan Krizman, finished 4th...behind three ranked teams in the state.  The stars have aligned this year to make the Baseline league one of the state's toughest on the boys side with Upland and Rancho both ranked in the top 10 in Division I in the state and Claremont in the top 10 in Division II.  If the boys want to qualify for CIF, they will need to knock off one of those three teams.

Complete results can be found in the "Handouts"

FUN DAY AT CARBON CANYON!!!

The team's lower levels (and the coaches) had the chance to tackle the 3.2 mile Carbon Canyon course at the Brea CC Invitational on Saturday.  With all the Stanford participants getting the day off, it was nice to have the focus on the youngsters.  While not the most spectator friendly course, it is a fun course to run, although deceptively slow.  With a lot of grass early, a narrow trail that is difficult to pass on, and a monster hill in the third mile, times are never impressive here.  Mostly overcast conditions eased the pain somewhat.  Adding to the emphasis on having a good time, the team also got the shot at an extra letter point if they could beat the coaches.  Coach O would like to point out that he was less generous this year!

Results:

Boys FS 3-5 (64 in the race):  22. Roberto Leon - 19:37 (-:05 from last year);  32. Troy Rupp - 20:04 (-:09 from last year);  33. Scott Palti - 20:09

Boys FS 6+ (202 in the race):  40. Ian Peace - 20:38;  52. Kevin Pasma - 20:51 (-:32 from last year);  56. Bobby Rodriguez - 20:58;  65. Taylor Friday - 21:18;  70. Ben Dhami - 21:30;  87. Wesley Ewart - 21:52;  99. Ryan Massie - 22:08;  182. Tim Laws - 26:02;  187. Anthony Jensen - 26:42

Boys Var 3-5 (64 in the race):  27. Scott Aylor - 18:42 (-1:02 from last year);  48. Ryan Winn - 19:39;  55. Erik Strong - 20:05 (-1:27 from last year)

Boys Var 6+ (123 in the race):  112. D'Andre Pouchie - 25:02;  119. Jerry Edwards - 28:36

Girls FS 3-5 (76 in the race):  14. Rebecca Roberts - 22:42 (-1:52 from last year);  32. Emily Torres - 24:17 (-:24 from last year)

Girls FS 6+ (103 in the race):  2. Kelsey McCauley - 23:59;  17. Dayna Mann - 25:36 (-:50 from last year);  19. Sara Garcia - 25:44;  27. Lauren Eubanks - 26:15 (-:50 from last year);  32. Brianna Gallardo - 26:24;  34. Christiana Rodriguez - 26:40 (-:11 from last year);  42. Lauren Brown - 27:21;  50. Amber Wall - 27:55;  56. Makenna Schlappi - 28:49;  60. Kaitlin Madden - 29:34;  61. Laura Martinez - 29:44;  63. Cheyenne Wiscovitch - 29:48

Girls Var 3-5 (45 in the race):  13. Alejandra Lugo - 22:34 (-:16 from last year);  36. Meghan Dominguez - 25:51

Girls Var 6+ (60 in the race):  28. Victoria McNamara - 25:46 (-2:09 from last year)

Coaches Race:  Coach O - 20:14 (-1:03 from last year);  Coach Mendez - 24:07 

LEXIE BRAVO HOMECOMING QUEEN!

FAST TIMES AND GREAT WEATHER AT I.E.!!!

SOPHOMORE GIRLS ARE VICTORIOUS; FIVE ALL-COUNTY RUNNERS

After our league meet at Glen Helen, the Challenge management set forth to change the course to accomodate the masses on Saturday.  Knowing the previous course was short, one would think that this would be corrected.  However, most GPS devices had the course even shorter...2.75 miles, so keep that in mind when looking at the times below. 

Better running weather could not have been ordered.  Both varsity squads finished 5th, although the boys were without Ethan and Christian, who ran in the soph race.  The girls were split by age group knowing the sophs had a shot at the win.  It wasn't easy, but a 1-2 finish by Elle and Tori combined with all five scorers finishing in the top 20 made it happen.

As this meet serves as our County Championships, congratulations to those who qualified.  Seniors' Lexie Bravo and Tommy Cottam both made it in the #7 spot.  Three made the all-sophomore team...Elle Farrar (#6), Tori Greaves (#7) and Daniel Hawkins (#3). 

Complete Results:

Boys Varsity:  5th of 25 teams, 170 total runners;  7. Daniel Hawkins - 14:33;  9. Tommy Cottam - 14:36;  14. Chris Delgado - 14:45;  58. Joe Lopez - 15:27;  60. Roman Scott - 15:28;  92. Scott Aylor - 15:54;  120. Ryan Winn - 16:34

Boys JV:   211 total runners;  64. Erik Strong - 16:40;  199. D'Andre Pouchie - 20:45

Boys Sophs:  7th of 8 teams, 115 total runners;  5. Christian Navarro - 15:56;  30. Roberto Leon - 16:51;  36. Troy Rupp - 17:08;  37. Scott Palti - 17:08;  64. Kevin Pasma - 17:58;  77. Andrew Wall - 18:14;  92. Bobby Rodriguez - 18:50;  99. Ryan Massie - 19:38;  100. Tim Laws - 19:42;  113. Anthony Jensen - 24:25

Boys Frosh:  164 total runners;  53. Ian Peace - 17:06;  76. Wesley Ewart - 17:47;  84. Ben Dhami - 18:06

Girls Varsity:  5th of 17 teams, 120 total runners;  5. Lexie Bravo - 17:12;  20. Melissa Edwards - 18:17;  26. Anya Watford - 18:29;  41. Alejandra Lugo - 19:07;  53. Hannah Haerr - 19:32;  85. Victoria McNamara - 20:41;  104. Meghan Dominguez - 21:33

Girls JV:  191 total runners;  153. Mireyah Soto - 23:49

Girls Sophs:  1st of 9 teams, 87 total runners;  1. Elle Farrar - 17:42;  2. Tori Greaves - 17:42;  14. Janelle Myers - 19:06;  19. Rebecca Roberts - 19:22;  20. Jacci Enriquez - 19:22;  36. Emily Torres - 20:11;  51. Lauren Eubanks - 21:40;  55. Dayna Mann - 21:55;  57. Christiana Rodriguez - 22:13;  76. Makenna Lynch - 23:39;  81. Kaitlin Madden - 24:53

Girls Frosh:  8th of 11 teams, 130 total runners;  17. Jessi Tighe - 18:43;  65. Madison Kitchen - 20:51;  68. Kelsey McCauley - 20:59;  79. Sara Garcia - 21:38;  81. Brianna Gallardo - 21:43;  106. Amber Wall - 23:22

MT. SAC...THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY!!!

The crowds were bad and the weather was ugly!  It was a particularly nasty day at Mt. SAC;  every few years there are days like this, some years it's at CIF and some years at the invitational.  Unseasonably high temps and dry conditions made for some tough racing in the afternoon as temps soared and the medical staff became overworked.  I've attended this meet for 26 of the last 27 years and it's the first time I recall shortened races and even cancelled races.  Division 1 drew the afternoon session this year and the times reflected it as the Grizzlies got under way at 12:30.  By 2:00, the course was changed to the 1.93 mile Fastback course and by 3:30, ironically as temps started to drop, they cancelled the last 2 races, including our girls JV race.  It seemed like more schools than ever attended the meet, wanting a chance to experience the CIF course without the pressure.  Both varsity teams placed 5th in their races...which is the "good", especially considering neither team was at full strength.  The soph girls finished 3rd in their race.  Here are results:

Boys Varsity:  (5th of 22 teams; 154 total runners)  3. Daniel Hawkins - 16:03 (improves the #4 mark all-time);  22. Chris Delgado - 16:50;  34. Joe Lopez - 17:08 (#13 mark all-time);  38. Tommy Cottam - 17:14;  50. Christian Navarro - 17:25;  101. Scott Aylor - 18:48;  130. Ryan Winn - 19:37

Girls Varsity:  (5th of 24 teams; 156 total runners)  19. Lexie Bravo - 20:37;  23. Anya Watford - 20:53;  37. Melissa Edwards - 21:42;  50. Hannah Haerr - 22:21;  63. Alyssa Scheidemantle - 22:59;  72. Alejandra Lugo - 23:43;  130. Meghan Dominguez - 26:31

Boys Frosh:  (157 total runners)  79. Wesley Ewart - 20:54;  81. Ian Peace - 20:56;  123. Taylor Friday - 23:03

Girls Frosh:  (107 total runners) (1.93 miles)  66. Madison Kitchen - 16:38;  71. Sara Garcia - 16:58;  84. Amber Wall - 17:58;  104. Cheyenne Wiscovitch - No Time

Boys Soph:  (11th of 12 teams; 136 total runners)  (1.93 miles)  49. Roberto Leon - 12:24;  52. Troy Rupp - 12:31;  73. Scott Palti - 12:52;  80. Kevin Pasma - 12:59;  91. Ryan Massie - 13:21;  108. Bobby Rodriguez - 13:55;  123. Tim Laws - 16:35;  134. Anthony Jensen - No Time

Girls Soph:  (3rd of 11 teams; 129 total runners) (1.93 miles)  5. Elle Farrar - 13:16;  8. Tori Greaves - 13:45;  21. Janelle Myers - 14:20;  35. Jacci Enriquez - 14:46;  39. Emily Torres - 14:52;  50. Rebecca Roberts - 15:31;  79. Lauren Eubanks - 16:20;  97. Christiana Rodriguez - 16:59;  101. Lauren Brown - 17:06;  102. Dayna Mann - 17:07;  113. Makenna Lynch - 17:58;  125. Jenna Hamilton - 19:22

Boys JV:  (156 total runners) (1.93 miles)  7. Roman Scott - 11:11;  80. Erik Strong - 12:31;  127. Andrew Wall - 13:28

RED HOT RACING AT RED HILL!!!

GIRLS RACE TO VICTORY;  BOYS 4TH AGAIN

After a week delay, the 2nd Baseline meet was held in what we hope will be the last of the heat this season at Red Hill Park.  The Girls JV opened the action with a 2nd place finish placing 4 in the top 10.  The Boys JV improved a position to finish 4th.

The Girls Varsity, needing to hold their 2nd place position to make a run at Upland next week, posted a 13 point win over the Highlanders after placing 4 in the top 8.  League Meet 1, no Lexie Bravo, League Meet 2, no Diana Evans...showing the importance of getting all five scorers on the line.  With the win, the Grizzlies are tied with Upland for first and it guarantees no co-league championship.  It will all come down to League Finals at Mt.SAC next Tuesday.

The Boys Varsity faces a difficult task.  We have documented the strength of this boys league, with 3 teams ranked in CIF.  The Grizzlies again finished 4th and despite still not having Ethan, closed the gap on Claremont to 25.  It will take a monumental effort on the part of the boys to make that up next week, but they are looking forward to the challenge!  Here are complete results:

Boys Varsity:  1. Upland - 29;  2. Rancho Cucamonga - 46;  3. Claremont - 88;  4. LOS OSOS - 113;  5. Alta Loma - 136;  6. Etiwanda - 138   (42 total runners)  6. Daniel Hawkins - 15:35 (#3 mark all-time at Red Hill);  21. Thomas Cottam - 16:11 (#7 mark all-time at Red Hill);  27. Chris Delgado - 16:43;  28. Christian Navarro - 16:48;  31. Joe Lopez - 16:55;  33. Roman Scott - 17:05;  37. Scott Aylor - 17:51

Girls Varsity:  1. LOS OSOS - 37;  Upland - 50;  3. Etiwanda - 76;  4. Rancho Cucamonga - 82;  5. Claremont - 120;  6. Alta Loma - 142   (41 total runners)  4. Elle Farrar - 19:37 (#6 mark all-time at Red Hill);  5. Melissa Edwards - 19:47;  7. Anya Watford - 19:54;  8. Lexie Bravo - 19:58;  13. Tori Greaves - 20:16;  28. Alyssa Scheidemantle - 21:48

Boys JV:  36. Ryan Winn - 18:32;  38. Roberto Leon - 18:34;  54. Troy Rupp - 19:00;  60. Ryan Massie - 19:17;  65. Erik Strong - 19:27;  71. Ian Peace - 19:35;  73. Wesley Ewart - 19:41;  84. Kevin Pasma - 20:02;  95. Ben Dhami - 20:22;  96. Bobby Rodriguez - 20:33;  104. Taylor Friday - 21:06;  124. Tim Laws - 24:05;  126. Anthony Jensen - 24:52;  133. Jerry Edwards - 30:05

Girls JV:  2. Margaret Wilmot-Francis - 21:43;  4. Janelle Myers - 21:57;  6. Emily Torres - 22:03;  10. Alejandra Lugo - 22:11;  13. Hannah Haerr - 22:21;  24. Kelsey McCauley - 23:46;  26. Victoria McNamara - 23:52;  39. Dayna Mann - 24:31;  44. Lauren Eubanks - 24:49;  47. Christiana Rodriguez - 24:53;  57. Mireyah Soto - 26:09;  58. Lauren Brown - 26:14;  63. Sara Garcia - 26:30;  78. Makenna Schlappi - 29:21;  81. Cheyenne Wiscovitch - 30:01;  88. Laura Martinez - 33:40 

GIRLS TIE UPLAND...AGAIN!!!

BOYS SET SCHOOL RECORD AT MT. SAC, GOOD FOR ONLY 4TH PLACE

Three years worth of league finals and one total point separates us.  The Grizzlies have done battle with Upland three years in a row with a league title at stake and it has resulted in a one point loss and two ties with the Highlanders winning the tiebreaker both years.  It happened again yesterday as the Grizzlies put 3 runners in front of Upland's first.  In a dual meet, that guarantees a win, but not in an invitational format.  So with a 53-53 tie, the tiebreaker is the better 6th runner.  It was still a strong effort for the girls with special congratulations to our All-League members, Elle Farrar (4th place with the #5 effort all-time at Mt. SAC), Lexie Bravo (5th place) and Anya Watford (7th place).

The boys had a tall task ahead of them...knock off a state ranked team and go to CIF.  While not the start I would have advised, they closed the gap on Claremont by half (28 to 14) and in the process set the Grizzly all-time team time mark at Mt. SAC of 82:15...a time that some years gets you to CIF Finals, this year doesn't get out of league.  Congratulations to Daniel Hawkins, whose 6th place finish gets him to CIF as an individual.  It took quite an effort, one better than Brett Valencia's a year ago, but he made it.  His 15:35 is the #2 mark all-time at Mt. SAC and he was named to the All-League team.  Also moving up on the all-time list was Joe Lopez and Tommy Cottam (tied at #9), Christian Navarro (#12) and Roman Scott (tied at #15). 

Details concerning the meet and upcoming practices will have to be worked out later as Coach O must travel back to Pittsburgh for a funeral this weekend.

2009 SEASON BEGINS AT CIF!!!

5 FROSH/SOPHS SHINE FOR THE GIRLS; HAWKINS CLOSE TO INDIVIDUAL BERTH

Extreme heat and dry conditions along with firestorms on the horizon made for some tough races in the afternoon.  With temps in the mid-90's and single-digit humidity, the fire department forced all afternoon races to two miles...and not the "normal" Fastback two mile course.  Both the Switchbacks and Poopout were taken out, leaving just Reservoir hill as the only major incline.  The races became track meets. 

The girls raced without Lexie, which put 4 sophs and one freshman on the line and they delivered, going 1, 3, 4, 5 and 7 for the Grizzlies.  A 30 second spread between our 1st and 5th was good enough for 10th out of 15 teams, but not enough to advance. 

Danny Hawkins, qualifying as an individual, needed to secure a top-6 position to advance to CIF finals.  He was in 7th after the first mile, eyeing the #6 spot, but couldn't finish it off as he dropped to 10th place...a very respectable finish for the sophomore. 

Results:

Girls:  10th of 15 teams (106 total runners);  38. Elle Farrar - 13:46;  42. Melissa Edwards - 13:57;  51. Jessi Tighe - 14:05;  52. Tori Greaves - 14:06;  59. Janelle Myers - 14:16;  70. Anya Watford - 14:26;  83. Emily Torres - 14:57

Boys:  10. Daniel Hawkins - 10:43