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Mt. SAC Invitational
- Friday Sweepstakes Races
Saturday Sweepstakes Race Previews - Mt. SAC Invitational -
Kevin Brulois and Ulices Pina lead LB Poly lately (Kirby Lee photo) -
Dana Hills picks up another set of awards for Invitational win - this
one at Orange County Championships (picture Dana Hills HS skizzim.com)
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Race #47 - Boys Div I & II Team Sweepstakes
Long Beach Poly, ranked #23 in the entire U.S. by Harrier magazine, as
the top Golden State crew in comparison to the rest of the nation, was
very impressive as a pack in its recent Clovis Invite win, with Ulices
Pina and Kevin Brulois leading very strongly currently. Dana Hills (Dana
Point) can challenge with the entire crew healthy, with Tylor Kastorff
and Brandon Babiracki capable of leading the blue and white-clad Dolphin
pack to a win here. Loyola (LA) has super soph Mark Matusak leading, with
David Torrence and Micah Tyhurst capable of running with the top pack.
Murrieta Valley has Kellen Acosta, tested veteran leading, with Ian Ritchie
and Anthony Mercado leading a team that has come out charging this Fall.
Catalina Foothills, from Arizona, is the #1 ranked team from that state
overall, with the Tucson area school led by Brian Reed in search of regional
team respect. Rubidoux (Riverside) is highly rated Division II statewide,
with Antonio Jiminez and Victor Ortiz leading a great pack. La Sierra
(Riverside) has 4:17 1600 star Matt Kern and Danny Guy racing near the
front of high quality races this season. Don Lugo (Chino) has State Division
I individual champ, Erick Maldonado and Alex Benavidez supers on top!
Royal (Simi Valley) was the most improved program in the state during
the 2001 season, with fine individual Tim Hearst leading a highly rated
group this Fall. Crescenta Valley, with Ben Kessen and 9:28 3200 runner
Chris Snyder, is ranked among the top ten statewide Div I. Centennial
(Las Vegas, Nevada) is top ranked in the southern half of that state,
with Pierce Chandler that area’s runner of the week last week. Madera,
with super soph Benny Madrigal, Temecula Valley, who lead with another
tenth grader, Brent Campfield, and Indio, perhaps the state’s most
imporoved team this Fall, led by Joel Cota, are others who can break into
the top half dozen with a great effort! East Valley (Redlands), led by
star Bren Medina, Esperanza, with Michael Chavez near the front individually
along with Steven Murvin, Fountain Valley, led by Josh Selly, Rancho Cucamonga,
with Andrew Trinidad starring, Upland, with Sergio Gonzalez leading, and
Valhalla (El Cajon), with San Diego area star Vernon Harris up front,
are very solid groups.
This will be one of those races where fourth and fifth runners ability
to hold together while a bit further back in the pack than they are used
to in most races (try 50-75th place maybe) will help to decide the top
placings. With some good weather predicted, some of the best racing in
recent years depth-wise could come from this event. There are a ton of
teams who can put it together - it will be worth watching!!!
Tim Nelson - Mohamed Trafeh - Phillip Reid after two miles at Clovis
(Robert Meyers photo) - Babey Wagnew (Helix) finishes unpressed in his
Stanford Invite win -
Race #48 - Boys 1-2 Individual Sweepstakes
Wow!!! The course will definitely rock with the efforts of this crew out
there!! Foot Locker National Finalist from last year and 9:02 3200 star
Tim Nelson (Liberty Christian, Redding) will take on all-comers and they
are here!! Mohamed Trafeh (Duarte) was close to Tim (14:58 to Tim’s
14:54 behind Lauren Jespersen of Oregon) at Stanford on the clock in his
divisional win in a solo effort. Babey Wagnew (Helix, La Mesa), another
slight African immigrant, took his division at Stanford at 15:03 and looked
ready for faster!! Philip Reid (Rio Mesa, Oxnard) takes his 4:12.25 1600
speed and a great Fall to the Mt. SAC hills, with Michael Poe (Etiwanda),
a 4:12.92 1600 star, smarting to race near the front of a good pack after
falling while racing Trafeh a few weekends back at Yucaipa. Kyle Alcorn
(Buchanan, Clovis) brings credentials to the contest–how about State
3200 Champ in track (8:56.76 best) and a great Fall of running. Troy Swier
(Mar Vista, Imperial Beach) has been tearing them up as an eleventh grader
in the San Diego section. Others who have shown the ability to race with
the top pack here are Ryan Ketcham (Thousand Oaks) and Jonathan Cardenas
(Reno, Nv). Supers faced with the decision of how to pace the effort against
this top group, out certainly under 4:40 for the first mile, are Sean
Barrett (St. Augustine, San Diego), Thomas Peterson (Beyer, Modesto),
Kyle Ivie (Burbank), Jared Zurn (Burroughs, Ridgecrest), Manuel Ruiz (Monroe,
LA Section), Danny Luna (Paramount), and super soph Jose Melena (Antelope
Valley, Lancaster). Super frosh Jonathan Batres (St. John Bosco, Bellflower),
Joey Pacheco (Canyon Springs, Moreno Valley), Tom Johnson (De la Salle,
Concord), Jose Casillas (Downey), Matt Cipole (El Toro), Tim Quiroga (Ukiah),
and Jonah Platt-Ross (University, San Francisco) have had good local successes
this Fall.
Bring the binoculars, as this is one of those races that will be amazing
to watch. How top individuals approach the different areas of the course,
from their placement during the fast, quick first mile, super challenging
switch-backs, serious down-hills off the area behind the stadium, extremely
steep “Poop-out” hill, and area out of sight behind that area
and the final Reservoir Hill will be very, very interesting. This is what
our sport is all about, a multi-state affair with the best from different
enrollment divisions who will be separated come championship time all
out on the course sorting it out right now for those watching!!!
Liza Pasciuto - Murrieta and the Sultana pack - what else is new!!! (Bill
Leung photo)
Race #49 - Girls Division I and II Team Sweepstakes
A couple of teams ranked among the top dozen in the U.S. will once again
battle, with Sultana (Hesperia), ranked #3 in the entire United States,
and #12 ranked Murrieta Valley, 27-32 in their last multi-team meet a
couple weeks back in the Inland Empire Challenge. Sultana has been bolstered
by the first year efforts of frosh Danielle Varela, with Kelsey Delagardelle,
Shadee Duarte, Kelsey Camaren, and Stacy Tabuena all under 19:00 at Stanford
in the big Div II win there. Murrieta Valley leads with one of the nation’s
best in Liza Pasciuto, with frosh Karen Camburn, Bonghabih Shey, Rachel
Corrington, and Angela Hill backing up smartly!! Check out the uni’s
beforehand of these two super teams and see how the packs match up as
the race develops!! Sultana was 2-3-4-8-10-19-21 at Inland Empire, with
Murrieta 1-5-6-9-11-13-14 there.
Canyon (Canyon Country), led by Brenda Cohen, Brenda Stevens, and hopefully
a healthy Alysia Johnson, is another super group, capable of a national
ranking before the season is over! The depth is mighty in a contest like
this. Other top teams and individuals abound! Fountain Valley has Bethany
Nickless and super frosh Crystal Reed, who will be near the front individually.
Montgomery (Santa Rosa), with everyone on the course, is very dangerous
Division II, with the Kim’s, Conley and Handel, leading a group
with great recent tradition–they were third to Sultana and a fine
Reno (Nv) group at Stanford. San Pasqual, defending State Division II
Champs, has Claire Rethmeier leading a very dangerous group that was impressive
with its last month of the season last Fall. Ayala (Chino Hills), with
Whitney Patton and Chelsey Traylor leading, and Wilson (Long Beach), with
Bina Gold and Glennis Scott top individuals, are highly ranked Division
I teams. Fallbrook, with Melissa Ramos and Michelle Denham front runners,
is ranked #2 overall in San Diego, with Torrey Pines, lead by 4:54.23
1600 star Dani Schuster, #3 from that section. Mission Viejo features
a smart pack, led by Nicole Sheid and Rachel Jenkins, and high Division
I area ranking, with Ukiah, and star Shelby Leland, the Clovis Small Schools
winner individually (and 10:37.32 3200m star), highly ranked North Coast
Section. Clovis East from the Central Section, a new school that is a
“fast-riser” in this sport, Granada (Livermore) with super
recent tradition and Elizabeth Ottenheimer (9th Stanford Invite) and Lisa
Crampton starring, and Poway, with Jessica Baird a top frosh/soph runner,
are other strong teams here.
Rachel Bryan (Laguna Creek) me thinks she will have company a bit later
this week (Robert Meyers picture) - Ruth Graham (Gunn) winning in Hawaii's
Iolani Invite (John Dye photo)
#50 Girls Division I and II Individual Sweepstakes
Lastest in the Sweeps order, but certainly not the leastest, is the Girls
Individual Swepstakes, with the morning cool weather undoubtedly holding
here for another absolute flying contest!! Alaska State 4A champ Kris
Smith (West Anchorage) was a 4:52.2 miler last spring, and is among the
nation’s best. Interestingly, Kris was 24th in the Foot Locker Regional
on this course last year, with Rachel Bryan (Laguna Creek, Elk Grove)
one place behind her in 25th! Rachel has had a super Fall, taking down
Course Records right and left, the latest a week ago a hilly one at Cal
Poly/SLO that had her prepare for this meet! Bryan was 10:36.32 last year
for 3200m in track as the nation’s top soph over that distance with
her runner-up effort at State. She has not slowed down a step since!!
Others will join the fray up front! Ruth Graham (Gunn, Palo Alto) has
been another star this Fall, racing as far away as Hawaii during super
runs, with a 9th place effort in last year’s Foot Locker Regional
on the Mt. SAC lay-out. She was nearly 30 seconds ahead of Smith and Bryan
in that run, and just missed the Nationals competition with her 9th place
in the Regionals, so this course and race have special meaning to her
! Natalie White (Oak Ridge, El Dorado Hills) is another Northern California
flying this season, with the Sac Joaquin star upping her running a big
notch already this Fall. Collier Lawrence from Reno, Nevada was third
in the very fast Division II race at Stanford, with White second there.
Whitney McDonald (Thousand Oaks) will try to make her move to the elite
level pack this weekend in this race.
Reno, with frosh star Daryan Glenn and Karen DeMartini, second to #3 ranked
in the nation Sultana at Stanford Div II, Thousand Oaks, ranked #23 in
the U.S., with McDoanld (above), Alyson Fletcher, and a healthy Kathleen
Vance, and Buchanan, led by Jessica Laslovich (11th at Stanford), very
fine teams!
The race has other fine individual stars. Brittany Grimes (Centennial,
Bakersfield), Karine Perry (Aliso Niguel, Aliso Viejo), Kristen Gonzalez
(Bonita Vista, Chula Vista), Kathryn Urban (Capistrano Valley, Mission
Viejo), Corina James (Madera), Angie Vega (San Gorgonio, San Bernardino),
Erynne Jones (Upland), and Danielle Padilla (Westlake, Westlake Village)
are all capable of “bust-out” efforts on a cool morning on
the hills of Mt. SAC.
Wow!!! What a morning - if you are a follower of the sport don’t
miss it. You can move not 50 meters and have the runners come by you five
times from near the start to near the finish - it is Cross-Country at
its best by the best and for the best!!! Be there or be square-----I think
we are finally left speechless (if that is possible!).
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