| Southern Section Finals - Preview - Rich Gonzalez - 11/23/02 - Mt. SAC - Boys |
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Southern Section Finals - Sat 11/23/02 - Mt. SAC - Preview Rich Gonzalez - Boys Division I Boys Looks like it’s going to be a wild crapshoot here!!! Eight of the top 10 teams in the state lace up the racing flats in this talent-laden clash… with only six berths available to the state championships! Long Beach Poly, the pinnacle Golden State program in recent years, is aiming to send retiring coach George Wright out as a winner in his Southland farewell, seeking a stunning sixth major division crown in seven years! The Jackrabbits rely on superb depth to nail down the #21 spot in the latest national rankings, with Ulices Pina and Kevin Word among those providing quality leadership. Poly’s depth could be fiercely challenged today, as frontrunner Kevin Brulois (who underwent an appendectomy 10 days ago) might be out of action for a squad that has captured both the Clovis and Mt. SAC Invitational Team Sweepstakes titles. Loyola of Los Angeles seeks to exorcise demons from a pair of CIF-SS Finals heartbreaks the past two years, with great performances overshadowed by its narrow misses to the state meet. The sensational quartet of David Torrence, Micah Tyhurst, Mark Matusak and Ryan Foresta has been steering its “Mission To Fresno” assignment with great success this fall, including a head-turning runner-up finish in the Mt. SAC Invitational Team Sweepstakes affair! Matusak is usually the pacesetter here and is highly capable of threatening Michael Haddan’s sophomore class course record! Dana Hills is fresh off smoking the Laguna Niguel Regional Park course record at the South Coast League Finals, with red-hot senior Tyler Kastorff and running mate Brandon Babiracki helping set a swift pace! The Dolphins feature an ultra-deep cast, with Scott Smith and Natan Martinez among the key members welcoming back Campbell MacDonald from injury. Just when it seemed those three teams would battle for the title, defending state individual champion Erick Maldonado made his return from injury to help Don Lugo enter the championship picture. The Conquistadores have made a truly stunning arrival into the West Coast hierarchy in recent days, with a few freshmen playing vital depth roles for a squad following the lead of seniors Maldonado and Alex Benavidez, and junior Nathan Wolack. Need more contenders? Murrieta Valley, Canyon of Canyon Country and Royal are glad to oblige on the invitee list! The heart of Murrieta Valley’s lineup effectively chases the coattails of speedsters Kellen Acosta and Anthony Mercado in giving the Nighthawks almost unmatched depth here, while Canyon features a great 1-2 punch of Troy Werner (14:59 as the Mt. SAC Team Sweepstakes race winner) and Ryan Morgan (low 15’s here as well) headlining a much improved lineup in recent weeks! Royal is an oh-so-dangerous darkhorse here, with senior ace Tim Hearst parading a host of returnees back from last year’s state runner-up squad that is sure to throw it into overdrive today! The Highlanders also brandish a stellar underclass crop for the future, led by sophomore Dylan Jaedtke and freshman Jason Pedersen. Crescenta Valley, enjoying a banner campaign with pacesetters Chris Snyder and Ben Kessen hitting full stride, leads a phalanx of teams harboring upset dreams! The battle for the individual title should be a fierce one, with good friends Erick Maldonado of Don Lugo and Michael Poe of Etiwanda ranking as the chief combatants. Poe toured these hills in 14:57 at the Baseline League Finals, the fastest time ever recorded here in non-invitational/non-postseason competition. Royal’s Hearst, Loyola’s Matusak, and Canyon’s duo of Werner and Morgan should lead the chase pack.
Seasonal-best team times ---------------- seasonal-best performances Division II Boys Rubidoux! Orange! … Orange! Rubidoux! … Rubidoux! Orange! … Cypress and St. John Bosco? That right, if Rubidoux and Orange find themselves too focused on each other, Cypress and St. John Bosco each have the running artillery to employ a third-mile ambush! In any scenario, Division II sure figures to offer us an exciting blockbuster once again! This was supposed to be Rubidoux’s year, with the defending state champions welcoming back a horde of talent. But repeated setbacks in the early going had skeptics abounding. Well, those skeptics have been quieted in the stretch drive! Rubidoux has kept with tradition in coming on very well of late, with the black-and-white-clad crew hitting championship mode on fresh cylinders! Antonio Jimenez, Victor Ortiz, Mobin Ghoury and Jose Maganda are among those sacrificing personal glory early on, but ready to reap the benefits at the most crucial time of the season. Outside of Division I, no program in the section instills more fear into opponents than this one! On that note, meet fearless Orange, a dominant crew whose success is predicated on pack running that demoralizes opponents in one race surge after another. Francisco Guerra, Raul Lara and Daniel Ramirez are three of the pistons in this well-oiled machine prepped up and seeking to place a crimp in Rubidoux’s reign. Cypress is a group whose most dangerous weapon has been its stealth approach. Although really ducking no one, the Centurions planned their racing schedule wisely, never overextending themselves yet doing just enough to keep fueling their confidence. Blue chip frontrunner David Napper has enjoyed a fabulous season thus far, very quietly emerging as one of the top runners on the West Coast! Brothers Brian and Neal Washburn are two other gems in the lineup for a Cypress team ranked fifth in the entire state! St. John Bosco is at it again! The parochial school power is proving to be a pesky nuisance to the so-called “superpowers” by getting the job done without a big-name performer, but with nice balance and execution! The Braves rely on Anthony Martinez and Randy Skillens to set the table, with a horde of well-coached harriers on the supporting cast. This group harbors great motivation for a monumental upset here, so keep a close eye on them! Katella is another squad to watch carefully, with the Knights do doubt fuming after rare back-to-back setbacks at league finals abd CIF Prelims. Look for Juan Escalante, Victor Fierro and Francisco Flores to help them rebound nicely. Inland Empire foes La Sierra and King should also be in the mix for top places, with the former employing a great 1-2 punch and the latter powered by a pack-running mentality second to none! La Sierra has vastly improved and red-hot Austin Langley setting the pace recently, with miling wiz Matt Kern now seemingly finding his groove on the hills of Walnut as well. King struck fear in the minds of opposing coaches at prelims, with the “Special K” parade sticking all five scorers into a mere 11-second finishing cushion at prelims - Krazy! Daniel Beld, Garret Allen, David Lee, Steve Vance and Grant Carter were at the heart of that qualifying effort, keeping the group as our pick for the most dangerous team in the field! On top of great team racing, what a treat we have in store in terms of individual action! Michael Haddan ((Woodbridge), Phillip Reid (Rio Mesa) and Juan Robles (Valencia, Placentia) are all national-class talents, with each already eclipsing the 15:00 plateau here in recent weeks. Haddan in considered the favorite after notching a slew of course records this fall, but Reid is as savvy a racer as any here today and Robles really opened some eyes after a stunning breakthrough performance at a national benchmark competition (Great American Cross County Festival) in the South earlier this year. Conquering the Mt. Sac Course in 2002 … Seasonal-best team times ---------------- seasonal-best performances Division III Boys History shows us that if Barstow’s cross-country team isn’t caught by the opposition early into its season, it isn’t going to be caught by the end of it either. That’s real bad news for everyone else here, with Barstow’s 2002 dominance making the defending state champions an unbeatable contingent now approaching the fringe of national-rankings consideration. This group always brings its best to the table come championship time, with junior star Avery Himes joined by senior stalwarts Adam Rodriguez and Joe Sena in providing this group the firepower needed to capture yet another sectional crown. Santa Margarita arrived into a new division and a new season with grand expectations, but early setbacks dealt a mild blow to the team’s psyche. Since then, however, the Eagles have rebounded with a sensational third-place showing in the divisional sweepstakes race at Mt. SAC and a pair of very fine showings against tough competition in Serra League action. Senior Mike Powers has been the quiet but consistent leader here, boasting the fastest time in the division! Estancia, the last of the three state-ranked teams in this division, would love nothing better than to sneak up on the big boys and snare the crown after injuries ruined its title bid a year ago. Estancia features one of the division’s best in Humberto Rojas, with the Orange County power also flashing considerable depth to be well positioned for a bid to state. Cabrillo of Lompoc has been the division’s nicest surprise this season, with two-lap track standout Duane Solomon (among the best in the nation at 800 meters) very capable of vying for top individual honors in setting up the team for a nice scoring effort! Burroughs of Ridgecrest had its attack bolstered by some fine underclassmen this fall, but it’s still junior Jared Zurn who sets the pace for a group that has represented the Inland Empire in solid fashion. Diamond Ranch appears to be the hottest crew in the division, with a stunning low-82-minute clocking at Mt. SAC in its recent league final being nearly a two-minute improvement from the same challenge the month before. Mike Blair and Matt Reighter lead the way there. It should be a real dogfight for the seventh and final berth to state, with a host of teams within just a few points of each in a simulated race handicap. As previously mentioned, Santa Margarita’s Powers tops the list of individual favorites, but Serra League foe Nick Mosey has enjoyed a sensational campaign in only his sophomore year, being among the leading darkhorse candidates! Keep in mind that Barstow traditionally peaks best among those schools assembled here, so look for several of its individuals to make a move on the lead pack after its traditional “pack-run tactics” in the opening half of the race have been employed. Another fine individual to keep an eye on is Cabrillo’s Michael Coe, who’s 15:58 clocking in October is the fastest for a freshman on these hills this year.
Seasonal-best team times ---------------- seasonal-best performances Division IV Boys With the postseason now upon us, the “creative tactics” can finally cease as the most anticipated small-schools matchup of the year can now take place: Fillmore versus Oak Park, for all the Southern Section marbles! No strangers to each other, the Tri-Valley League foes have squared off more times than they’d wish to this season - and therein lies the storyline. Although meeting repeatedly, only once were both teams at full strength, resulting in a narrow one-point triumph for defending section champion Oak Park in the opening weeks of the season. Since then, the Eagles have either been plagued by injury or chosen to bypass the big meets in keeping to their philosophy or training rather than racing. Fillmore, on the other hand, has neither been daunted by the schedule nor resorted to any forms of gamesmanship, setting its own path in rolling up two league victories over Oak Park and another at the Ventura County Championships. The question now: Which approach will succeed? Brazen senior Igor Tregub and talented sophomore Ken Brook help form the nuts and bolts of the Oak Park operation, which slid into the second spot in the state rankings earlier this week. Third-ranked statewide Fillmore relies on a close-knit pack once again, with senior Juan Mejia among those that will no doubt be smirking at the latest rankings snub. Maranatha has been the squad overlooked by many this season, but the Minutemen have among the most successive coaches around in John Rouse (eight section titles with him at the helm, at last count) and have employed a patient approach once again. Sophomore Andy Smith is the carburetor which fires up the engine for Maranatha, a squad heavily favored to advance to state. Orange Lutheran is in postseason thanks to it being awarded an at-large berth, but the crew impressively earned the bid after a stellar showing at the mid-season Clovis Invitational, one of the few times the unit has decided to let its top harriers “get after it.” Junior Jorge Jabaz leads the Orange Lutheran crew, which is ranked seventh in the state this week. Laguna Beach arrives here fresh off a nice runner-up finish in the competitive Pacific Coast League Finals, with Brendan Bowler and Nathan Greene making the tradition-rich Artists yet another group with a fine 1-2 punch in this division. Beaumont, definitely a program on the rise the last few years, showcases one of the state’s most improved runners in senior Brian Baker, with the program answering the call in virtually all 2002 challenges thus far. Several other teams are in the mix here, with only six spots to state being awarded. It’s going to be nerve-racking on that last mile! The division’s top runner is Duarte’s Mohamed Trafeh, clutching nearly a one-minute advantage over his nearest rivals. His 14:38 clocking is a junior-class all-time best along the renovated Mt. SAC course, but expect Trafeh to have trouble trying to improve that here today. Trafeh, who practices the Muslim religion, is currently observing the Ramadan holiday season, meaning he has been fasting from sunup until sundown for almost the last three weeks. A victory here is still very likely, but another course record might be too tall an order to fulfill. Conquering the Mt. Sac Course in 2002 … Division V Boys A late-breaking development has created quite a shakeup on the Small Schools title-chase landscape, with defending section and state champion Woodcrest Christian stunned by the emergency appendectomy surgery afflicting one of its top runners in recent days. The previously top-ranked Royals now go from being the hunted to being the hunter in a division with six state-ranked teams now giving chase to a Flintridge Prep program recently flashing signs of a massive peak on its horizon. Flintridge Prep, which moved into the top spot in the state rankings this week, put forth a jaw-dropping performance in a commanding victory at the mid-season Stanford Invitational, then cooled its racing shoes and has been deeply mired into training mode ever since, including fine showings at both the Mt. SAC Invitational and Prep League Finals while hardly tapering for those challenges. Senior Seth Horwitz is the senior leader for the Rebels, who will count heavily on underclassmen Tom McLean and vastly improved Tom Adams in their championship bid. Woodcrest Christian (losing frontrunner Dustin Andrews to the aforementioned medical issue) should prove to have the resolve of a champion in the coming days, with junior-class speedster Grant Nunnally helping rally the troops for an all-out assault on the title. Desert Christian of Lancaster might catch a new teams napping here today as it welcomes some exceptional underclass runners to the varsity level after nice showings at the lower levels Tim Smith carries the division’s top individual time here this year, with teammate Sky Johnston not too far back in getting things rolling for the third-ranked statewide Knights! Chadwick, ranked fourth in the state, has been demonstrating incremental progress down the stretch, a very good sign considering the squad has not meshed its top people together for a single key race this season! Santa Clara continued tos steady late-season climb with a fine showing in its sectional prelim heat, with Juan Prado and Tony Arredondo heading the attack for the #7 team in the state in this division. Brentwood, ranked ninth in the statewide poll, is a fine program used to high-pressure challenges, with sophomore Ryan Gordon and veteran Mark Drath helping key the Eagles’ efforts come crunch time! A dangerous mover of the form charts in recent weeks is St. Margaret’s of San Juan Capistrano, with the Academy League champions racing into peak mode as Chris Gaudreau and Andy Forquer provide good front men here. Upland Christian and Webb, two local schools hit with the injury big in recent weeks, are other top programs vying for berths to state here. The top individuals in this division are all members are the top teams as well, meaning the battle up front has added value in the battle for team points! Remember, however, it’s depth that ultimately determines the team champions!
Seasonal-best team times ---------------- seasonal-best performances
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Editor: Doug Speck �2002 by DyeStat |
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