| Southern Section Finals - Preview - Rich Gonzalez - 11/23/02 - Mt. SAC - Girls |
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Southern Section Finals - Sat 11/23/02 - Mt. SAC - Preview Rich Gonzalez - Girls Division I Girls This gargantuan Division I clash is not merely a preview of the state meet - it’s better than the state meet! Only seven of these teams will advance to Fresno, although nine of these squads are ranked among the top ten in the state! Needless to say, it’s going to be a maddening sprint toward the finish to decide those final few spots! National powers Murrieta Valley and Thousand Oaks are touted as co-favorites here, although a number of squads remain within striking distance for the title. Murrieta Valley has scorched the trails this fall, with super junior Liza Pasciuto and frosh wiz Karen Camburn spearheading a crew that has taken on all challengers, from the friendly confines of Mt. SAC to the challenging mega-clash known as the Great American Cross-Country Festival held in the Carolinas! Bonghabih Shey and Rachel Corrington are two additional battle-tested talents here, supplying the Nighthawks with an arsenal ranking among the Golden State’s all-time finest! Thousand Oaks counters with an amazing lineup of its own, with Whitney McDonald, Kathleen Vance and Monica Su a sensational triumvirate that has the Lancers thinking ultimate year-end glory! Pasciuto might score a single point to get Murrieta Valley off and running, but Thousand Oaks can certainly counter that with amazing depth at the final scoring positions! Dana Hills has been the most notable challengers to the top programs in recent weeks, with the Orange County powerhouse blazing to a Laguna Niguel Regional Park course record run at the South Coast League Finals, followed by a sensational showing at last weekend’s prelims. The Dolphins rested ace contributor Monika Rothenberger last time out, but she’ll be back in the mix today to help teammates Shawn Yourd, Tarrah Crowley and Stephanie Eckl vie for the crown! Canyon of Canyon Country showcases a marvelous freshmen class, easily considered among the most talented in state history, but it’s veterans Alysia Johnson and Brenda Stevens who are being looked to in providing brazen leadership for the Cowboys in these huge season-ending affairs! Long Beach Wilson is the latest program to make major waves in the new millennium, proving it isn’t merely a sprint factory anymore! Wilson stunned many with a team-time record at the venerable Dana Hills Invitational affair at season’s start, then backing it up with impressive outings against top competition since! Bina Gold and Glennis-Scott Seldon helped lead the charge for the most improved program in the entire Section! Esperanza is a quiet but dangerous darkhorse here, with the almost-forgotten Aztecs still courting amazing talent and a fine tradition at this phase on the calendar! Alison Costello has enjoyed a banner season, with Candice Proctor and Kristin Costello helping offer dangerous depth! Peninsula, which peaked to perfection in winning the state crown a year ago, has Olga Aulet-Leon and Tina Downey helping a group which runs this Mt. SAC course as smart as any. Royal, among the latest arrivals into the Golden State hierarchy, aims for another stellar peak with Sarah Montez and siblings Devin and Morgan Noe figuring heavily. Conquering the Mt. Sac Course in 2002 … Division II Girls One of the finest teams in national prep history will be on display here, but it’ll be kept honest by a squad we consider to be the best-kept secret in the state! Add in a slew of fine programs with stellar traditions, and we have the makings of an all-out cooker! Sultana has been the statewide standard of excellence this fall, with blockbuster showings at the Stanford and Mt. SAC Invitational affairs, the latter resulting in the fastest team-time performance in the short history of the renovated course (see below)! Kelsey Delagardelle, Danielle Varela, Stacy Tabuena, Kelsey Camara and Shadee Duarte head up the phenomenal crew, which is currently ranked third in the national rankings! Ventura, a team which sparkled to a stunning 97:51 clocking on the state-meet course at the Clovis Invitational, has been hiding some of its weapons in recent Southland clashes, with Jessica Bryant, Oriana Campbell and Emily Spiker now ready to carry its squad at the crux of a very potent attack. These teams should figure to hold up well under pressure, Sultana (John Mahr) and Ventura (Bill Tokar) coached by physiological gurus considered the best in the section at peaking their runners at the right time! Cypress is the latest player in the Orange County elite these days, with the Empire League champions following up a fine regional championships effort with a nice heat victory here last week. Lauren Jirges and Stephanie Torres lead the group, which is ranked seventh in this week’s statewide poll. Villa Park has been turning heads all season, whizzing right on by the competition to take down some longstanding local powers with commanding ease. The group, ranked eighth in the state, has among the best trios in the Southland in Erica Sahli, Nicole Blalock and Jordan McCarthy! One gets a true sense of the depth of talent in this division when a superb program like Woodbridge finds itself “on the fence” for qualifying into the state meet. Even so, the Warriors really tend to come on during these do-or-die affairs, with Kristen Berglas and Kelly Oelschlager being the latest leaders for one of the West Coast’s pinnacle programs over the last decade! Brea Olinda is another program with not too shabby of a pedigree either, with this Orange County crew finally weaving its way through a short series of obstacles and appearing to arrive to the championship race in very good position to challenge for a berth to state! Anne Gustafson in the proven frontrunner for the Wildcats, with Kathy Sepulveda and Holly Rogers also on board for a crew always on the upswing come November! Sunny Hills has a stellar lead tandem in twins Stacy and Claire Kim, powering the group to among the more impressive showings in qualifying, with Hannah Kent-Johnson making major headway in recent weeks in giving the squad added front-end firepower! Individually, Sultana should be very well represented at the head of the pack, with Woodbridge senior Kristen Berglas rising sophomore star Cristina Olivas among those stellar individuals capable of snaring the top spot! Conquering the Mt. Sac Course in 2002 … Division III Girls Can anyone derail Santa Margarita’s path to the title? Will perennial powers La Canada and Corona del Mar rise again? Can Rim of the World or Diamond Ranch catch these aforementioned squads by surprise? Probably no division has the experts guessing and scratching their heads more than this one, with a huge shakeup of the divisional rankings very possible here! Santa Margarita has earned the top spot in the division thus far, with Kristin Howell, Emily Kalmbach, and Morgan Harris steering it to a series of nice countywide efforts and unbeaten success in the challenging Serra League. La Canada figures to have considerable upside in the coming weeks, with the Spartans seemingly running at leisure early on in anticipation of the rugged wars still to come. Now that it’s time to perform, look for Tara Sharma and Michelle Drugen to head a cast sure to make return trip to Fresno! Rim of the World caught the attention of many foes during a fine 99:14 team-time heat win in a non-seeded race at the Mt. SAC Invitational, with Kim Miller, Nicole McCaskell and Kari Brandt helping set a challenging pace. Diamond Ranch was a close second to statewide power Miramonte in its Mt. SAC Invitational race, with Danielle Evans and Tori Owens helping the Panthers snare some confidence heading into these challenges. St. Joseph’s hasn’t received much fanfare this fall, but it’d be a huge mistake to underestimate this Lakewood-based crew making nice strides in recent years. Having recently made its debut at the year-end meet in Fresno, Tracy Dantema and sisters Kat and Alexis Dawkins help comprise a squad well primed for a return trip to Central California! Corona del Mar is a bit of a mystery to some this year, but rest assured the Sea Queens will be ready to run today. With an Orange County as fine as any over the last two decades, Coach Bill Sumner’s squad should employ its pack attack to precision in the coming weeks. Becky Cummins, Melissa Swigert and Anne St. Gime are among those expected to race at arm’s length of each other in a potent attack today! South Hills and Nordhoff are two venerable programs seeking to remain in the top echelon this postseason, each boasting quite a successful tradition over the last decade. South Hills has veterans Kristy Gamboa and Dominique Rosete rallying the crew for a clutch run while Nordhoff checks in with Kate Krumpschmidt and Alyssa Robinson as its lead harriers in its biggest challenge of the year! Conquering the Mt. Sac Course in 2002 … Seasonal-best team times ---------------- seasonal-best performances Division IV Girls .There’s a superpower lurking in the smaller divisions, and today that predominantly low-profile squad should blaze into the limelight! Oak Park, a squad which romped to a stunningly powerful performance at the mid-season Stanford Invitational, has avoided cranking it up for most of the big meets since, opting to arrive here hungry and well rested. Oak Park is the heavy favorite here, with all five of its scorers projected to cross before the clock reaches 19:15! Junior Lauren Morales is the pacing workhorse for the top-ranked group in the state, with the two-time All-Southern Section performer and teammates Ali Banks and Blossom Mirimpietri ready to step into overdrive for these final two weeks. Harvard/Westlake is another program lending great credibility to the wealth of talent churned out at the smaller divisions in recent years, with All-Southern Section wunderkind Lindsay Flacks, talented teammate Katie Dewitt and frosh phenom Bridget Ballard lending the state’s #3-ranked team a great starting point in its quest for the title! La Reina of Thousand Oaks has built its reputation as a rising power in recent years, with well-guided efforts often leading to nice peak performances during the championship phase. Katie Gose and Olivia Ghaussy lead the charge for La Reina, ranked fourth in the state. Orange Lutheran had the tough task of battling much larger-sized schools during its league campaign, with the unit holding up well under pressure to arrive here eager to show its worth! Lutheran, ranked fifth in the state, features Kari Andrew and Kelly Rendon as a nice front-running set, with its plaque hopes today resting upon the performance of its depth scorers. Maranatha of Sierra Madre might have the best upside of any team in this division, with super steady senior Laura Meyers - a two-time Southern Section champion - and teammate Lizzy Thompson heading up a well-trained collection of talent that has its sights focused on the state championships in Fresno! Meyers has the top time in the division at Mt. SAC this fall, with the level of competition today possibly helping the popular youngster toward eclipsing that elusive sub-18:00 barrier. St. Paul of Santa Fe Springs has built its own tradition of success in recent years, with the Swordsmen well stocked to continue that pattern here today. St. Paul brandishes Marlene elisalde and Lauren Magdaleno as its best weapons, with this young returning virtually intact next year as well! Three news schools on the scene at this level are Chino Hills, Los Osos and Big Bear. The first two have opened their doors within the last two years, with the third program having just starting to field the sport in recent years. Chino Hills is paced by Erin Muir while Los Osos and Big Bear have followed the leads of Amanda Strong and Jessica Horn, respectively, this fall. The battle up front should be fierce, with Maranatha’s Meyeys, Harvard/Westlake’s Flacks (dependent upon her status, as injury plagued the young standout in qualifying), La Reina’s Gose and Oak Park’s Morales are all by-products of exceptional programs. Conquering the Mt. Sac Course in 2002 … Division V Girls Chadwick School, ranked atop the statewide poll at this level, is seeking to add hardware to the trophy case, with seniors Alison Brown and Erica Larsen being the latest in a long line of quality leaders for this revered program! The Dolphins emerged as titlists from the talent-heavy Prep League wars, holding off three other quality programs ranked throughout the season. Balance and depth are once again the cornerstones for this year’s Chadwick program, with each runner contributing mightily to create a force that’s been hard to crack. Desert Christian of Lancaster, fresh off its heat victory in last weekend’s qualifying, has eased its way into the second spot in the state rankings this week as Claytonia Tarazi and Co. now pool their efforts after several “split squad” outings this fall. Cate School of Carpinertia has has put together arguably its finest group in school history, with the tandem of Sorel Carradine and Chelsea Tuck guiding the group to a high statewide ranking and serious contention for a Southern Section plaque! Flintridge Prep, which was about one-half mile away from pulling a massive upset of Chadwick at the Prep League Finals, will prime itself to finish the job this time out! Senior veteran Carrie Ting and proven performers Hannah Vaughan and Lizzy Bovard are among the key components for the group, which had been ranked second in the state as recently as two weeks ago. Another Prep League program to contend with these days is Pasadena Poly, which raised its game another notch once All-Southern Section performer Mallory Wilder recently from injury earlier this month. Wilder and teammate Elizabeth Dooley afford the Panthers a nice pair of athletes possibly capable of single-digit scoring in today’s team competition. Woodcrest Christian boasts one of the divisional standouts here, with junior Holly Digerolamo setting the right tone for the state’s #5-ranked team! Brentwood, led by the division’s premier frosh in Tani Brown, and Tessa Tarole-led Ontario Christian appear to have the inside track in battling for the seventh and final berth to state.
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Editor: Doug Speck �2002 by DyeStat |
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