A Look Back in History - Our Sport this Week 10-15-20-25 years ago - What was happening!!!

This week in our sports—A look back in history - thanks Bill Cockerham

Ten years Ago - early September 1993

How the State shaped up for Cross-Country - PreSeason Top Ten Rankings -
Who were the leading teams as favorites for the 1993 State Cross-Country Championships, with four divisions back in those days! Agoura in Girls Division I had eventual University of Arizona star Amy Skieresz ranked #1 statewide considered one of the nation’s best teams, with Peninsula (Rolling Hills) and Mt. Carmel (San Diego) top squads at that level. Division II Girls had top 25 ranked nationally Edison (Huntington Beach) and cross-town rival Ocean View (Huntington Beach) ranked 1-2. Div III Girls had defending champs Corona del Mar (Newport Harbor) favored for the title. Division IV had Lassen (Susanville), under veteran Coach Bob Wall, attempting to defend its championship title from the year before. The Boys side had Thousand Oaks, with one of its monster squads, favored ahead of the Pack Div I. Mission Bay, #13 ranked nationally the year previous and the defending Champs, was ranked #1 Boys Div II, with Estancia (Costa Mesa) the top listed Div III Boys squad. Morro Bay and McFarland (sounds familiar any year) were scheduled to battle Div IV, with the squads highly ranked coming in!!!

Fifteen Years Age - August/September 1988

A Southern Section (winner of 5 of 6 divisions in the previous year’s 1st ever California State HS CC Meeet) preview of the sport had some strong teams listed. Palos Verdes (closed down later and interestingly just recently opened due to enrollment changes) was the nation’s top ranked squad under Coach Joe Kelly from 1987, with another great crew back. Interestingly, that PV crew went to the Manhattan College Invite in New York City in 1987 and whomped everyone, and started the sense of travel for California schools that carried us so long in the Harrier Magazinie national rankings. Ashley Black, a National Finalist in the sport led the PV Girls that year. On the Boys’ side, Arroyo (El Monte) had one of the nation’s best squads ever under Coach Tim O’Rourke in 1987, with a 78:23 Team Time at Woodward Park (15:40 average), setting the tone for excellence at the Statewide level the first ever State competition that year. Dana Hills (bolstered by transfer Steve Niednagel), Corona del Mar, Camarillo, and Upland were considered to have super Boys’ squads in the area for that 1988 season . Walnut had the Hempel twins, Matt and Scott, leading a fine group for Coach Jim Polite. Deena Drossin (Agoura - familiar name still today), Rayna Cervantes (Montebello), Ashley Black (Palos Verdes), and Nicole Robbins (Hesperia) were all National Finalists in the sport returning from the previous year. Robbins was one of an amazing series of athletes from Coach Joe Gomez’ program at Hesperia. Bryan Dameworth (Agoura) returned as a junior, with a 15:12 soph time at Woodward Park the previous year, with soph Louie Quintana (Arroyo Grande) an impressive 15:30 frosh time at the Woodward facility in 1987 and 4:19.6 1600 in track as a ninth grader!.

Twenty Years Ago - August/September 1983

Cross Country Previews had some interesting favorites! NCS listings were headlined by Calvin Gaziano (Castro Valley), who raced a 9:00.22 3200 as a soph (nation’s fastest at that grade) was the top returnee individually on the Boys’ side, with Livermore the defending 1982 Meet of Champs Boys’ winners. With Northern California having a championship meet, but no state meet until 1987, Jennifer Bocca (Analy, Sebastapol) was felt to be the NCS favorite for individual honors. The Sac Joaquin area had Jesuit, with the Mastalir twins sophs along with Todd Bass and Rod Grieve, felt to be a super Boys’ group. Pete Vicencio (Del Oro, Loomis) was felt to be the top area runner for 1983. Del Oro (Loomis) and El Dorado (Placerville) were felt to be the teams who would battle for the Girls area title, with Joni Mooney (Vacaville) felt to be the Section’s top individual! Central area action had Sanger felt to be the top Boys’ squad, with Chris Bahr (Mt. Whitney, Visalia) the top returnee. Clovis, two years undefeated against local squads, was felt to be the top Girls Team, with Lori Cook (Golden West, Visalia) the leading individual. In Southern Section action, Jesus Gutierrez (Pasadena), with an 8:53.21 3200m best and 7th in the National Prep Cross Country Championships, and Laura Cattivera (Mira Costa, Manhattan Beach), 6th nationally in 1982, and with a 17:26 on the old Mt. SAC course run in those days, were felt to be the South’s best. Jim Ortiz (Barstow) with Kirtsten O’hara (Palos Verdes) and Sylvia Mosqueda (San Gabriel–who just raced in the 2003 World Championships in the marathon) others individually of note from the Southern Section. On the Boys’ team side, Newbury Park, Palos Verdes, Barstow, under legendary Coach Don Braden (ah, those peaks were legendary, ask Tim O’Rourke), Dana Hills (Dana Point) and Arroyo (El Monte) were felt to have super groups returning. On the Girls’ side, it was Orange County power, with Foothill (Santa Ana), Tustin, and Edison (Huntington Beach) very strong. Palos Verdes, Dos Pueblos (Goleta), Westlake (Westlake Village), and Arlington (Riverside) also had strong Girls’ squads back.

Twenty Five years Ago - August/September 1978
Early Results from the 1978 season had legendary prep great (he still has the National Prep two mile record at 8:36!) Jeff Nelson (Burbank), win the Moorpark College Invite by 32 seconds in 15:26 over teammate Lynn Whattcott (15:58), with Kenyan foreign exchange student (who would later tragically commit suicide after college), Barasa Thomas (Santa Barbara) 16:08. Nelson had trained up to 140 miles per week the previous summer, and would set a Mt. SAC Course record the same Fall, with a tremendous South Eugene, Oregon team coming down and providing one of the fine foot races seen locally in an amazing year of action! Cindy Schmandt (Santa Barbara) had the fastest Girls’ time with an 11:37 from that Moorpark College meet.

It is hoped we will have time to do this during the seasons - a look at the week from the past - let you know they did run before some of today’s preps were even born