Yes they ‘Can’

Photos and text by Joe Hartman, DyeStatCal
        Following their wins at Stanford and Half Moon Bay, the Riverbank High School girls' cross- country team was just elevated to the #1 ranking in the state in Division 4. In this story, we’ll do some exploring into who these girls are, the man they look up to, and some of the crosses they’ve come to bear during their journey.
        If you asked most people in people in Sacramento County to point directly toward the town of Riverbank, their chances of getting it right would be about one in 360. For the record, this small town on the banks of the Stanislaus River happens to lie somewhere between Modesto and Oakdale. So where’s Oakdale, you ask? Hmmm… well, while Riverbank’s exact location may remain in doubt, we’ll do what we can to unravel some of the mysteries about the girls cross country team at Riverbank High, currently ranked #1 overall in Sac-Joaquin Section, and #1 in Division 4 in California.
        Riverbank, with a population right at 20,000, is not just a Modesto bedroom community. It’s also a town with business and industry all its own. While most of the teenagers attend Riverbank High, many on the west side of town live in the Modesto School District and actually go to Beyer High School. The town itself is known for its canning industry, as Riverbank lies in the heart of the agricultural mother lode of the Sac-Joaquin Valley. As nice of a town as Riverbank seems to be, the cross country girls are striving for something more, and it’s running that they see as the road to more fertile pastures.

         The girls' team, just six strong at the varsity level, is coached by Monte Wood, with assistance from Jeep Oliveira. Team members are Tiffany Lackey, Angelica Duarte, Brettany Harrison, Georgina Arnold, Bianca Melchor, and Maritza Garcia. In 2005, Riverbank will be going for their fourth consecutive SJS Division 4 section title. Its highest state placings have been a third-place finish in 2003 and a fifth-place showing in 2004. This is a senior-dominated team (with the single exception of Maritza, a junior) and it has realistic hopes to finish its ride across the hill and dale of Golden State courses on the highest possible note. Individually, Maritza, Bianca, Brettany, and Georgina all finished in the Top 7 at the 2004 Division 4 Section finals, with Maritza sub-19:00 at state and Bianca and Georgina sub-20:00 at Woodward Park. This year the Bruins seem to be hitting on all cylinders. Going by the Stanford Invitational results, where Riverbank defeated San Lorenzo Valley 63-91, four of the top five were faster than a year ago, with Georgina (34 seconds) and Angelica (50 seconds) improving the most. #1 Maritza, who didn’t even race at Stanford last year, was only seven seconds behind state favorite and Trans-Valley league counterpart Amanda Moreno of Escalon HS with a time of 18:43. Riverbank had the fastest team time of all Sac-Joaquin schools at the Stanford meet.
         While canning may be a staple of life for many in Riverbank, Oliveira says the word ‘can’t’ is something you need to just leave on the shelf. “I have a problem with the word ‘can’t’”, he says. When he started, ”I kept hearing it over and over and over. Not just running, it was everything.” But it turned out to be a wonderful opportunity for some weight training as the regular doses of push-ups that followed the forbidden word soon sealed the lid on that rotten can of tomatoes.

          It has taken a while, but the Riverbank team has begun to get more notice locally, actually sharing a headline or two with the football team this year. There’s no shortage in spunk from this group when it comes to respect. According to Georgina, “When people said, ‘You run cross country? You’re crazy!’ I used to say, ‘Yeah’, but now I say, ‘No, what’s crazy is losing to Orestimba (in football). That’s crazy!’”
         The Bruins are a model of team unity. They live within very close proximity of each other and spend their days – every single day – either running, studying, baking pies, or just hanging out together. Their friendship is further bonded by out-of-town cross country journeys, a memorable sailing trip at the Channel Islands, and a remarkable admiration for each other’s dedication and talent.
          As a way of introduction, we asked Jeep Oliveira for a thumbnail sketch of each of the six varsity runners. Here’s his analysis: “Well, Maritza obviously is our first runner. Her strength is her intensity. She trains intensive, she races intensive - she’s always ready to go. Bianca is probably the most consistent runner we have. I can always count on her. She doesn’t fluctuate her times. If anything’s going to happen, Bianca will be there. Georgina has the ability to rise to the occasion. She’s the kind of runner that when you get into a big race or get into something that’s really important, she’s ‘on’ – her time will drop 20 seconds, 30 seconds. So she’s suddenly better than you think she is. Brettany is a workhorse and that’s why she’ll get injured more than anybody because she’s the one you gotta hold back and say ‘Don’t run that far, don’t run that much’. They call her ‘Mom’, because she’s the glue for the team, she’s the one contacting everybody. She’s the one that keeps everyone going forward. Angelica’s strength is she feeds off the team, as everyone does better she does better. If the team is motivated, she’s motivated. Definitely a team player. Tiffany is our insurance, and she’ll step it up. If someone’s missing, if somebody’s out, and she finds herself 5th man, she’ll run herself into the ground to do it. So they all might have a weakness, but they have strengths to overcome those things.”

           Right before practice one day, we were able to get the girls together for a roundtable discussion. Our humorous, enlightening, and, at times, emotional conversation roamed topics all the way from their training to the team moments they’ll remember most and how close they have become as friends and athletes over the last four years. Here’s what the girls had to say:

DyeStatCal: Not sure if you guys know, but just today it looks like you’ve been elevated to the #1 ranking in the state for Division 4.
Angelica: Yeah Baby!

DyeStatCal: Knowing that, does that put you in a different mindset or put any additional pressure on you the rest of the year?
Georgina: It makes me believe! I can believe!
Bianca: It makes other teams look at us now. Our sophomore year we were underdogs, no one knew who we were. Now everyone knows who we are.
Maritza: For me it’s the same. I don’t really pay attention to that. It’s kind of how I’ve been. I don’t really pay attention to what’s going on, on the outside.
Others: (laughter)

DyeStatCal: True?
Brettany: True. All Maritza does is run hard.

DyeStatCal: Tell us one aspect about the coaching that you’ve received here at Riverbank about your training or the way you’re treated that means the most to you.
Brettany: The thing that has impacted this group right here, this group of six, has been the closeness. No matter how many people tell him (Jeep) to back off, that it’s dangerous (to be too close to the team), he’s risked everything…. He could be making so much more money on real estate so for him to put everything on the line for us makes us appreciate his time.
Georgina: He’s more of a father figure than a trainer, too, because like Brettany said he’s always there. It’s like if we ever have a problem, or family trouble happens, it’s like ‘call me on my cell phone, I’ll be here, or call me on my home phone’. If you have any trouble he’s like a father figure to us. A lot of people aren’t willing to do that, to put their lives aside for a team.

DyeStatCal: During your four-year involvement with cross country, how have you improved the most as a person and/or a runner?
Angelica: I care a lot more about my grades. I care about my grades and then as a team, we’re a lot closer now and we’re beginning to run more as a team instead of running individually. And we wake up early. Sometimes we wake up at 5:45 or 5:30 to go run together.
Georgina: I think now as a team, it’s our last year, and it kind of sucks because I know we’re going to go off to college and I know we’re going to be leaving behind all the friendships that we’ve had and our memories, and how (my teammates) have taught me to be a better person … They say that quote, there are certain paths that you can take and no matter which one I choose, good or bad, my team will always be there for me. They’re my sisters. How have I changed? Instead of sitting there in my bed in the morning when I wake up and there are times I say ‘I’m not going running’ but I think ‘They’re my sisters, you know. Let’s go run.’ It’s respect. If they’re running, I’m running.

DyeStatCal: Tell us some of the more embarrassing moments that ever happened to you over the last four years with the team.
Angelica: Well, I remember when we went to Half Moon Bay they (my teammates) were like “We won’t throw you in the water, you have a white sports bra on”. And I said ‘OK’ and they got me and threw me in the water. (lots of laughter)
Georgina: I always have to go the bathroom before the race … At the line or after the race if you see me at all my races, or take a picture I’m holding myself... Every race, every race!…
Maritza: Actually the most embarrassing thing was with Bianca. I was just walking during practice our sophomore year and she just put her hand out and I tripped. And they started making fun of me because I always trip and now they call me ‘Tumbleweed’.

(There was also the story of the “claw”, Bianca losing her lunch overboard – and starting a chain reaction on the sailboat, and Jeep’s mostly futile effort – by reliable witnesses! – trying to run up the hill at the Artichoke Invitational.)

DyeStatCal: What are some of the biggest personal obstacles you’ve had to overcome to be on this team and be at this level of competition.
Bianca: Everything the school district does, it seems, is against us.

DyeStatCal: In what way?
Brettany: They don’t take into consideration that it’s 110 degrees out and we’re running in sports bras but they want us to wear these cotton T-shirts and it’s frustrating for us. And the rules with the district… they don’t care if we succeed or fail. All they seem to care about is liability.

(Editorial Note: the team reports that the district has hassled them on issues ranging from simply having a male coach, to running alongside county roads [presumably favoring running on a school track at every practice], to entering more than a handful of invitationals. The Artichoke Invite on Oct. 1st was Riverbank’s final invitational.)

Angelica: Someone (with the school district) once said that “Mexicans don’t go to college’… yet Bianca could go to Chico, she could go anywhere she wants. So I hope she shoves it in his face.

DyeStatCal: Why is it just Bianca?
Angelica: No, because he said it to her.
Brettany: So, that’s something mentally that she’s had to deal with … she doesn’t go to bed at night and not think about that, so that’s something that’s probably bothered her because she knows she can ‘make it’ ... (Maritza comforts Bianca, who has begun to cry.) …we have had Jeep as our influence and he’s telling us … we can succeed, and then someone who thinks he’s a big shot can tell her she can’t go to college when right now she’d probably be the one who would be accepted first… All our personal issues have come from the district, it seems... Do you get it?

DyeStatCal: Have your parent or parents always been supportive of your running?
Tiffany: I feel like the pressure about me is more about grades than about running. And that’s really what they think about.

DyeStatCal: So your parents think you may get worse grades because you run?
Tiffany: Yes.

DyeStatCal: How do you all think cross country does affect your grades?
Brettany: Positively, you don’t have extra time on your hands, you go from one thing to the next. I have something else to say about the personal issues. Cross country has saved me.

DyeStatCal: In what way?
Brettany: They’re like a family. I don’t live with my parents … for eight years. Jeep built this team around me and he thought I had talent and he said, ‘I can build a team around you, we can do it.’ (Brettany pauses – fighting back tears – and continues.) He took me in and got me focused… and with him being in my head in a positive way it saved me from destruction, because I had nothing.
Georgina: I wouldn’t be where I am today. Like Brettany said cross country saved her, I think cross country saved all of us individually, and impacted us in several ways.

DyeStatCal: Seniors only, who plans on being at a junior college or four-year college next year?
Seniors: (All five hands are up.)

DyeStatCal: Who plans on running in college?
Seniors: (All five hands are up.)

DyeStatCal: What schools are you most interested in right now?
Tiffany: Laverne College, next to LA. I want to go there, maybe do some sports training,
Bianca: UC Santa Barbara, great team, or maybe Chico State. I’ve been talking to the coach there.
Brettany: I’ve been looking closely at UC Santa Barbara, also Chico. Those are the main ones right now and I applied to Laverne.
Georgina: I’m looking at UC Santa Barbara and I’m also talking to the coach from San Francisco State University and also the University of San Francisco.
Angelica: I’m looking at UC Santa Barbara, NYU, and San Francisco State.

And for the record, Maritza is being recruited too, with Utah being the most recent contact.