Leal,
Trotter headline top Sweepstakes racesWALNUT CA 10/19/01 -- Lightly raced
Yong-Sung Leal will make his second major appearance of the season tomorrow
in the Division 1-2 Individual Sweepstakes. That is one of 88 high school races
that will be run between 1:30 today and 3 pm Saturday in the 54th annual Mt. SAC
Cross Country Invitational, biggest meet of the US high school XC season. Leal,
considered the top runner in California and a contender for the national Foot
Locker championships in Orlando in December, has not been seen in the major meets
to date except for the Stanford Invitational September 29. The Arroyo CA junior
won Division 2 there in 15:34, fastest time of the day by one second. Here he
is one of 9 of the top 15 runners in DyeStat's California
All-State rankings and five runners in DyeStat's Foot
Locker Favorites for the West regional December 1 right here at Mt. SAC. Expected
to vie with Leal tomorrow are Granada sr Carl Dambkowski, winner of a section
of the Great Race of the Great Bay,
Buchanan sr Casey Burchill, Mt. Carmel sr Abadir Barre, Alta Loma
sr Jordan Horn, Etiwanda jr Mike Poe, Don Bosco sr Mark Batres,
and Liberty Christian sr Tim Nelson. The girls Division 1-2 individual
sweepstakes is headed by Ukiah sr Amanda Trotter, who has blazed across
the fall season like a comet to make herself one of the favorites for the national
Foot Locker championship in Orlando December 8. Trotter is unbeaten this season,
including big race trophies at the Great Race of the Great Bay and the Clovis
Invitational 2 weeks ago, as well as a pleasure cruise at the Iolani Invitational
in Hawaii. Her 16:55 5k at Clovis ties her with Great American champion Alison
Tubbs WA for fastest time in the country this year. Madera sr Heather Hansen
is the only FLF or California All-State runner who will challenge Trotter.
Many of the other top girls are in the team sweepstakes, which are of high
significance to California teams starting to gird for their state meet in November.
The boys Division 1-2 team sweepstakes at 9:10 am Saturday has Canyon,
Canyon Country, US#6 in the latest Harrier
magazine rankings, and US#9 Poly Long Beach CA. The girls Div 1-2 team
sweeps at 9:50 am features US#9 Dana Hills and US#15 Murrieta Valley, led
by Liza Pasciuto, who was 6th in the Foot Locker national finals as a freshman
last year. The big schedule starts today at 1:30 pm with Division 3, 4,
and 5 teams, concluding with sweepstakes races between 4:30 and 6 pm. Saturday
is for Division 1 and 2 teams and others who are good enough to move to the big
school competition. Division 1 and 2 have combined individual and team sweepstakes
races for the best teams, as well as other races for varsity, junior varsity,
sophomores, and freshmen. Late entries are relegated to all-division races that
conclude the busy 2 days from 2:38 pm to 3 pm Saturday. At its peak, the meet
starts races 7 minutes apart, which puts three races on the course at any given
time. Three finish chutes, color coded bibs, and three computer teams keep it
all sorted out. Return to Mt. SAC Invitational page |