The Boys’ and Girls’ Cross Country team looked back on a rewarding and accomplished year as the season nears its end.
Head Coach Mario Flores aims to have his team finish the season strong. For the Boys’ team, this season was a much-anticipated one. Expectations were at an all-time high with a formidable and experienced returning senior class complimented by hungry and fresh underclassmen.
On the Girls’ side, the competitive attitude towards the season persisted. Having come off a season where they qualified for the CIF Finals they also fielded a competitive team of both returning upper and lower classmen. However, the season was not as straightforward as expected, with surprising results and outcomes being a hallmark of the season.
The girls came into the season without last year’s standout runners Ryan Langdale and Gabby Eckstrom. Langdale now runs Cross Country for the Naval Academy Preparatory School.
“The team is stronger than it ever has been, but I think our season has been an emotional rollercoaster, and we have faced many obstacles, but ultimately, the team has been performing to the best of our ability,” Junior King Oung said.
However, by staying consistent and training over the summer, the girls continued to maintain their stellar performances led by seniors Raquel Rybakova and Yasmin Cavner.
One of the keys to this incredible season has been the surprise of Junior runner Caroline Mckeen. This season was Caroline’s first season running Cross Country but she has already significantly improved her time by over one minute to earn the fifth fastest time this season within the team, cutting down her time of 22:47 to 21:33 which she ran at the Brentwood Small Schools Invitational.
As of Nov. 6, this consistent training and effort has earned the girls the 7th ranked spot in the CIF Division 5 rankings. They are expected to run at CIF Prelims to hopefully eventually qualify for the California State meet.
Similarly, the Boys’ team lost their best runner from last year, alumnus Daniel Joshi. The boys still had the goal of returning to the CIF State Championship, their last trip being in 2021. To compensate, the boys found a replacement in Freshman Zach Longo. At the first race of the season, he surprised everyone by running a time of 16:48 in three miles, only 20 seconds off of Joshi’s best time. He continued this improvement trend by running 16:13 at the Cool Breeze Invitational and eventually 16:07 at the Woodbridge cross-country classic.
Upperclassmen Tony Tan, Noah Jiminez, King Oung, and Brian Yu built upon their performances from last season, running in the 17:00s. The team also saw a particularly strong performance at the Brentwood Small Schools Invitational.
“The Boys’ team executed to perfection,” Flores said. “Having coached for over a decade, I know how difficult it is to have everyone perform well on the same day.”
The Girls hope to continue the momentum they have built this season as they look forward to hopefully running at the State Meet. The Boys aim to earn a ranking and hopefully run at CIF Prelims. Both teams were headed to the Pacific Coast League Championships at Carbon Canyon Regional Park on Nov. 6.
