Mustangs close out 2009 at the CIF State Championships in Fresno!

Sr Nicole Aha leads the team with a big 18:57 PR for the 5K race, followed closely by Soph Mikaela Hammitt, Jr Jill Anderson, Fr Amy Ingram and Sr Kimmy Abood.  Sr's Kelly Peterson and Anna Hoyt round out the top 7 today.   The entire team is through the first mile under 6 minutes!  Their 5K 19:36 average team time is fastest in Monte Vista school history at State! Girls end up 17th in the State for D1 teams, with a strong 59 second scoring gap.  Story below.

Dyestatcall results and race video: http://www.dyestatcal.com/?pg=dyestatcal-2009-Cross-Country--Road-to-State-State-Meet-Results-D1-Girls

Team Liaison Mike Aha's CIF Video link: http://s182.photobucket.com/albums/x215/MUSTANG_XC/09%20CIF%20State%20Meet%20Video/

Monte Vista competes in Division 1, based upon our NCS designation.  This division is dominated by the Southern Section schools, and has been for years.  Monte Vista would be a medium size D2 school in the Southern Section.  This helps to explain the struggles that NCS teams have had lining up against these larger programs.

So on November 28th, your Mustangs toed the line against the best in the State in D1, and competed like the NCS Champions that they are!  The team ran a 19:36 average time for a full 5K, which translates to a slightly faster team time than their 3 mile effort at Hayward for NCS.  Led by Nicole Aha's huge PR of 18:57, the girls finished with their trademark tight pack (59 seconds).  Nicole was 57th overall, outkicking SRV's top finisher right at the line!  Next across was Mikaela Hammitt in 19:31, running a solid race throughout.  Jill Anderson and Amy Imgram kept very close to each other during the race, finishing just 1 second apart at the end.  Kimmy Abood again nailed down the 5th spot, breaking 20 min for the 5K herself.  Kelly Peterson and Anna Hoyt were just over 20 min and amoung the fastest 6th and 7th runners in the whole race.

While it was hard to get too excited about finishing 17th in the State, the team soon realized the significance of what had just occured.  Compared to the 5 previous MV teams, the 2009 edition blasted their way to the fastest team time in school history.  The previous top team time was set back in 2000 with a 20:17 mark.  That team featured the current 1600 & 3200 meter record holder Susan Chan, along with Brittany Rezowalli, both who went on to run well at the NCAA D1 level.  The 19:36 team time for this years squad is nearly a minute faster than most of the previous teams!   For a historical review, click on the Team Stats link: http://www.eteamz.com/mvxc/news/index.cfm?cat=278753

CONGRATS to the Girls Varsity squad for a season to remember!  With the middle of the line-up all returning next year, plus the strong F/S and JV teams from this season, the Mustangs look to make return visits to Fresno a regular event!

17.   398  Monte Vista            (  19:36  1:37:57)
=====================================
  1     42    665 NCS Nicole Aha           SR   18:57
  2     73    664 NCS Mikaela Hammitt      SO   19:31
  3     91    663 NCS Jill Anderson        JR   19:46
  4     92    662 NCS Amy Ingram           FR   19:47
  5    100    666 NCS Kimmy Abood          SR   19:56
  6   (107)   667 NCS Kelly Peterson       SR   20:11
  7   (112)   668 NCS Anna Hoyt            SR   20:16

Full results: http://www.dyestatcal.com//?pg=dyestatcal-2009-Cross-Country--Road-to-State-State-Meet-Results

Girls race wrap up:
For Senior Nicole Aha, the fourth time was the charm!  Having run in four consecutive North Coast Section Championships, she has witnessed the Mustangs move up from 9th in 2006, to 4th in 2007, to 3rd in 2008.  Joined by fellow Seniors Kimmy Abood - in her 3rd consecutive NCS final - Kelly Peterson (2nd NCS) and Anna Hoyt (2nd NCS), the squad finally had the 'horsepower' to make it all the way to the top - FIRST PLACE and a trip to the State Meet in Fresno! 

New NCS teammates made a huge impact, as Sophomore Mikaela Hammitt, finally recovered from bronchitis, stormed out with the leaders and raced aggresively the whole way, grabbing 8th overall and first for the team.  Mikaela ran an impressive 18:47 time today!  Nicole was a close 2nd in 12th place, followed by Frosh Superstar Amy Ingram who was literally right behind her in 13th.  That put 3 Stangs in before anyone else had 3, and most teams did not have 2 in yet.  Both Nicole and Amy were under the 19 minute barrier.  Jr Jill Anderson, healthy at last herself, raced to a huge PR and ran down several runners in the home stretch to take 4th for the team and 19th overall.  Kimmy was the key 5th runner today, finishing the scoring in 23rd place, passing key opposition runners as well.  The Mustangs put 5 runners before two time defending champions Castro Valley (#1 ranked) had 3 in, ending all doubt as to the outcome.   Kelly and Anna were close behind, in 32nd and 33rd place.  As 6th and 7th runners, they finished before CV and SRV had their 5th runners in, bumping them back in the scoring!  

Frosh/Soph league champion Meghan Yap was the NCS alternate, ready to go if needed.

After a frustrating EBAL Finals race, the girls team was determined to take the race to the other top teams.  "It's not their turn, it's our turn" became the battle cry during the two weeks between league and NCS.

Now the team heads to the CIF State Meet, as the Section Champion.  What started a full year ago, with a near-miss 3rd place finish at NCS in 2008, ended with a bang today on the storied Hayward course.

GREAT JOB MUSTANGS!!!!

Boys race wrap up:
There are many great underdog stories in sports.  History has shown us numerous "David versus Goliath" contests.  For the 2009 Mustang Boys Varsity team, the North Coast Section Championships were a definative example of just such a situation.  Having finished 4th in the EBAL Championship meet, the team faced not only undefeated and State ranked San Ramon Valley, but a De La Salle team that has been right on SRV's heels all season.  Throw into the mix the previously #1 ranked Castro Valley team, who were coming off a "sweep" in their league meet, the battle facing the Mustangs today was daunting indeed.  Add in 2 time State Meet qualifing Amador Valley, and the mix was complete.

During the weeks leading up the NCS, the boys were determined to no be an afterthought in the battle.  Encouraged by their EBAL and 3200 race performances, the Stangs felt they had nothing to lose by going out strong and racing the top teams.  "Put yourself in the fight at the 2 mile point, and see what we can make happen" was the basic battleplan.  Not easy when your competition is that strong.

Right from the gun, the guys went "all in" and stayed up with the lead pack.  Jr Josh Smiley and Sr Amis Matulionis were comfortablly in the top 10, while Soph Byron Kilian and Jr Zach Chambers were close behind.  Sr Captain Jake Erlick ran a sprited race, starting out faster than usual.  Close to Jake were Jr Kevin Ho and Sr Elliott Killick.  Soph Stephen Balogh was the alternate, trained and ready to jump in if needed.  The stage was set - the battle was on.

As the race played out, the Mustangs found themselves shorthanded yet again - a difficult and disappointing theme to their season.  Josh aggrevated his hip coming down the first hill, and was not able to stay with the lead pack.  Having qualified for State as a Sophomore, he gamely held on during the last mile.  Amis was plauged by stomach issues that stopped him several times before, finally forcing him out of the race completely in the last mile.  Unphased, the remaining Stangs fought on.  Byron moved steadily up, to finish 1st for the team in a PR time of 16:13.  He cracked into the top 20 today, signaling his presence to the NCS compeition.  Zach closed in a blazing finish, coming in at 22nd place in 16:19.  Josh held on for 3rd runner status in 27th, while Jake moved into the 4th spot in 40th place.  Jr Kevin Ho hammered home - chasing down numerous runners and closed out the scoring for MV in 42nd place.  Elliott was close behind in 44th.

When the dust settled, the team had secured 5th place overall, despite losing a runner and having one injured.  In a classic MV Boys Team fashion, only 38 seconds separated the 1st and the 5th runner.  Hanging on to 5th place is testimony to how hard the team trained as a pack.  It also signals their intent to build upon that finish for next season, with 4 of the top 5 runners returning!

CONGRATS MUSTANGS!!!!

Another great day of 3200 racing at San Ramon Valley, as Coach Tim Hunter organized two quick heats of the ...

Results from the 2009 EBAL Championships - click on the Handout Below.

Frosh/Soph Girls - FIRST PLACE!  Meghan Yap EBAL FS Champ!  Five in the top 7 earn All-League (Elena Smith, Megan Nesbit, Kristina Chin & Ellie Harvey join Yap)
Frosh/Soph Boys - Second Place!  Soph Drew Feldman takes 2nd place!  Soph Stephen Balogh also All-League in 4th.
JV Girls - Second Place!  Sr Natalie Scott takes 2nd place!  Soph Lauren Gratsch 5th.  Both All-League!
JV Boys - Second Place!  Jr Logan McCaul paces a balanced squad today!
Varsity Girls - Second Place!  Seniors Nicole Aha and Kelly Peterson earn 2nd Team All-League.
Varsity Boys - Fourth Place!  Jr Josh Smiley earns 1st Team All-League, Soph Byron Kilian earns 2nd Team All-League.

The Mustang Varsity teams took on teams from Southern Cal, as well as neighboring states at the 62 annual Mt SAC Invitational this past weekend.  Over 16,000 high school athletes run the famed course over a two day period.

The Varsity Boys were the second race of the day on Saturday, running at 7:37 in the morning!  It was dark when the team arrived to set up camp.  However, by race time the sun was starting to appear, and conditions for racing were near perfect.  Led by Jr Josh Smiley's 8th place overall finish, the Mustangs flirted with the top two teams for most of the race, before falling just a little short at the end.  Their 6th place team finish featured a solid pack time of 1:21 (1-5 gap).  Byron Kilian, Jake Erlick, Trevor Furhiman, Elliot Killick, Amis Matulionis and Stephen Balogh rounded out the varsity boys team today.
http://images.dyestat.com/dyestatcal/images/2009/October/23%20Mt%20SAC/51.pdf

The Varsity Girls didn't get to sleep in, as their race went off promptly at 8:11 am.  Right from the start, the team was in a fierce battle with squads from Los Alamitos and Highland (Southern Section teams).  Sr Nicole Aha was the top finisher for the Mustangs in 9th place, followed by a stong pack that had all 7 runners in by 32nd place - and a strong 51 second 1-5 gap.  This vaulted the team to a close 2nd place in the race.  They ended up the 4th fastest squad from NorCal on the day! The rest of the Mustangs today: Kimmy Abood, Kelly Peterson, Anna Hoyt, Lauren Gratsch, Meghan Yap and Natalie Scott.  http://images.dyestat.com/dyestatcal/images/2009/October/23%20Mt%20SAC/56.pdf

Meet web site: http://events.mtsac.edu/ccinvite/

EBAL Center Meet #2 - Oct 21st - Shadow Cliffs Park
Varsity Girls tripped up by an improving SRV team, still finish 6-1 on the day.  Varsity Boys come out ahead 4-3 during a tough day at Shadow Cliffs.  JV Girls (5-2) and JV Boys (4-3) in unofficial results.  All squads run well despite missing many key team members due to the flu.

Dyestatcal coverage: http://www.dyestatcal.com/?pg=dyestatcal-2009-Cross-Country--Results-October-21-EBAL-Center-2&PHPSESSID=7ab2c6ca2a0819182bb5cad3fa6d2cc3
 
Results from the 2nd Center Meet held at Shadow Cliffs Park on Weds, Oct 21st, 2009.  Click on "Handout" below

Varsity Standings after the second of two Center Meets:

Boys
San Ramon Valley 14-0
DeLaSalle 12-2
Amador Valley 9-5
Monte Vista 9-5
Foothill 4-10
Granada 4-10
Livermore 4-10
California 0-14


Girls
Monte Vista 13-1
San Ramon Valley 13-1
Amador Valley 8-6
Carondelet 8-6
Granada 6-8
Livermore 6-8
Foothill 2-12
California 0-14

(ties listed alphabetically)

EBAL Standings (Varsity) after the first of two Center Meets:

Fast times today under nearly ideal racing conditions!  Results from each grade level race can be found by opening the handout below.

TOP 15 Times:  Monte Vista

1.  Balogh                     10                    17:04

2.  Garaventa                11                    17:15

3.  Yap, M                   10                    17:35

4.  Balke                      11                    17:36

5.  Ho                          11                    17:52

6.  Roderick                 11                    18:04

7.  Murray                    12                    18:09

8.  Feldman                  10                    18:14

9.  Panconi                   9                      18:21

10. Ranelli                    10                    18:22

11. Morris                    9                      18:32

12. Novotny                 11                    18:41

13. Rebottaro               11                    18:44

14. Yap,S                    10                    18:48

15. Storm                     10                    18:50

1. Yap                          10                    19:32

2.  Hoyt                        12                    19:45

3.  Ingram                     9                      20:04

4.  Smith,E                   9                      20:58

5.  Chin                        10                    21:12

6.  Nesbit                     9                      21:20

7.  Sallstrom                 11                    21:47

8.  Smith,J                    11                    22:04

9.  Kelly                       10                    22:25

10. Horalek                  10                    22:29

11. Brown                    10                    22:43

12. Michener                11                    22:57

13. Stansell                   11                    22:58

14. Harvey                   9                      23:06

15. Heiting,A                9                      23:14

2009 Stanford Invitational
Saturday, Sept 26th - Stanford University Golf Course

- Varsity Boys grab 3rd place / 32 teams in their Div 1 Showdown!
- Varsity Girls compete against the Best of the West in the 'seeded' race.

41 area teams sent athletes to the annual DLS/CHS Nike Invite on Saturday, to try their luck on the famed Newhall Park 2 and 3 mile courses.  With only the one big hill (you call that a hill???), the course provides for fast times and many season PRs.  After a quick walk-through in the early hours, the team settled in to our dual-tent base camp and got down to racing business.

No MV squad finished less than 7th today.  Many Stangs collected the top 20 or top 25 individual medals, while some were able to grab the coveted Nike hats.  Mustang team summaries:

Frosh Soph Girls:  3rd place (team medals!) out of 13 scoring teams
Junior Varsity Girls: 5th out of 12 scoring teams
Frosh Soph Boys (limited): 6th out of 19 scoring teams
Frosh Soph Boys (unlimited): 2nd out of 12 scoring teams
Junior Varsity Boys (limited): 4th out of 18 (tied for 3rd, lost on 6th man rule)
Junior Varsity Boys (unlimited): 3rd out of 9 scoring teams
Varsity Boys - 7th place out of 29 scoring teams
Varsity Girls - 2nd place out of 21 scoring teams (team medals and Nike gear!)

The varsity girls finished with the top score of any other North Coast Section team, losing to 4 time defending CCS Section D1 Champs Carlmont by only 9 pts!  Congrats!

Results for each race can be found in the handout below. 

Taking advantage of the nearby Nike truck, the team collected a lot of bling today!  Once again, Izze was there to provide the cold post race refreshments! 

Next up - Stanford Invite for the Varsity.  All team members are welcome to come and watch! 

The early morning thunderstorms did not scare away the Mustangs today, as the team took to the famed Ed Sias two mile course and ran outstanding races!  MANY 'Stangs gathered top finishing medals and/or the purple socks, while even more collected team medals.  Right from the start you could tell it was going to be a great day as former Mustang Dustin Harris took 2nd in the Open/Coaches race, with Coach Scott Camp finishing in a strong 8th place!  Coach Davis and Coach Sharon also ran the course today - leaving JV Coach Austin to handle all the bibs and camp set-up.  Don't forget, he's only in it for YOU!

The entire team organized quickly, walking the course in the early morning hours to learn its' secrets and to plot strategy. 

High team results were the order of the day, as MV's name was constantly called during the post meet awards ceremony.  Meet summary, in order:

Frosh Boys - 2nd Place out of 19 teams!
Junior Varsity Boys, Limited - 3rd out of 27!
Frosh Soph Boys, Limited - 4th out of 28!
JV Boys Umlimited - not scored
Varsity Boys, Large School - 5th out of 18
Junior Varsity Girls, Limited - 10th out of 18
Frosh Soph Girls Limited - 2nd out of 24!
FS JV Girls Unlimited - not scored (but we had 13 in the top 30!!!)
Varsity Girls, Large School - 1ST PLACE out of 16 teams - fastest girls team from either division!!!

Special congrats to Frosh Amy Ingram, winner of the FS JV Unlimited race (running under Annie Kelly's name!)

Congrats to all the Mustangs who raced today!  You did a great job racing, cheering and yes, even with the course clean-up!  Many outstanding performances in all of the grade races, with Monte Vista winning 6 out of 8 team "titles" (no official team scores kept).

Mustang medalists (top 15) include:

Zach Chambers - 3rd Jr Boys
Josh Smiley - 4th Jr Boys
Michael Garaventa - 8th Jr Boys
Dan Roderick - 12th Jr Boys
Kevin Ho - 13th Jr Boys
Trevor Furhiman - 4th Soph Boys
Byron Kilian - 6th Soph Boys
Stephen Balogh - 10th Soph Boys
Amis Matulionis - 6th Sr Boys
Jake Erlick - 9th Sr Boys
Elliott Killick - 15th Sr Boys
Ben Panconi - 10th Frosh Boys
James Mason - 12th Frosh Boys

Jill Anderson - 4th Jr Girls
Lauren Gratsch - 5th Soph Girls
Mikaela Hammitt - 6th Soph Girls
Kristina Chin - 13th Soph Girls
Kimmy Abood - 3rd Sr Girls
Nicole Aha - 4th Sr Girls
Anna Hoyt - 8th Sr Girls
Natalie Scott - 10th Sr Girls
Amy Ingram - 3rd Frosh Girls (Beast of the Week Winner!!!)
Meghan Nesbit - 9th Frosh Girls
Elena Smith - 11th Frosh Girls
 
Full results for each race can be found in the Handout section below.  Each race has been 'scored' although there are no official team results reported.  Combined boys and girls results provide an indication of how everyone lined up across the grades.

Meet summary from DyeStatCal.com (Courtesy of Northgate's Coach Peter Brewer):

A  big gathering at Oakhill Park in Danville had some good "by-grade" action at the Monte Vista Invitational
in the North Coast Section Tuesday, September 8th.  Colleen Lillig (California, San Ramon), ranked
among the State's top dozen athletes (look for those individual ratings in the next week), blazed
12:31.62 Course Record to win the Girl's senior race and have the day's quickest time by over 30 seconds,
with teammate Elaine McVay racing 13:05.23 in taking the Girls's Junior race.  Alex Summers of
Granada (Livermore) had the Boys' quickest time with his 10:46.20 senior race win, with one other athlete
under 11:00 this day, Will Melton (Northgate) second in that twelfth grade race at 10:58.81.

When combining the groups the strong Castro Valley and Monte Vista Girls, predicted to battle for the NCS
Division I title looked very strong.  Castro Valley had three Girls under 14:00 here, led by Elise Wummer's
13:21.51, with Monte Vista two under that barrier, with MV's fifth runner this day 14:21.60 and CV's  14:31.87.
On the Boys's side, it was powerhouses San Ramon Valley, Monte Vista, and Division I favorite Castro Valley
who looked sharp.  SRV had five under 12:00 this day, with Monte Vista matching that number, and CV
four under 12:00 before falling off a bit. 

It is still early in the year with a number of good athletes who maybe did not run this day expected out on the
course in the next few weeks as the season starts to take shape.