La Mirada High School

Suburban League Cluster Meet #1:  Cerritos Regional Park

Although temperatures were barely in the high 80s, the humidity increased the "real feel" temperature to the point that it became a day more fit for relaxing at the beach than for competitive running. Still, the calendar was set and the Matadores knew what was expected of them. For the Cerritos Dons, the day was a bittersweet one. It began with a memorial service for Regina Nicole Roman, who's life was cut short in a fatal auto accident on the way home from cross country camp, and ended with first place finishes for the boys Varsity and boys and girls JV teams. Only the Lady Mats were able to prevent a clean sweep.

Racing by level, the girls JV team -- 21 runners strong -- took to the flat 3-mile course with aspirations of a first place finish. Cerritos had other plans as they were able to place their top five athletes in the top five spots for a sweep of the field. Aja Labasan, Valerie Wong, and Lillian Mignella, who found themselves down 15-54 at the first mile, were able to work their way into the top 10 and lower their overall total score to 50. It was not enough to overcome the huge Cerritos team and in the end the girls had to be satisfied with a 2nd place finish. Monica Ramirez and Carly Clase were the 4th and 5th scorer for the JV Lady Mats. Running in their first race of the season were Yvette Garcia, Halie Santillian, and Charlene Ganton.

Next up were the JV boys. Mateo Cordova jumped out to an early lead before being overwhelmed by the HUGE field of 110 runners and dropped into the 12th spot, where he ultimately finished, by the end of the first mile. Regan Garcia, Matt Campbell, Enrique Nava, and Miguel Franco rounded out the top 5 scoring Matadores who were less than pleased with their 3rd place finish. Aaron Cordova and William Gomez competed in their first race of the season.

After a short break in the action, it was time for the varsity races to begin. The girls were blindsided with the news that Clarissa would not be participating in the meet due to a debilitating illness. They also knew that, even though she would compete, Tatiana Cortes was less than 100%. Together, they made the decision to call on rookie Celinda Manzo and give her the opportunity to don the varsity uniform. Seeing their teammates settle for 2nd and 3rd place, made the girls somewhat anxious to get things started. In fact, Stephanie Felix, Melissa Byrd, and Lauren McIntyre were in such a hurry to get to the starting line that they didn't realize they were missing their name tags until just before the gun sounded. When the gun sounded they were able to regroup, find a rhythm, and stick to the game plan for the first half of the race. The plan was simple: run in a comfortable pack for the first 2 miles then pick it up. At the first mile Mayfair's senior, Kristina Rogers, was in the lead and Ashley Casanover and Sarah Jeon were running with Stephanie, Lauren, and Melissa. Surprisingly, Celinda was in the top 10, just ahead of Tatiana. By mile two the girls were in positions number 1, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 14, where they eventually finished the race. Their score of 21 points was insurmountable and represents the lowest score by a Lady Mat team since the 2001 team scored 20 points at League Finals.

Since the early 80s, one boy's team has dominated the Suburban League. La Mirada was league champion in 1994 and 1996, John Glenn was league champion in 1987 and 1995, and Cerritos was league champion in 1998. Other than that, the Norwalk High School Lancers, under the direction of head coach Carl Van Gorden, have been at the top twenty-two times since 1980. When coach Van Gorden retired at the end of the 2006 season, everyone wondered what would happen to his dynasty. Even though the season is far from over and Norwalk is not to be counted out, one thing is known after the first cluster meet: the league title is up for grabs! From the beginning of the race, the lead changed again and again. At the end of the first mile, the Matadores found themselves in 3rd place, just behind the Lancers. The good news was that Michael Palmer and Andrew Garza were in the top 6 and looking strong. The not so good news was that La Mirada's 5th and 6th scorers, Andrew Herrick and Brett Berger, were in 23rd and 24th place and Richard Marquez was 28th. By mile 2, the Matadores were still in 3rd place, their leaders were now in 7th and 9th place, and the team had only gained one point over their rivals. Somebody needed to make a strong move or their hopes would be crushed.

It's rarely obvious before a race just who will step up to the challenge and play the role of the hero. Conditions being what they were, it would have been understandable if the boys had sat back and settled. And, even though it happens in every race that an athlete asks himself the question, "Can I push just a little more?", seldom does his answer result in much difference to the outcome. This race, for whatever reason, one Matadore in particular was NOT going to let down his team. When he saw his teammates in front of him struggle to finish 8, 9, 10, and 11, he knew where they stood. With a frenetic finish that found him moving from the 23rd spot all the way to 17th, Andrew Herrick picked off one runner after another and helped secure 2nd place for his team, 55 - 61. Those six points were the difference between 2nd an 3rd place. For the first time since 1996 -- after years of heartbreaking losses -- La Mirada had finally beat the Norwalk team. Dennis Ly was the first scorer for the Matadores and Mark Gillaspy, who picked off two runners himself at the finish, was 11th overall. As they left the finish area, disappointed at the outcome, the boys knew they had left every ounce on the course. They also know they have a big challenge ahead of them. What they don't yet know, but will soon realize, is that, as a cross country team, they have finally grown up.