La Mirada High School

Over the years, the Labor Day weekend Time Trial has become more of an excuse to celebrate the end of summer than a true indicator of the Cross Country teams' capabilities. In fact, some years many of the strongest athletes do not participate. A new era has begun with the onset of the 2007 season: Success! Showing the benefits of a summer training plan that added total body strength as it decreased their miles, the Matadores harriers ignored the stifling heat and humidity as they looked fitter and faster than ever. Remarkably, for many of the athletes, the time trial marked the first real opportunity they've had this summer to stretch out their new and improved strides and race.

The girls were led on their 3-mile quest by Dream Team "Runner of the Year" Stephanie Felix, and a front pack that consisted of Melissa Byrd, Lauren McIntyre, rookie Ashley Casanover, and Sarah Jeon, all of whom earned their varsity uniform. Right behind them and narrowly missing the time standard needed to earn a coveted top seven spot, were Tatiana Cortes and Lillian Mignella. Both Lillian and Tatiana ran the best races of their careers and earned PRs on the hilly 3-mile course. Tatiana's time was faster and Lillian's time was as fast as last year's #1 runner at the time trial. But the real surprise developed in the back of the pack as rookies Serena Kirton, Monica Ramirez, Kristen Lechuga, and Carly Clase all performed better than last year's entire JV team! And, in a real nice development, Serena, this season's 8th scorer for the Lady Mats, was faster than last year's #2: Jenna Pasillas! In the course of the trial, Stephanie set a new Time Trial course record and the girls set a new Time Trial team time record with a team time FASTER than the 2005 team's run at Cluster Meet #2. Besides Tatiana and Lillian, Sarah and Lauren also earned PRs on the course. With Clarissa Negrete, Karina Gonzalez, Bianca Ceballos, Erica Campos, and Daisey Terriquez recuperating from too much summer, and 22 new freshmen joining the team, the Lady Mats look forward to a bright and successful season!

Still, for as strong as the girls looked, the boys climbed even further up the ladder of success. It's not uncommon for the 4th runner to step up at the start of the season, but Michael Palmer made his teammates wonder whether he's been holding back or just getting in shape. With a 20 second gap on Dennis Ly, Palmer, who narrowly missed Nate Moore's Time Trial record, quietly made a statement to the entire team: it's our time! Right behind Dennis were Mark Gillaspy and Andrew Garza. This represents the first time ever that the Matadores have placed their top 4 runners at 18 minutes or under at a time trial. Andrew Herrick and Richard Marquez rounded out the top six and also earned varsity uniforms. Together, the boys team time earned them the right to claim the title: "Fastest Team Time" -- albeit only for the Time Trial. Mateo Cordova, Miguel Franco, and Enrique Nava were the next veterans to cross the finish line, joined by rookies Ragan Garcia and Frankie Nogales. Newcomer Nick Meek, in his first week of training, was escorted across the finish line by his entire team. All-in-all it was a success-filled day with awards, accolades, and team records all around. (For the complete list of summer awards, click here.)