La Mirada High School

Suburban League Cluster Meet #1: Boys in 2nd place; Girls Keep streak alive
Cerritos Regional Park was the site of the first Suburban League Cluster Meet of 2006. This year's league championship will be decided by three league meets that include every team from the Suburban League. The first meet counted for 25% of the final standings and was scored as an invitational. After the scores were tallied, the Varsity and Junior Varsity Lady Mats discovered they were the first place teams! In each race--JV and varsity--Matadores runners improved their position over the course of the 3.05 mile race.

The four league races began at 3:15 p.m. with the JV girls and then the JV boys at 4:00 p.m. Those races were followed by the varsity girls and varsity boys race.

For the first time since the initiation of the cluster meet format, the JV girls were able to pull out a victory at Cerritos Regional Park. Karina Gonzalez continued her rehab by racing for the first time this season in an invitational setting. Karina, the #2 runner on last year's varsity team, had been recovering nicely from a hamstring injury, but was sidelined with an upper respiratory infection last week and was therefore unable to meet the standard for the first cluster meet. Although they were behind at the first mile, the JV girls continued unfazed, set the pace, and didn't look back. By the time the race reached the 2nd mile, the JV Lady Mats were 4 points ahead and on their way to a first place finish. With Karina in the lead and rookie Tatiana Cortes in second place, the JV Lady Mats were able to score a meet low 23 points on the 3.05 mile course. Cerritos was in 2nd place with 32 points. Erica Campos, Caitlin Winn, and Krystal Gomez all finished in the top 10, with Cortes, Winn, and Gomez earning new PRs.

The JV boys, who were shut out at last seasons opening meet, mastered the concept of pack running, and, even though they weren't near the front of the pack, their tight grouping allowed them to finish in 3rd place, just one point ahead of Mayfair HS. Jason Kim led the way for the Matadores, followed by Mateo Cordova, Aaron Cordova, Adrian Robles, Greg Luna, Andrew Harrick and Miguel Franco. Each member of the JV team earned a new PR!

In the girl's varsity race, Stephanie Felix cruised to a 5:55 minute opening mile with teammate Melissa Byrd and a pack of four runners right behind her. At the first mile, the Lady Mats were ahead with 33 points. That was to change dramatically as Stephanie made a strong move, easily outdistanced the rest of the pack, and in the process set a new course record. As the race passed the 2nd mile, the girls had slowly moved up and were leading with 27 points. Melissa and Lauren McIntyre strategically used their negative splits to earn the 2nd and 4th spot in the race--Lauren narrowly missing a 3rd place finish. Finally, learning a lesson from the JV boys, three Lady Mats, Clarissa Negrete,Sarah Jeon, and Jenna Pasillas, worked the entire course together and were able to finish in the number 8, 9, and 10 spots. Their efforts helped their team to a league low 24 points. Andrea Smith rounded out the scoring for the team. For their efforts, the girls outscored the rest of the league and extended their unbeaten streak to six years.

The boys race began with a pack of ten runners leading the front pack. Andrew Bueno kept contact and was slowly able to work his way up to the 5th spot. Andrew Garza, with his best effort of the season, earned the #10 spot in the race. Just like the girls, the boys improved their score from 85 points at the first mile to 73 points at the 2nd mile and 63 points at the finish. Dennis Ly, Michael Palmer, Matt Campbell, Mark Gillaspy, and Vincent Ha all performed well as the boys earned a 2nd place finish.

The second cluster meet, at La Mirada Regional Park on October 11th, will count as 25% of the final standings and be scored head-to-head; the third cluster meet, on November 1st at Carbon Canyon Park in Brea, will count as 50% of the final standings and will provide the basis for any tie-breaker. Congratulations to all Matadores athletes for their fine performances!