La Mirada High School

Arcadia Apache Invitational
Thursday October 26th, 2006 @ Arcadia County Park (SS) 3.0 miles

As a tune up race for Suburban League finals, the Matadores traveled to Arcadia County Park where they competed in a mid-week invitational. In previous years the team used the week before League Finals to do traditional speed workouts; this season the coaches had the team run the race as a workout. The flat 3-mile course and perfect racing conditions provided the opportunity for many Matadores to stretch out their legs and earn new PRs. It certainly boosted confidence levels for many of the young athletes.

The JV girls started out the excitement as Erica Campos and Caitlin Winn not only earned huge PRs but also finished the race in 1st and 2nd place. Bianca Ceballos earned her first top 10 finish in an invitational and also earned a PR, as did Cedes Vo and Valerie Wong. Krystal Gomez, who returned to action after a 2-week hiatus, rounded out the scoring for the JV Lady Mats. Despite their hard work, they were 3 points short of 1st place and instead took home the runner-up award.

The JV boys followed up the girls performance with their own PR party with Jason Kim, Greg Luna, Mateo Cordova, and Adrian Robles earning new PRs. Both Miguel Franco and Andrew Harrick, who rounded out the JV team, raced well and were seconds off new PRs.

The Varsity girls were victors at last year's Apache Invite and hoped to repeat their performance. Running without three of their top seven varsity athletes, they knew they were in for a fight. Right from the start, the one-two tandem of Stephanie Felix and Melissa Byrd were joined by a surprise new face this week as Karina Gonzalez, last season's number two runner at the meet, ran side-by-side with Melissa for almost 2 miles. Unable to keep the pace over the last mile, Karina eventually finished in 7th place with her fastest time of the season. She is now the 2nd fastest Junior on La Mirada's list of elite runners. Stephanie Felix broke her own course record at the race and Melissa Byrd now holds the distinction of being the 2nd fastest La Mirada girl in school history. Her time of 18:40 moved her past alumni Amanda Stephens. Clarissa Negrete, Tatiana Cortes and Andrea Smith rounded out the short-handed Lady Mat team. In the end, the girls found themselves on the short end of a 37 - 38 score and in 2nd place.

In the varsity boys race, Andrew Bueno, Andrew Garza, Michael Palmer, and Vincent Ha all responded to the fast conditions with new and improved PRs. Additionally, each one of them moved up the ladder on the elite list of Matadores. Andrew Bueno, who broke the 16 minute barrier, moves into 4th place on the senior list, ahead of Jared Bird. Andrew Garza and Michael Palmer broke into the 16 minute range and the number 4 and 6 spots on the sophomore list and Vincent Ha moves into the number 9 spot on the freshman list. Dennis Ly and Mark Gillaspy rounded out the Matadores team. The boys finished the race in 7th place.

Next stop for the running Matadores is the Suburban League final cluster meet to be held Wednesday, November 1st.