La Mirada High School

Suburban League Cluster Meet #2: Boys & girls maintain pace in league
On a day with near perfect conditions, the Matadores took to the hills of La Mirada Regional Park for the 2nd Suburban League cluster meet. Matched against all six other league teams, the race began with the JV girls race at 1:45 pm, followed by the JV boys at 2:30 pm. On the varsity side, the girl's race began at 3:15pm and the boys at 4:00 pm.

Girls JV: Smith paces herself to a first place finish
Despite missing two of their top scoring runners, the JV girls appeared to be unfazed as they prepared for the first race of the day. A near perfect race by senior Andrea Smith, who earned her PR for the tough course, propelled the JV girls to a 2nd place finish. Smith, a 4-year cross country athlete, was content to sit back with three teammates and let the nine Cerritos front runners set the pace for the first mile. She used the hills on the 2nd mile to her advantage and moved into first place by the time the pack passed the mile 2 marker. Down 15-50 at mile one, the first five Lady Mats patiently closed the gap and were able to narrow their deficit to 20-41 by the end of the second mile. Caitlin Winn, not yet fully recovered from an illness that caused her to miss the trip to Clovis, settled into the comfortable pace and narrowly missed a top 5 finish. Right behind Caitlin were Erica Campos and Krystal Gomez, who finished in 9th and 10th place. Bianca Ceballos, Valerie Wong, and Daisey Terriquez rounded out the scoring for the JV team. In the end, the girls were outpaced by a score of 21-38. They enter the league finals race tied for first with Cerritos.

Girls Varsity: Felix sets pace; byrd, gonzalez, pasillas & negrete keep lady mats perfect in league
Late on the night before the second cluster meet, the varsity girls heard the unexpected news: neither Sarah Jeon, the team's #5 runner, nor Lauren McIntyre, 4th place at the first cluster meet, would participate in the league race. To make matters worse, both Stephanie Felix and Melissa Byrd were feeling less than their best due to respiratory infections.

Displaying her leadership, this year's captain and 4-year varsity athlete, Jenna Pasillas, contacted the girls one-by-one and shared the news. Her message was simple: "we all need to step up." Emboldened by her command, the girls did just that. In fact, Stephanie gave up hopes of an easy race and boldly predicted, "I'm going to break the course record and we're still going to do well." Her illness did not seem to affect her pace as she set a new record for the 3-mile course and led her team to a first place finish. Racing with the varsity team for the first time were Cedes Vo and Tatiana Cortes.

Before the race started, the girls were instructed by their coaches to settle in and run a controlled race. "No surprises, just keep it steady, get the job done, and let's go home."

By the end of the first mile, Stephanie was comfortably ahead of the pack and Melissa ran just hard enough to move behind her into second place. Collectively, the girls score was 35 points; they had Clarissa Negrete in 15th place, Jenna in 10th place and Karina Gonzalez in 7th. Unfortunately, severe cramping forced Tatiana to the ground and she was unable to complete the race. Once again the girls regrouped. It was at that point that the benefits of their rigorous hill and strength training became most evident. Karina, coming off of a hamstring injury, was the first to take off. Her negative splits earned her a 5th place finish and a PR for the season. By the end of the second mile, the girls had improved their point total to 29.

Next, Jenna caught fire. Pasillas, who has never finished a league race in the top 10, finished with a fury that vaulted her into 6th place, just behind Karina. Finally, Clarissa moved up to the 12th spot as the Lady Mats earned a League low 26 points. Cedes Vo, named La Mirada's Runner of the Meet, rounded out the scoring with her best race of the season and a new PR. The girls enter League Finals in first place with their streak of 66 consecutive league victories intact.

Boys: Bueno leads again; boys tied for 2nd going into league finals
Rope runs, new and improved balance and strength training, form and technique drills. All of these were introduced to the boys this season to prepare them for league. Even their attitude took on a different tenor as the boys entered the season believing they were ready to race with the top teams in league. Finally determined to make a name for themselves, they focused their training to show the rest of the league that they meant business. A second place finish at the first cluster meet boosted their mood. They were poised to permanently take hold of the second spot in league. Unfortunately they were unable to sustain their position at the 2nd cluster meet and were narrowly defeated by Cerritos by a score of 25-30.

Led by Andrew Bueno, La Mirada's Runner of the Meet, the Matadores fought hard for position on the hills. Bueno's 3rd place finish was easily his best race of the season, but, unlike the first cluster meet, no other Matadore was able to crack the top 10. That, and a huge gap between their number 3, 4 and 5, 6 runners, left the boys a few points shy of their goal for the day.

A new PR for the course by Dennis Ly earned him the 2nd spot on the team as he and sophomore, Andrew Garza, worked the course in tandem. Michael Palmer, the Matadores 4th runner, valiantly tried to hang on, but ended up running much of the race alone. Mark Gillsapy, Matthew Campbell and Vincent Ha rounded out the team. The boys enter league finals tied for 2nd place with Cerritos.

Now the work begins again. Noticing that the team was in need of renewal, their coaches gave them a dose of reality that seemed to inspire them to work even harder. A more serious attitude has taken hold of the team. They are attacking each work out as if it were their last. They now know that all they need to think about is the simple act of running. Captain Bueno has been the catalyst in the changed attitude. The boy’s team has bought into their leader’s passion and desire. With a bit of hard work their goal of making a name of themselves seems feasible.

JV: a much improved jv team enters league finals in 3rd place
In 2005, the JV boys were lucky simply to field a complete team. This season, they continue to improve and are serious contenders for a top three spot in league.

Led by Jason Kim, the boys were just behind Bellflower and in 4th place at the second cluster meet. Greg Luna took the lead for the first mile before dropping back. Mateo Cordova and Aaron Cordova finished ahead of Luna, while Adrian Robles, Miguel Franco, Andrew Harrick, and Chip also finished the race for the Matadores.

Every week the JV team is getting better and every week they sets new PRs. Recently, some additional runners joined the ranks: Angel Hernandez, Peter Lee, and Nick. This added support should prove to be important to an already improving team. With injuries diminishing, the JV team is looking forward to performing well at league finals. Everybody has noticed a positive shift in their attitudes. The boys enter League Finals in 3rd place overall.

Charger Invite @ Edison High School in Huntington Beach: boys take 4th place

Clovis Invitational @ Fresno's Woodward Park
The Lady Mats took a road trip to Fresno the weekend of October 7th to race at Woodward Park, site of the 2006 Cross Country State Championship meet.  Even though they ran with only six runners in the varsity race, their sixth place finish was encouraging.  In fact, with their top two runners finishing in 1st and 5th place, the girls look forward to proving themselves at CIF this season.

A last minute change in plans caused Sarah Jeon and Lauren McIntyre to take the day off, so the Matadores were represented by Stephanie Felix, Melissa Byrd, Jenna Pasillas, Karina Gonzalez, Clarissa Negrete, and Andrea Smith.  Erica Campos and Krystal Gomez competed in the JV race.

As has been her habit, Stephanie opened up the first mile in a controlled manner with a time of 5:37, just a little ahead of a large pack that included teammate Melissa Byrd.  Unchallenged over the rolling hills on the 2nd mile, Stephanie slowed somewhat before cruising to another first place finish in a time of 18:22.  Close behind, Melissa was unable to shake off a pack of runners until her blazing finish secured 5th place for the first year athlete.

An uncharacteristically large gap between Melissa and La Mirada's 3rd runner, Jenna Pasillas, pushed the Matadores out of contention for a top 3 spot.  Jenna was closely followed by Karina and Clarissa.  Unfortunately, they fell 2 points short of a 5th place finish.  Andrea Smith rounded out the scoring for the team.

In the JV race, Erica and Krystal paced themselves to strong positions and fine finishes.  Overall, the trip was a great learning experience for the team and they anticipate returning to Fresno in the near future!

2006 BREA OLINDA CROSS COUNTRY INVITATIONAL: Lady Mats run to 2nd Place
Early Saturday morning, the school bus carrying the Matadores cross country team turned left onto Foster Rd. It was headed toward Hollydale Park and the Warren-Stauffer Invitational. Since spring, the schedule promised the athletes they would have the opportunity to stretch out and earn PRs on the fast Warren course. The schedule didn't tell them plans had changed. In a flash the bus changed course and traveled to Brea instead.

In 2006, for the first time ever, Suburban League Finals will be held at Carbon Canyon Regional Park in Brea. Because of limited time and lack of transportation, the Matadores coaching staff decided it would be in the best interest of the team to have them experience the grass, sand, and loose dirt trails of the Carbon Canyon Park at the Brea-Olinda Invitational. It was the right decision.

The athletes knew there would be few PRs; they knew the course was more difficult. But despite their disappointment, they performed well and are confident they learned lessons about the course that will carry over into League Finals.

On the girls side, the Lady Mats were instructed to view the race as a "tough workout." Still, they narrowly beat out the Division III 5th ranked Irvine High School team and brought home a 2nd place award for the second week in a row. Leading them this week were Stephanie Felix, who set her third course record in 7 days, and Melissa Byrd, who finished 5th on the difficult 3.1 mile course.

Next week the boy's team and the girls jv will travel to Edison High School in Huntington Beach where they will participate in the Charger Invite. The girl's varsity team will take a road trip to Fresno where they will race in the Clovis Invitational.