La Mirada High School

: Sunny Hills High School 2006 Cross Country Invitational: Girls Place 2nd
In their tune-up race for next week's first Suburban League Cluster meet, the Matadores traveled to Craig Park in Fullerton to compete in the Sunny Hills Invitational. On a course not known for its fast times, Stephanie Felix set a new course record and both the boys and girls had their best races of the season. The Craig Park course has numerous tight turns and plenty of rolling hills. The beginning and middle sections are run on thick grass and the first mile contains rolling dirt trails with a few tight hairpin turns. The last mile is concrete with lots of downhill and plenty of tightly packed dirt to the finish.

Racing by grade level, the Senior boys, Andrew Bueno & Greg Luna, and girls, Jenna Pasillas & Andrea Smith, competed first and bettered their previous times on the difficult 3-mile course. Bueno found himself in the fastest race of the day and was seconds off his PR. For her efforts, Andrea earned her first varsity uniform!

In the freshman races, both Vincent Ha and Lauren McIntyre continued their string of success, while Daisey Terriquez and Andrew Harrick both earned new PRs. Lauren's strategy was to hang back and run a controlled well-paced opening mile. In 20th place at the first mile, she steadily moved up the pack until mile two where she found herself in 12th place. Lauren finished the race with a blistering kick, a 6:01 closing mile, and a 5th place finish! Her efforts place her ahead of Destinie Martin in the number 2 spot on the La Mirada elite list of freshman runners.

Only the junior boys and girls had enough runners to field a full team in the race. The boys were led by Dennis Ly, who easily had his most consistent race of the season. Mark Gillaspy and Matt Campbell also ran strong, with Gillaspy earning himself a varsity uniform for his effort. Newcomers Jason Kim, Adrian Robles, and Aaron Cordova rounded out the scoring for the Matadores.

The girl's junior race was the fastest race of the day. The Lady Mats were pitted against a full contingent of runners from Corona del Mar HS, last year's CIF Division III State champions --- currently ranked #2 in the nation --- and Trabuco Hills, a Division I ranked team. Stephanie opened steady and at the first mile found herself just ahead of a pack of CDM runners and just behind Shelby Buckley, who placed 5th in state in 2005 and is one of the top ranked girls in state this season. Undeterred, Stephanie controlled the pace, passed Buckley and had a 40 meter lead by the end of the second mile. A 5:43 closing mile earned her first place for the day and a new course record. Sarah Jeon, Clarissa Negrete, Erica Campos, and Krystal Gomez all had their most comfortable races of the season, as they controlled their paces and finished strong. Karina Gonzalez, feeling the effects of ill health, tested her hamstring on the first mile of the course and called it a day.

As the sun emerged and heated up the course, the class of 2009 began their races. For the boys, Andrew Garza and Michael Palmer challenged themselves over the hills and trails with Palmer earning a new PR. Mateo Cordova and Miguel Franco both had their strongest races of the season.

Sophomore Melissa Byrd found the rolling hills to her liking as her PR earned the 3rd spot on the Sophomore elite list and the 6th spot on the Lady Mats list of elite runners. Caitlin Winn , Bianca Ceballos, and Valerie Wong each ran in their first invitational of the season.

At the end of the day, the Lady Mats discovered their team time of 99:38 placed them in 2nd just 20 seconds behind the 1st place team. Stephanie was crowned the female "Athlete of the Meet" by meet officials.

Week Two: La Habra Dual Meet
Girls: Week two of the 2006 season was "test-time" for the Lady Matadores. With key individuals nursing aches, pains, and illnesses, the goal for this week was to test and evaluate their progress. The strategy? Pack running in pre-defined groups. To help the girls succeed, they were assigned "racing buddies" and instructed to stay together the entire race. Each pack came through EXACTLY as expected as La Mirada cruised to a 17 - 46 victory on the hills, mud, and grass of Regional Park.

For Krystal Gomez, Lillian Mignella, Caitlin Winn and Karina Gonzalez, the results were better than expected. Both Karina and Caitlin competed in their first race of the season on the difficult 3.05 mile course. Significantly, Karina, who earned herself a varsity uniform, ran the entire course with Lauren McIntyre as they both completed the course faster than the top Lady Mat at the pre-season team time trial. Caitlin broke ahead in the last mile and is now the #2 JV girl. Krystal completed the course over a minute faster than the time trial and Lillian finished the race with minimal pain. Up front, the trio of Melissa Byrd, Stephanie Felix, and Sarah Jeon finished #1, #2,& #3 as they completed the course 10 seconds ahead of La Habra's Hope Spahn (who ran the 2006 Woodbridge Invitational in a time of 20:00).

BOYS: Disappointed by their times last week, the goal for the boys was simple: run faster this week! For the most part, their times on the La Mirada course were comparable to or better than their times last week. Led by Andrew Bueno, the trio of Andrew, Dennis Ly, and Andrew Garza opened with a strong first mile before they were gradually overtaken by La Habra's strong front three. In the end, the Matadores were on the short end of a 37 - 19 score.

Week one: marina Five-way meet and Laguna hills invitational
The Cross Country season began with the running Matadores racing at two invitationals they had never been to. Central Park in Huntington Beach and Laguna Hills High School were the settings for the first competitions of the 2006 season. Both events offered the Matadores an opportunity to test themselves against faster teams on more difficult courses. While the results were less than spectacular, the boys and the girls now know what they need to do to prepare for the difficult schedule that lies ahead.

At the Huntington Beach event, sponsored by Marina High School, the Lady Mats found themselves running without Karina, Sarah, Jenna, and Clarissa--their numbers 2, 5, 6 and 7 runners from 2005. Undeterred, the girls learned a valuable lesson in losing their first preseason meet since 2002: there's a big difference between preseason training and live racing.

With a lineup that included Stephanie Felix, newcomers Melissa Byrd, Lauren McIntyre, Tatiana Cortes and last year's JV duo of Andrea Smith and Erica Campos, the girls lost a hard-fought battle. Although they finished 1st and 3rd respectively, both Stephanie and Melissa were unsatisfied with their performances and vowed to "redeem themselves." Freshman, Lauren McIntyre was the 3rd Matadore to complete the 3+ mile course, finishing with a time of 21:45. Andrea, Tatiana and Erica rounded out the scoring in 10th, 12th & 13th places.

In the boy's race, only Andrew Bueno was able to break into the top 15, finishing in 12th place. Andrew Garza and Michael Palmer ran most of the race side by side and were 22nd and 23rd overall in the five team race. Dennis Ly, Mark Gillaspy, and Matt Campbell rounded out the scoring for the Matadores. Lauren McIntyre and Vincent Ha were named La Mirada "athletes of the meet."

Laguna Hills Invitational

At the team meeting following the Marina race, the captains challenged their teammates to improve their focus for the next event: The Laguna Hills Invite. In the first races of the day, freshmen Vicent Ha and Lauren McIntyre set the tone for their teammates by earning new PRs. Lauren took home a medal with her 13th place finish.

In the sophomore races that followed, Andrew Garza and Michael Palmer led the way for the Matadores while Miguel Franco and Mateo Cordova established new PRs. On the girl's side, both Melissa Byrd and Tatiana Cortes earned new PRs. Byrd finished 6th in her heat and moved ahead of Amanda Stephens and into the third spot on the list of elite sophomore's at La Mirada High School. Cortes' time earned her a new varsity uniform!

The junior boys and girls were the only levels that fielded a complete team for the Matadores. For the boys, Dennis Ly and Matt Campbell led the way, with Campbell's performance earning a varsity uniform. Mark Gillaspy, Aaron Cordova, and Albert Ledesma rounded out the scoring. Once again the Lady Mats were forced to race without teammate, Karina Gonzalez. Gonzalez is undergoing extensive rehab in an attempt to recover the 2005 form that saw her earn a PR of 19:00 and the 3rd spot on the list of elite Lady Mats. She expects to be 100% by the league cluster meets. Early in the girl's race Stephanie Felix found herself 100 meters behind the leader. She slowly worked her way to the front and opened a gap that placed her 41 seconds ahead of the pack. Felix's time of 17:55 earned her the honor of Division I fastest girl of the day and the fastest time up to that point in the Invite. Joining Stephanie were teammates Sarah Jeon, Clarissa Negrete, Erica Campos, and Krystal Gomez. Only Erica raced in the Marina race while the others were nursing injuries and illnesses. Clarissa's performance earned her a varsity uniform.

As the sun emerged and the temperature rose, the seniors prepared for their races. Andrew Bueno and Greg Luna represented the Matadores with their finest races of the season. Bueno broke into the top 15 with a 13th place finish and a medal. As seasoned four-year veterans, Andrea Smith and Jenna Pasillas were prepared. Jenna, also nursing an injury and being treated with extensive therapy, tested herself for the first time this season. The results were encouraging. Starting slowly, Jenna opened with a 6:40 mile and worked her way into the top 20 with a time of 21:08. Andrea opened cautiously, but still strong enough to pass the 1st mile in 6:56. Unfortunately, she completed the course just short of her goal for the day. Both Andrea and Jenna earned medals.

Overall, there were many positive results. Matthew Campbell and Krystal Gomez were named La Mirada "athletes of the meet," there are new PRs all around, and both the boys and girls sport a new varsity team. The boys varsity is made up of Andrew Bueno, Andrew Garza, Dennis Ly, Michael Palmer and Matthew Campell. The girls who have earned a varsity spot are Stephanie Felix, Melissa Byrd, Sarah Jeon, Jenna Pasillas, Clarissa Negrete, Lauren McIntyre, and Tatiana Cortes.