La Mirada High School

During the "Goal Setting" session at summer training camp in Big Bear, Stephanie Felix shared with her teammates her hopes and dreams for the upcoming season. Responding to the question, "what do you want from the season?", Stephanie answered, "I want to become unbreakable, unbeatable and seek perfection."

"Be more specific," her coaches and teammates replied. In cross country, goals are traditionally set based on times over a 3-mile course or PR's earned after months of hard training. Forced to think in terms of measurable goals, Stephanie quietly stated that she wanted to break the school record and run a race at a pace faster than six minutes per mile. For those who don't know, those are lofty goals for any runner. But what a thing to ask for a first-year runner who had never even participated in a cross country race!

A family vacation prevented Stephanie from participating in the annual team time trial where varsity spots are earned and varsity uniforms are handed out. Stephanie would have to run her first race for La Mirada High School in a JV uniform.

Undeterred, Stephanie didn't blink an eye or lodge a complaint. But, she would not change her goals. At the girl's team meeting held the night before the race, she repeated her goals to her teammates. She planned to run faster than 18:00 minutes this season but might not be prepared to do it just yet.

At her coach's instruction, Stephanie was to stay with the front pack and not pull away during the first mile. But when her coach advised to her to "take it easy" after an opening mile of 5:50, Stephanie decided to push forward. Soon, she was running alone, ahead of the entire girls field with only the two cyclists guiding her through the course. At the 2-mile point Stephanie looked bewildered. Barely a month before, she had run a 2-mile race in 12:04 and was upset that her time was only 12:07 today. With no one else to push her, she decided to "race the guys on the bikes." Finally, only 800 meters from the finish, her time was 15:40---just 3 minutes behind the 18:41 course record for sophomores. Picking up the pace, Stephanie completed the final half mile in 2:34 and completed the 3-mile course in 18:14---the fastest time of the day. It was fast enough to establish a new sophomore course record for the invitational, and a new sophomore and school record for La Mirada High School. In the process, she led the sophomore Lady Mats to a 3rd place finish and helped her team earn a new school record for team time. After the race, when she was asked how she felt, she responded, "I'm more tired after a 400 meter race." Wow. All these accomplishments in only her first cross country race! By the way, she earned her varsity uniform and will wear it proudly when the Lady Mats face La Habra and Cal High on Thursday, September 15 at La Mirada Regional Park. Interview with Stephanie Felix after she posted the overall fastest girls time at the Long Beach Invitational
 

The girls had big goals for the day . . . and one by one each girl met them. Destinie Martin raced to her fastest time since her sophomore year and entered the senior elite list in the #10 spot. The sophomore team of Stephanie Felix, Karina Gonzalez, Sarah Jeon, Clarissa Negrete, Lillian Mignella, Krystal Gomez and Erica Campos, finished in 3rd place in the Sophomore race. The Lady Mats were led by Karina and Stephanie, who both broke the old sophomore record set by Amanda Stephens in 2001. Stephanie Felix was the overall fastest girl of the day and set a new La Mirada school record while breaking Anita Siraki's course record for sophomores at the Invitational with a time of 18:14. In the process of meeting their many goals, the top 7 girls (Felix, Gonzalez, Martin, Mata, Pasillas, Jeon & Negrete) set a new school record for fastest team time!

Cross Country: Summer 2005
Leading the way into the new season are the following athletes who will contribute greatly to the success of the season:

Girls Mileage leaders:
400 Mile Club: Jenna Pasillas (413), Destinie Martin (405)
300 Mile Club: Stephanie Felix (363), Karina Gonzalez (316)
250 Mile Club: Chelsea Hengler (273), Andrea Smith (272)

Attendance: Jenna Pasillas (49), Krystal Gomez (41/42), Destinie Martin (46)

Outstanding Rookie of the Summer: Stephanie Felix

Outstanding Rookie of the Summer: Michael Palmer

Camp Awards:

• Best Effort/Attitude: Matthew Cordova, Lillian Mignella, & Erica Campos
• Most Mileage: Andrew Diaz & Destinie Martin
• Best Entertainers: Boys: Kevin & Matt Campbell — Girls: Destinie
• Biggest Results: (Wow, where did that come from?): Destinie, Clarissa, & Dennis
• Most Likely to Have Not Slept All Night: Kevin, Andrew, Chelsea
• Most Likely to fall down (or up) a hill:
Erica & Dennis
• Most likely to get lost: Dennis & Karina
• Most Pizza: Enrique

Coaches and Helpers

• Andres Casas
• Amanda Stephens
• Cassandra Chavez
• Freddy Ramirez
• Jared Bird

Coach’s Running Partners

• Bill Bird

Camp Chaperones:

• Cathi Wilson (camp cook)
• Leonard Diaz
• Laura Casas
• Olli Lynch
• Maria & Johnny Pasillas
• Lourdes Nava
• Steve & Daphne Smith
• Jeanne Negrete
• Amanda Stephens

Transportation:

• Laura Casas
• Cathi Wilson
• Steve & Daphne Smith Smith
• Ollie Lynch
• Rod Campbell

Time Trial Breakfast Cooks:

• Cathi Wilson
• Jeanne Negrete
• Daphne Smith
• Gabi Gomez
• Eileen Mignella