La Mirada High School

CIF-SS Cross-Country Divisional Preliminaries
Saturday, November 15, 2003
Mt. San Antonio College

8:43 a.m. - Race #4 - Boys D2- Heat #2
Antelope Valley
Don Bosco Tech
Indio
La Mirada
Mater Dei
Mira Costa
Norte Vista
North Torrance
Orange
Rio Mesa
Sultana
West Valley
Westlake

Individuals:
Camden Schweibert (Cypress)
Andrew Villalobos (La Serna)

10:08 a.m. - Race #10 - Girls D2 - Heat #1
Brea-Olinda
Cerritos
Inglewood
La Mirada
La Serna
Los Osos
Mark Keppel
Mater Dei
Perris
Rancho Verde
Santiago/Garden Grove
Sierra Vista
Sultana
Tesoro

Individuals:
Amy Sheets (Elsinore)
Breezy Castaneda (Garden Grove)
Jessika Cos (Norwalk)
Karen Nembhard (Pasadena)
Cynthia Mendez (Savanna)
Courtney Hanlon (Troy)

CIF-SS Cross-Country Division II Prelims
Saturday, November 15, 2003
Mt. San Antonio College

Amanda and Ana: The only girls from La Mirada to ever run under 20 minutes at Mt. SAC

When the gun went off for the start of Race #10, the girls followed the game plan exactly as instructed. Amanda stayed with the front pack and was #10 to #15 the entire race. Ana & Destinie kept the pace and were right behind for the first mile and a half. Erica fell off the pace a bit at first but continued to struggle to regain the stride that earned her the freshman record this season. Megan and Jenna worked in tandem to complete their strongest races of their young careers on a hilly course. And Vaniah raced valiantly. Strong leadership by Amanda and Ana had helped forge a team identity that was disciplined and unified. The 2003 Girls Varsity team exemplified TEAM in every way except one: the scoring gap was too wide. On a day when every Division II team that qualified for the CIF-SS finals race ran faster than 99 minutes, the Lady Mats finished in 8th place with a team time of 103:40 and a gap of 2:30. This represents a marked improvement over the 2002 team, and the 2nd fastest team time in school history. Unfortunately, gone are the years when a team can advance in the CIF-SS with only one or two runners under 20 minutes. Sultana High School, winners of Race #10, raced to an amazing 93:01 for the victory. That represents an average time per runner of 18:36 for the difficult Mt. SAC course.

For the 18th consecutive year, the Lady Mats advanced to the prelims only to be turned away empty-handed. Or were they? After a awe-inspiring season, Amanda set a school record, Ana broke trough the 20 minute barrier at Mt. SAC and everybody else raced their best races of the season on the Mt. SAC course! As they reflected on the end to the season, the girls were encouraged by the performances of their young teammates and the respect and admiration they felt for one another. They are well aware of the work they need to do and are more than willing to do it. More importantly, each athlete remains convinced that her team has what it takes to retain the league title and return for the 19th consecutive year to the CIF-SS race. They know that 2004 will be the year they finally advance to the finals!

The boys took the field for the start of Race #4 knowing they needed their finest effort of the season. It wasn't to be, however, as the boys finished in 10th place in their heat, well behind the 4th place spot they coveted. Jared Bird took off after the first lap around "the loop" and finished in a La Mirada HS record-setting time of 16:18. After a slow start, Nathaniel picked up the pace and was the 2nd finisher for the Matadores. Ryan fell off the pace on the back end of poop-out hill and finished 3rd. The surprise performance of the day came from Jorge, who was the team's 4th scorer. Kevin, Freddy and Taylor rounded out the Varsity seven.

Suburban League Finals

Varsity Girls: Sweet 3-Peat!

Amanda Stephens: 2003 Suburban League Champ

Led by Suburban League Champ Amanda Stephens (19:16), the undefeated Lady Mats (12 - 0) scored 37 points as they raced to their third consecutive League title and seventh in the past 10 years.  The Matadores almost saw their string of titles come to a crushing end when Amanda collided with Glenn's Eneida Hernandez, fell to the ground and lost her shoe only 600 meters into the race. Racing from fifth place, Amanda finally caught Norwalk's Jazmine Naranjo shortly after the first mile and never looked back.  The last time La Mirada High School produced an individual league champ on the girl's team was in 1994.  Ana Poblet (19:58) and Desitinie Martin (20:18) ran their best races of the season as they finished in 3^rd place and 4^th place overall.  Freshman, Jenna Pasillas (21:58), stepped-up to the challenge and earned a PR and 12^th place.  Erica Sandoval (22:45), raced for the first time since the Warren-Stauffer Invitational.  She has been slowed by a serious knee injury but was capable of pacing Jenna through the early part of the race and encouraging her to pick it up.  Megan Burbidge (23:09) battled an illness all week; she never thought of sitting out the race, though, and came through right behind Erica.  Senior, Jackie Serrata (23:39), ran her first league finals race at the varsity level and finished 19^th to round out this season's varsity squad.  Kelly Wilson and Vaniah De Rojas will join the team as they make their 18^th consecutive trip to the CIF-SS prelims on November 15^th.  The girls own a record of 97 wins and only 5 losses over the last 9 seasons.

2003 Suburban League Champions: Ana Poblet, Erica Sandoval, Destinie Martin, Jenna Pasillas, Megan Burbidge, Jackie Serrata & Amanda Stephens

J.V. Girls Keep the Streak Alive as they Go for Five!

Girls J.V.: 2003 Suburban League Champions

Suburban League champs since 1998, the J.V. girls went into League Finals in 2^nd place with a 4 - 1 record while the Cerritos Dons were in first place at 5 - 0.  Senior, Tara Palmer, let the girls know early in the week that the winning team won the championship.  Behind her inspirational leadership, each girl stepped-up her effort and came out ahead as they captured the first three spots in the race.  Vaniah De Rojas was crowned new league champion with April Soto and Kelly Wilson right behind.  With the victory, the Lady Mats earned their fifth consecutive league title! Kyla Hon, Kendal Van Wuyckhuyse, Andrea Smith and Kristen Kimball make up the remainder of the 2003 J.V. team.

The Top 3: Kelly Wilson (3rd), April Soto (2nd) & Vaniah De Rojas (1st)

Boys Make it a Close Race!

The Varsity boys knew they had to give their best effort of the season to be crowned league champs.  And, even though the Matadores captured three of the top six places, they lost a closely contested race and finished 2^nd to Norwalk, 41 to 45.  Led by Nathaniel Moore (16:34), Jared Bird (16:41) and Ryan Holash (16:52), the boys needed to beat both John Glenn and Norwalk in order to achieve their goal of a league title.  Because they lost to Glenn in their dual meet, they finished the season in 3^rd place with a 9 - 3 record. Freddy Ramirez, Kevin Osborn, Taylor Siemens and Elijah De Rojas round out the varsity seven.

Nathaniel Moore, Jared Bird, Ryan Holash, Kevin Osborn, Freddy Ramirez, Elijah De Rojas & Taylor Siemens

In the boys JV race, Jorge Granado (18:08) captured 2^nd place as the team finished 2^nd to Norwalk.  Overall, the J.V. team finished in 3^rd place with a 8 - 4 record.  This is the best finish for the J.V. team in many years. Andrew Diaz, racing for the first time for the Matadores, was a surprise 2^nd finisher for the team.  He was closely followed by Jarod Winn, Justin Lewis and Jim Palmer.

2003 J.V. Team