La Mirada High School

Senior Amanda Stephens, after the greatest month ever by a girl from La Mirada High School, was named "Athlete of the Month" for the month of September.  Amanda, a 4-year varsity competitor, has been a member of two Suburban League championship teams, earned "All-League" honors for three seasons and has competed at CIF each of her previous 3 years on the cross country team. As a freshman, Amanda was named "Rookie of the Year," as a Sophomore, she set a new Sophomore class record and won the "Coaches Award," and has been a team captain for 2 years. Her performances this season have earned her a Senior class and school record on a 3-mile course (18:52), a Senior class and school record at La Mirada Regional Park (19:21) and a Senior class and school record at Mt. SAC (20:08).  She is currently the #1 ranked girl on La Mirada's list of elite runners.  Her coaches, captains and teammates congratulate Amanda and are thankful for her outstanding contribution to the sport.

Mt. SAC Invitational
October 25, 2003
Conditions: Hot
Air Quality: Poor
2.92 miles

Due to sudden early-afternoon spike in temperatures (from 83 to 94 degrees in a 40-minute span) and a blanket of smoke rolling in, meet officials opt to play it smart and decide to cancel the meet's final 17 races.

On a day when success was marked by possessing the guts to keep running and race times were virtually meaningless, the Matadores took to the hills of the 56^th Annual Mt. SAC Invitational. Heat, dust, ashes and lot's of pain were the dominant themes at this year's race. In the end, the heat and poor air quality prevailed and the meet was cancelled with 17 races left unfinished. As a result, many brave Matador runners were unable to accomplish their goal of conquering the challenging course.

In each of the three races the team completed, times were slow and few athletes achieved their goals for the day. Racing first, the Varsity Boys stepped to the starting line just as the sun emerged from behind the clouds. Nathaniel Moore, after a slow start, was able to break into the top 20 with a time of 17:02. Jared Bird completed the course in 17:36 and Ryan Holash was 2 seconds behind at 17:38. Kevin Osborn, Elijah De Rojas and Jim Palmer also competed for the varsity team.

Between the boy's race and the girl's race, the temperature increased by 11 degrees; thus, the Lady Mats raced in 94 degree heat! Leading the Varsity Girls team in their quest was Senior, Amanda Stephens. Her time of 20:08 was fast enough to place her 1^st on La Mirada's "Mt. SAC Elite" list and good enough for a fifth place finish overall. Junior Ana Poblet (21:24) and Sophomore Destinie Martin (22:38) were able to keep pace with Amanda for the 1^st mile, but the overwhelming conditions caused them to fall behind on the hills. Rounding out the Varsity girls on this day were Juniors Megan Burbidge and Vaniah De Rojas and Senior Jackie Serrata.

Just prior to their race, the Freshman boys were informed that they would only have to run 2-miles. Despite the nearly triple digit heat, they relished the challenge and ran well. Jorge Granado (12:47) raced to a 11^th place finish. In the end the young Matadores stepped up their racing just enough to finish in a tie for 4^th place. After Jorge, the surprising Frosh team consisted of Taylor Siemens (13:22), Justin Lewis (13:44), Andrew Linta (14:30), Michael Bishop (14:43), Michael Cloward (14:46) and Josh Beltier (17:04).

Congratulations to the brave athletes who competed in less than optimal conditions.