La Mirada High School

LM vs John Glenn: Uneven Performances and a Few Bright Spots
Although there were some great individual performances at the Glenn/Artesia dual meet, the TEAM performance lacked energy and was marked by runners who seemed to settle for doing just enough or being adequate. In any case, the TEAM did little to prove that it deserves a CIF-SS berth or even a league title. To start the day, the J.V. boys were defeated by John Glenn by a score of 24 to 31. The second teams to race were the Girls Varsity and J.V. The Varsity girls were instructed to race smart and to pack it up right next to Glenn's second girl who finished the 3-mile course in 22:30. And, even though the final outcome was La Mirada defeating Glenn 22 to 36, the gap between the first and fifth runner was a disappointing 2:43. (Compare the LM times this day with the way they ran last year against Mayfair on our home course.) On a positive note, the J.V. girls, led by Kelly Wilson, won both of their races.

In the final race of the day, the boys started the race smart. They knew and respected the depth of the John Glenn team. After an opening mile of 5:30, Nathaniel, Jared and Ryan felt as if they were in control. They had no idea what was going on behind them. By the second mile Nathaniel and Jared were in the lead with Ryan a few steps behind in fourth place. It was not to last. Even though Nathaniel was able to hold on for the win, both Jared and Ryan were out-kicked in the final 150 meters. By then the 4, 5, 6 and 7 runners were too far behind to make a significant contribution as La Mirada ended up on the losing end of a 24 to 32 score.

The Matadores have next Thursday off to prepare for the Mt. SAC Invitational. The Race Schedule for the Mt. SAC Invitational is as follows:

Girls Race Past Cerritos & Norwalk, Boys Split the Day

On a cool, overcast day at Cerritos High School, the Lady Mats raced to victory over both Suburban League opponents. Led by Senior Amanda Stephens (17:53), the varsity team prevailed on the 2.96-mile course by scores of 22 to 39 over Norwalk and 19 to 36 over Cerritos. Amanda, who fought off repeated surges by Norwalk’s #1 runner, finished 19 seconds ahead of her closest competitor. She continues to dominate the Suburban League this season. Ana Poblet (18:44), after taking off last Saturday’s invitational, stayed between Norwalk’s #1 and #2 runner as she cruised to a 3^rd place finish . Ana was followed by Carly Cram (19:24), racing for the first time in a Matadore uniform and Destinie Martin (19:28), in her first race since the Roadrunner Classic. Megan Burbidge (20:08) held off both Cerritos’ and Norwalk’s third runner as she rounded out the scoring for the defending champion Matadores.

The boys were prepared for a tough race against a tough competitor. They knew the Norwalk team did not want to lose two weeks in a row. Unfortunately, an extremely fast opening mile took its toll on the Matadores as they fell behind in the 3^rd mile and were unable to make up ground on the defending champion Norwalk team. Nathaniel Moore (15:27) made a valiant effort to catch Norwalk's #1 runner but finished 2^nd. Jared Bird (15:40) led the race for the first 2 miles but faded to the 4^th spot in the final 800 meters. Ryan Holash (16:08), Kevin Osborn (16:25) and Freddy Ramirez (16:34) rounded out the scoring for the Matadores.

In the J.V. races, Jorge Granado (17:40) was the first Matador finisher for the boys and Vaniah De Rojas (23:02) was the first finisher for the girls. The week the Matadores take on Artesia and John Glenn High Schools at La Mirada Regional Park.

La Mirada vs Cerritos
La Mirada vs Norwalk
Cerritos High School
October 9, 2003
Course: 2.9602124 miles/Flat
Conditions: Cool