NBL Cross Country - Championship Meet, Nov 14 at Spring Lake, Santa Rosa

Over 200 local high school athletes are expected to compete in the 2008 North Bay League Cross Country Championship Meet scheduled for Friday, November 14. We expect to have many interesting stories to follow as this year's group of runners seeks to add a memorable new chapter to the Redwood Empire's rich distance running history.

Participating Schools: Cardinal Newman, Elsie Allen, Maria Carrillo, Montgomery, Piner, Rancho Cotate, Santa Rosa, Ukiah, Ursuline.

Schedule: 2:00PM: JV Girls; 2:40PM: JV boys; 3:15PM: Varsity Girls; 3:45PM: Varsity Boys; 4:25PM: Presentation of Awards

Location: Spring Lake, Santa Rosa, Start and finish near the boat ramp.

Course and Format: historic 3.05 mile course. Each school is limited to seven runners in the Varsity races. Entries are unlimited in the Junior Varsity races.

Scoring: Cross Country awards both individuals (based on place of finish) and teams (based on cumulative points of top five finishers on the team). Team objective is to score the fewest points (lowest possible score is 15 = 1st + 2nd + 3rd + 4th + 5th).

Boys Team Competition Preview:
Santa Rosa comes in as the favorite, having gone undefeated in NBL dual meet competition.
• The Panthers broke Maria Carrillo's 5 year undefeated streak earlier this season and immediately established themselves as the team to beat. This is possibly the best Santa Rosa team since their dominant teams of the mid 1990's.
• Santa Rosa is led by senior Rory McLeod and junior Reesey Byers.
• The Panthers will be challenged by Piner, Montgomery, and Maria Carrillo. These teams finished in a 3 way tie for second at the conclusion of the dual meet season - each with 5 wins.
• Piner's team is up and coming - Coach Luis Rosales has put the Prospectors back on the competitive map with a group of very talented freshman.

Top Individuals - Boys:
Santa Rosa senior Rory McLeod is the clear favorite for the league crown. McLeod posted the fifth fastest time ever at Spring Lake earlier this year (15:15) and finished 3rd at the highly competitive Mt SAC Invitational in late October. If conditions are right, McLeod may have a chance to become only the second runner to break 15:00 on the Spring Lake Course (all time record: 14:50, Ryan Mack, Ukiah, 1998). Expect teammate Reesey Byers to stay near McLeod - Byers has been at McLeod's heels all season.

Others expected to be in the top group (listed in no particular order):
Brian King (Cardinal Newman), Aria Kiani (Montgomery), Luis Luna (Piner) - Luna is the top freshman in the NBL this year - expect him to challenge Jordan Kinley's all-time freshman record of 15:45, Grant Williams (Maria Carrillo), and Andrew Zellman and Sebastian O'Bergan (Ukiah)

Girls Team Competition Preview:
Maria Carrillo is the heavy favorite, a few steps ahead of very strong teams from Montgomery and Santa Rosa.
Maria Carrillo comes in to league finals with a 7-0 dual meet record in 2008.
The Pumas carry a 77 consecutive meet winning streak against their NBL foes ... they seeking their 6th consecutive NBL title.
Maria Carrillo's five scoring runners, Lauren Curtin, Cara Curtin, Kelly O'Leary, Jordan Davis, and Sarah DiRado posted the third fastest combined team time ever run time at Spring Lake (records kept going back 21 seasons) in their dual against Montgomery on November 5 - just 14 seconds behind the all-time leader - Maria Carrillo's 2001 team. If conditions are good, expect them to challenge the all-time team mark.
MCHS girls are currently ranked 5th in California Division 3 and first in NCS Division 3. They finished 4th in the State Championships (Div 3) in 2007.
The Montgomery girls posted the 17th fastest team time ever run in their dual meet against Carrillo - the 5th fastest cumulative mark ever among Viking teams.

[Marker][Marker]GIRLS TEAM BESTS (time of top 5) [Marker]SPRING LAKE PARK
3.05 mile course bests, established in 1988 (compiled by Jim Crowhurst)

1 92:23 ’01 Maria Carrillo #1 11/2/01
(Jenny Aldridge 17:06, Amy Robinson 18:24, Ashlee Drady 18:44, Carina Hendricks 18:58, Meghan Boes 19:11)

2 92:29 ’96 Santa Rosa #1 11/15/96
(Julia Stamps 16:19, Trina Cox 17:40, Lindsy Johnson 18:51, Katie Stafford 19:07, Anathea Meade 20:32)

3 92:37 ’08 Maria Carrillo #2 11/ 5/08
(Lauren Curtin 17:54, Cara Curtin 18:25, Kelly O' Leary 18:34, Jordan Davis 18:39, Sarah DiRado 19:05)

4 92:41 ’02 Montgomery #1 10/23/02
(Kim Handel 17:47, Kim Conley 17:59, Emma Conley 18:55, Carina Hendricks 18:58, Christy Sweaney 19:02)

5 93:27 ’04 Maria Carrillo #3 18:41
(Kristen Sanzari 18:05, Leanne Fogg 18:06, Amy Robinson 18:57, Kristin Fladseth 19:03, Jacqui Wentz 19:16

also...

17 96:35 ’08 Montgomery #5 19:19 11/ 5/08
(Julie Nacouzi 18:03, Celeste Berg 18:06, Hunter Connell 19:00, Liana Meffert 20:15, Sarah Gallagher 21:11)

Top Individuals - Girls:
Maria Carrillo junior Lauren Curtin comes in as the favorite and seeks to defend her 2007 NBL championship. Curtin has run the second fastest time on the Spring Lake course this year (behind Casa Grande's Jacque Taylor) and the fastest among NBL runners. Her time of 17:54 places her 14th on the all-time list.

Others expected to challenge (listed in no particular order):
Julie Nacouzi and Celeste Berg (Montgomery), Kasey Schalich (Piner), Suzi Rozga and Eva Stuart (Santa Rosa), and Cara Curtin, Jordan Davis, and Kelly O'Leary (Maria Carrillo).

For further information, contact

Ruben DiRado
Assistant Cross Country Coach
Maria Carrillo HS
707-799-7218
[ mailto:cardinal_rube@yahoo.com ]cardinal_rube@yahoo.com