Norcal Rankings 2008 #1

Boys .....................................................Girls
1) Petaluma NCS...................................1) St. Ignatius CCS
2) Davis Sr. SJS.....................................2) Mt. View CCS
3) Mt. View CCS....................................3) Carlmont CCS
4) Jesuit SJS..........................................4) Campolindo NCS
5) Aptos CCS..........................................5) Davis Sr. SJS
6) Campolindo NCS...............................6) Gunn CCS
7) Willow Glen CCS................................7) Castro Valley NCS
8) Bellarmine CCS..................................8) Maria Carrillo NCS
9) De La Salle NCS...................................9) St. Mary's NCS
10) St. Ignatius CCS................................10) Carondelet NCS
Honorable Mention (10 teams in alphabetical order)
Amador Valley NCS.................................Aptos CCS
Carlmont CCS..........................................Del Oro SJS
Del Campo SJS.........................................Los Gatos CCS
Deer Valley NCS.......................................Livermore NCS
Granada NCS.............................................Oak Ridge SJS
Las Lomas NCS.........................................Placer SJS
Los Gatos CCS..........................................Ponderosa SJS
Oak Ridge SJS..........................................St. Francis, Mt. View CCS
Palo Alto CCS............................................St. Francis, Sacramento SJS
Woodcreek SJS........................................Woodcreek SJS

Boys' Individuals
1) Garrett Seawell (12) Woodcreek SJS
2) Philip MacQuitty (11) Palo Alto CCS
3) Garrett Rowe (11) Mt. View CCS
4) Sterling Lockert (12) Petaluma NCS
5) Brennan Lynch (12) Santa Cruz CCS
6) Wyatt Landrum (12) Liberty NCS
7) Chris Haworth (12) Kennedy SJS
8) Parker Schuh (10) Mt. View CCS
9) Tyre Johnson (12) Palma CCS
10) Rylan Hunt (12) Aptos CCS

Girls' Individual
1) Jacque Taylor (11) Casa Grande NCS
2) Maria Malone (12) Folsom SJS
3) Jennifer Bergman (12) Valley Christian, SJ CCS
4) Rachel Hinds (10) St. Ignatius CCS
5) Katy Daly (12) St. Ignatius CCS
6) Marissa Ferrante (11) Aptos CCS
7) Stephanie Barnett (12) Leland CCS
8) Nicole Hood (11) Carondelet NCS
9) Diana George (12) Livermore NCS
10) Jessie Petterson (10) Carlmont CCS

Feel free to comment on any omissions or the placing of any of the above teams/individuals. Remember, this the first batch of rankings and your help is greatly appreciated. The next Norcal rankings will be posted following the Stanford Invitational.

2nd Annual Maine Coach & Athlete Cross Country Clinic Cont.

2nd Annual Maine Coach & Athlete Cross Country Clinic (Part III: Biomechanics & Footwear)

2nd Annual Maine Coach & Athlete Cross Country Clinic (Part IV: Meet the Athletes)

2nd Annual Maine Coach & Athlete Cross Country Clinic (Part V: The Athlete’s Panel)

Catching up with North Monterey County Coach Ibarra...

Now that the cross country season is officially under way, I will start to once again post interviews with coaches and athletes. We'll begin today with the meet director of the highly successful Earlybird Invitational as well as the coach of equally successful, North Monterey Condors, Coach Ibarra. 

 1) Tell us a little about your running background (how you got started and your years competing). I’ve been running ever since I can remember. My dad was a coach for many years at the junior, high school, and college level and my idols and best friends growing up were his athletes. My sand box was the long jump pit. I competed fairly serious as a youngster and actually found some success in the jumps and sprints early on. I later saw the light and moved up to the middle and long distances. I placed 3rd in the Utah State Meet in the 800 in high school and went on to run for BYU for 3 years and for the University of Mobile for one year. My collegiate highlight was a 6th place at the nationals in the indoor 800. I’m a Mexican national and I was planning on competing at the international level after college representing Mexico but my career was cut short with acute renal failures (my kidneys would shut down with extreme racing/training efforts). 

2) How did you get interested in teaching and coaching? I always wanted to follow my dad and my high school coach’s footsteps so it was an easy choice. 

3) What schools did you coach at before North Monterey County and how many years have you been at NMC? I coached at the two high schools I attended in Utah, Pleasant Grove & Provo High Schools, for a few years as I went through college. I first arrived in California in 1998 and I coached at San Benito High School in Hollister for 3 years. I’ve been here at North Monterey County since the fall of 2000 and I love it! 

4) Who do you consider your coaching mentors? There are several great coaches that have been a big influence on me including my college coaches Scott Simmons at the University of Mobile and Sherald James at BYU. Coach Simmons taught me how to think outside the traditional coaching box and make running progressive in nature. Coach James taught me how to put the runner first, not the running. Easily the two biggest mentors were my own father, Gustavo Ibarra Sr., and my high school coach Doug Owen. My father gave me the work ethic and the desire to be the best and my high school coach gave me the rest. My oldest son is named Owen. 

5) Can you identify an athlete (s) that really bought into your program and helped you start your success as a coach? There are several that really stand out. At Provo High School I was able to work briefly with a trio of stars. Josh Rohatinski won many state titles, Footlocker West, and NCAA’s in cross and recently placed 5th at the Olympic Trials in the 10k. Nate Robison & Kassie Anderson were two others at Provo that also won some state titles and went on to NCAA All-American citations. At San Benito High School there was Ben Morales that really helped take that team into some new territory for them by winning CCS and placing 5th at the Footlocker 2 mile. Here at North Monterey County there have been many that have embraced what I’ve asked of them. Nathan Huerta was our first real elite kid that helped the team get into the elite ranks. He placed 2nd at the state meet in cross and was CCS champ. He runs for Cal Poly now. Keli Parker (UC Davis), Jose A. Garcia (Chico State), Danny Tapia (Hartnell), Jose E. Garcia (Sacramento State), Ivan Alfaro (Hartnell), and most recently Michael Machado (Cal Poly) are some that carried the team to new levels and have gone on to run in college. 

6) Tell us a little about the Earlybird Invitational. How did it progress to the gigantic success it has become today? Bruce White started the Earlybird 14 years ago as an alternative to a local meet that was lacking some things he thought a meet should have. He started with a modest 3 schools and with a great course at NMC the meet grew each year little by little. When I was coaching at San Benito I brought my team to the Earlybird and enjoyed the meet. When I took over the program here at North Monterey I felt it was a great opportunity to develop the meet further. I began to contact coaches personally, sent out invitations, and added some touches to the meet to ensure that teams came back. Saturday we had 70 schools and 2,000 runners. It has been a great thing to watch develop. 

7) How do you attract students to your programs (cross country and track and field) at NMC? North Monterey County has always had a great tradition in cross country and track with about 20 league titles in each sport in only 27-28 years. The coaches that have been here are some of the best and have set the bar very high; it has forced me to jump! Keith Condon, Roger O’Sullivan, and Bruce White are legends in these parts. I recruit heavily. Kids literally run from me in the halls, they know what I’m coming for. Most say no, the ones that say yes build the team. And, I have every runner recruit ONE kid, pretty simple. Our numbers have come down a tad but I’m not happy unless I can get 60-70 boys, at least. 

8) Can you share with us some of your key workouts during cross country? There are several. Today we did a hill workout that we love. Not fancy, just tough. Later we do our measured staple of 6x800’s in 5:00 cycles. The times in that workout over the years are fun to compare and some legends have been made. But, overall, it’s putting one foot in front of the other and I make sure to throw out what hasn’t worked in the past and I’m not afraid to try new things, even if we fail. Plus, we keep things fun. Ultimate Frisbee, Hounds and Hares, Soccer, Tag, etc. are all part of what we do. 

9) How do you get kids motivated to run during the summer? It’s getting harder to do… I have a running club, the Tri County Running Club, that is open to runners of all ages and several of my high school kids do that but for the most part I trust them to make a plan before summer, share that plan with me and their captains, and then get to work. The captains do much of the work over that time to check progress. 

10) Looking back at your coaching career, can you identify a coaching highlight? I guess coaching a team that was happy just to win league back in 2002 and then watching them develop some vision and work ethic to a couple of CCS titles, a 4th place at state in 2003, and a runner-up finish at state in 2004 by only 7 points has to be it. Another highlight will probably develop this year. We graduated 6 of our top 7 from last year and are lining up a slew of untested 18-minute runners. We’ll see where we can take this group. 

11) You are in charge of cross country in CA. Any suggestions how we can make this a better sport for our athletes? Build a few more real cross country courses and let the kids wear spikes! 

12) Anything else you would like to add. Thank you for your enthusiasm and for your contributions to this wonderful sport!!!!! Coach Ibarra North Monterey County HS 

Thank you very much for your time Coach!

Northern California Cross Country Newspaper Links...

•Carlmont's Petersen second in big cross-country race but a 'little disappointed' in her time
•Rancho Cotate Invitational Results: Lockert and Taylor winners
•High hopes accompany cross country season (Half Moon Bay HS)
•It's a runner's world (San Benito HS)

If you have any links to any articles that pertain to Northern CA Cross Country, please send them to albertjcaruana@gmail.com

CCS Division V rankings will be posted by the end of this week and Northern California rankings will be posted on Sunday.

California Cross Country Maps by Walt Lange of Jesuit HS

Cross Country course maps used to look like the one above...yawn! (NCS course at Hayward HS).

But now, xc maps have a few more bells and whistles as you can see by the map below courtesy of Walt Lange of Jesuit HS in Carmichael. (State meet course at Woodward Park).

You can view the rest of his collection of California Cross Country course maps at the following link:
http://www.jesuittrack.org/mapscentral.html

Also, if you have some free time, you should also check out the front page of his website. It's a great resource for distance coaches.
http://www.jesuittrack.org/

Specific Goals Get Results by Mike Sherwood

Sports research shows that setting goals is the most effective way to improve athletic performance. Cross country running competition lends itself perfectly to goal setting because the outcome measure is an available number and not as dependent on the performance of competitors or teammates as other sports. Beyond improving performance, setting specific performance goals benefits coaches and runners of all skill levels in many ways.

Of course, we want all cross country runners to strive to improve their times, regardless of skill or ranking on the team and whether or not their efforts count toward team competition. With large team sizes, relatively few runners contribute to the team score and many runners’ result can get lost. When each runner runs to meet performance goals, each can feel he or she has a purpose for participating in cross country. In addition to instilling purpose, when runners themselves set these goals, they feel more personal responsibility for their performance. When runners review race goals with their coaches, the interaction connects them with the coach and each runner knows that the coach cares about and recognizes their efforts. When the runner determines a specific goal for the upcoming meet, focus improves and training energizes. When a runner meets his or her set goal, hard work seems worth it! By setting challenging but achievable goals, runners succeed, feel more confident and approach training and racing with enthusiasm. Runners with positive attitudes stay engaged the entire season, and are more likely to remain in cross country throughout high school.

Coaches and teams also benefit when goals guide training. First and foremost, both individual and team performance improves. Goals are not just for the fastest runners. Setting and achieving goals for all runners creates an atmosphere of success that increases morale and motivation throughout the team, all season long. Having every member on the team set a goal at every race insures interaction between coach and runner every week. This way, coaches let their team know that every runner and every race matters to them. You can, design a training program around reaching for goals and this focus increases coach/runner involvement, allows you to teach kids how to set goals, and encourages celebrating the accomplishments of the team, as a whole and as individuals. A few words about goal-setting: Frequently, teams use “do your best” goals. Research demonstrates that these don’t work as well as specific achievable goals based on past performances on specific courses. . Interestingly enough, coaches often need to rein in kids’ very aggressive, often unrealistic goals. Effective goals should be only 5%-15% percent better than past performances so that athletes are 90% likely to reach their new goals. It’s the specificity and attainability that makes goals effective

While many of these benefits are understood by coaches, few teams have the bandwidth to set goals systematically. I’ve interviewed many cross country coaches and the most common reason, even for small teams, is that setting specific goals for all runners and races can overwhelm a coach’s time and attention. To set appropriate goals, the runner and coach need to have easy access to past performances on all courses, then a way to set and review goals efficiently. There are many ways to solve this (and yes, XCStats is one). The benefits are compelling.

Mike Sherwood
XCStats.com

Mike Sherwood is the creator of XCStats.com, a site designed for high school cross country teams for keeping stats, identifying improvements and managing the process of creating and reviewing goals. XCStats was developed through Mike’s work with his kids’ cross country team at Archbishop Mitty in San Jose and is available to all California high schools.

You can read more about goal setting by downloading a chapter on the subject from Sport Psychology for Coaches, excerpted with permission from Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL and provided courtesy of XCStats.

NCS Pre-Season Division V Rankings

The season of '08 offers a few changes for the North Coast Section as several teams join the section (Fremont Christian, Redwood Christian and Valley Christian-Dublin) and one team (Crystal Springs Uplands) leaves to join the Central Coast Section. So what do those changes mean for the section? Time will tell but at this point the new teams (most notably Redwood Christian) will inject a new challenger in the boy's race.

The defending boys' team champions, Red Devils of San Francisco University HS, will once again be the favorites to win the team battle. Following their 7 straight NCS titles, University was handed a rare loss in 2006 by College Prep but UHS quickly rebounded to soundly win last year's title (58 to 102). They packed 6 in the top 20 last year and return 5 out of the top 7 which includes their top 4 runners-Robert Kealhofer, Weishen Mead, David Kealhofer and Miles Horton.

Berean Christian should be their closest challengers as they return their top 6 runners including their tough 1/2 punch of Matthew Day and Tyler Deniston. College Prep, last year's 2nd place finishers, only return 3 of their top 7 but will have a strong front runner (Charlie Sauter) and have made it a habit of going to Fresno on Thanksgiving weekend.

The two wild cards in this division includes Redwood Christian which had a trio of sophomores last year finish in the top 6 at the CCS final including the individual champion, Josh Macdonald. If they can find two runners to go along with their talented juniors, RC could challenge the previously mentioned teams. The second wild card will be St. Joseph Notre Dame which claimed the last state meet spot last year and return 6 out of 7 from that team.

The individual title chase could be a good one this year as there are no clear favorites. The top returner is Charlie Sauter of College Prep who finished 6th last year. UHS will add the Kealhofer twins and Weishen Mead to the list of challengers. Day and Deniston for BC will also contend along with Macdonald of RC who has a rare chance to win an NCS title to go along with his CCS title. Steven Iglehart of Branson had a spectacular track season and a fine effort at the Dipsea to stamp himself as another contender. Skyler Thomas of Mendocino had an equally impressive track season and will be a player this coming season.

The favorites for the girls' team will be College Prep and Marin Academy. CPS just outdistanced MA last year by a score of 68 to 70 and this year's race should be equally as tight. If I had to give a slight edge to one team, it would be to CPS who return their entire top 7. MA will return the majority of their team including the defending individual champion but will be without the graduated Alesandra Roger who is now running for the Cal Bears.

Last year, four teams (CPS, MA, University and Crystal Springs Uplands) clearly separated themselves from the field to take the four state meet berths. One of those teams (CSU) will now be in CCS which means one spot should be available for several teams to battle for that last elusive trip to Fresno. Those teams should include Lick Wilmerding, Head Royce, Chinese Christian, Rincon Valley Christian and Santa Rosa Christian.

Unlike the boys, the girls will have a favorite for the individual title and that goes to the defending champion, Lucy McCullough of Marin Academy. She enjoyed an equally successful track season and will look to repeat this year. Her main challengers will include Adrienne Strait of CPS, Eliza Weiss of MA, Jessica Ho of CCS, CPS teammates Barbara Barnes and Emily Erickson, and Grace Hafner of Sonoma Academy.
Division V Boys (Top 5 Advance to state)
1) University-Looking to return to state podium again this year.
2) Berean Christian-Experienced team ready to challenge for title.
3) College Prep-No stranger to state meet trips.
4) Redwood Christian-3 very strong runners lead the way.
5) St. Joseph Notre Dame-Qualified for state meet last year.
On the bubble: South Fork, Stuart Hall, Lick Wilmerding

Top 5 returning individuals, (place) & 2007 NCS meet time:
Charlie Sauter (6) College Prep 16:16
Robert Kealhofer (8) SF University 16:25
Weishen Mead (9) SF University 16:29
David Kealhofer (10) SF University 16:32
Matthew Day (11) Berean Christian 16:36

Division V Girls (Top 4 Advance to state)
1) College Prep-Defending champions return everybody.
2) Marin Academy-Finished here last year.
3) University-Don't count them out.
4) Lick Wilmerding-Top 4 runners are back.
5) Head Royce-Team to watch with good young talent.
On the bubble: Santa Rosa Christian, Chinese Christian

Top 5 returning individuals, (place) & 2007 NCS meet time:
Lucy McCullough (1) Marin Academy 18:37
Adrienne Strait (5) College Prep 19:14
Eliza Weiss (6) Marin Academy 19:18
Barbara Barnes (7) College Prep 19:21
Emily Erickson (9) College Prep 20:11

CCS Division V rankings will be up next followed by the first installment of Northern California rankings.

Feel free to comment on the above rankings or any of the previous rankings. We'll get our first taste of competition this coming weekend as several teams will make their debut.

Northern California Newspaper coverage...

High School
•2008 cross country outlook (Modesto Bee)
•M-A boys seek title in cross country (Daily News)
•Runners go underwater (Half Moon Bay Review)
•Braves ranked second in section (Napa Valley Register) Cross Country Express and Matt Duffy get a little plug.

College
•HSU Men roll again, women get quicker (Times-Standard)
• Men's Cross Country Sixth At USF Invitational (San Jose State Spartans)
• Women's Cross Country Finishes Fifth At USF Invitational (San Jose State Spartans)
•Riley leads Stanford men's cross country team to title (Palo Alto Online)
•Cal: Cal Women Victorious at San Francisco Invitational (NCAA.com)

Earlybird preview by Gustavo Ibarra

2008 Earlybird Invitational Preview by Coach Gustavo Ibarra

With the Beijing Olympics in the rear-view mirror, we are anxious to get the “real games” going, cross country! North Monterey County High School is proud to present the 14^th Annual Earlybird Invitational! We’re set for a 3^rd year at Toro Park (2008 CCS Championships Site) in Salinas during delays on a new course at NMC. It will be bigger and better than ever with more than 70 teams and around 2,500 athletes expected to participate this Saturday, Sept. 6^th. Races will be held by grade levels for both genders with combined team times being used for overall bragging rights. This may be the most competitive early-season meet in the state of California with many state and section ranked teams and individuals. The 2008 edition will welcome our first visitors from mighty Southern California as well as our traditional line-up of powerhouse squads from the north and central part of the state. The Central Coast Section will put on a show with 18 of the top 25 ranked girl squads and 17 of the top 25 boy squads on hand including the top ranked squads in both genders. Hold on! As cross country is a true team sport, we’ll start by highlighting the top teams followed by the top individuals.

Let’s get started with the GIRLS. With the Olympics in mind, we have 3 squads that should take gold, silver, and bronze. But, in what order? The two-time defending Earlybird champions from Carlmont are back and come in ranked 1^st overall in CCS DI as well as #4 overall in the very elite “CA Super 31 Rankings”! They lost a great senior crew from last year but have some fantastic leaders to carry on. But, they will have their hands full. St. Ignatius was one second back of Carlmont last year and may “Bolt” to gold this year as they return their top 5 and have the defending state champion on board! They are ranked 1^st in CCS DIII and may be under-ranked at #28 in all of CA. And our last medal favorite, Mountain View, makes their Earlybird debut and may have a “Phelps like” finish on their first try! They are ranked 2^nd in CCS DII and 12^th overall in CA. Aptos would like to play spoiler and not be 4^th without hardware. They are ranked 2^nd in CCS DIII. Leland, with their great sister combo, was 5^th here last year and looks to be about the same here with a CCS #3 DII ranking. Gilroy is putting together quite a program with a #2 CCS DI ranking. Presentation took the bronze here last year and comes in #4 in CCS DII. Valley Christian features one of the best up-front runners and comes in #3 in CCS DIII. Host North Monterey County would love to please the host crowd with their #4 CCS DIII ranking. Saratoga will be eyeing host NMC for future CCS showdowns at #5 in CCS DIII. And, keep an eye on San Lorenzo Valley, the most under-ranked team not even showing in the top 25 CCS rankings. That won’t last. Some squads to watch for from out of the area include Clovis West, Enterprise, Escalon, Las Lomas, Madera, Madera South, and our new friends from the southland, Redondo Union.

The race for top individual girl honors could be fierce as we have on hand FOUR defending CCS Champs from their respective divisions as well as a different CCS Champ from the spring 2 mile! Also, to make things interesting, one is a two-time CCS Cross Country Champ, the defending STATE CHAMP in DIII, and the Earlybird meet record holder from the course at NMC back in her 9^th grade year! The girls will be running in grade level races, so we’ll break it down by class.

The senior girls’ race should go down as the most competitive of the meet with 6-7 gals as co-favorites! We have 5 girls on the top 25 all-time list at Toro in this race! All-everything Justine Fedronic (Carlmont) has had some ups and downs but we’re hoping her senior campaign kicks off in fine style and that she’s able to use her 2:11 800 speed on the homestretch. Her 18:24 is #13 all-time at Toro. She’ll have her hands full with defending Earlybird champ Katy Daly (St. Ignatius) who ran 18:32 last year for the top time of the meet. She shocked everyone as a 9^th grader three years ago blazing an 18:03 at the North Monterey County course! Her time tied her with Ciari Viehweg, also from St. Ignatius, for the course record. She has won the CCS DIII title twice and iced the cake with a state title last year!! Her 18:23 is #12 all-time at Toro. Watch for her to push the pace early and make it a “Prefontaine style” race. Stephanie Barnett (Leland) was 2^nd here last year and also likes to push the pace early. She’s a two time defending CCS Champ and cruised an 18:07 at Toro last year making her #4 all-time at the park. Jennifer Bergman (Valley Christian) came back in grand style winning CCS DIV last year as well as her 9^th grade year and topped it with a runner-up finish at state! She returns with the fastest time of 17:25 at the historic Crystal Springs course. Chloe Allen (Clovis West) would like nothing more than to spoil the CCS party with her fine 11:06 2 mile good for 14^th in state. Hayley Pascale (Carlmont) returns and could sneak in for a podium medal! Her 18:37 at Toro is #25 all-time. Mary Reynolds (Mountain View) has great speed with a 5:01 mile and sits at #19 all-time at Toro with an 18:33. Her teammate, Alex Westbrook, should be along for the ride. Jean Feng (Monta Vista), Kathleen Miller (Gilroy), and Courtney Allen (San Benito) are as solid as they come. Also keep and eye on Kayla Matsuda (James Lick), Katie Nast (Saratoga), Kristine Talbot (Mountain View), Kelsey Johnson (Santa Cruz), Gina Horath (Aptos), Rebekah Phillips (Presentation), and Jerri Spence (Enterprise). The senior girls’ team race may go to Earlybird new-comer Mountain View with St. Ignatius a strong 2^nd. Sobrato, Monta Vista, and Presentation should battle for bronze.

The junior girls’ race features a couple of “mighty-mites”. Samantha Hamilton (Half Moon Bay), the defending Earlybird Champ, stormed onto the scene as a freshman. The small efficient strider blazed an 18:25 at Toro 2 years ago to win CCS DIV, which moved her to #14 all-time at the park and set a freshman park record! Marissa Ferrante (Aptos) is our pick as the next CCS superstar with 4:52 mile and 10:54 2 mile credentials. She’s another very efficient strider that may make us think we’re seeing double. Chloe Curtis (Redondo Union) and Alicia Brown (Madera South) both ran a 2:11 800 and went sub 5 for the mile and could take the gold, especially if the pace is slow early on! Jovita Trujillo (North Monterey County) was good for silver last year and continues to lead the host school. Georgia Cottong (Carlmont) shocked with a 4:58 mile. Carina Mendoza (Madera) should represent the valley very well. Jessica Hopf (Gilroy) won bronze last year. Transfer Kendra Higgins (Valley Christian) won an Earlybird race while at Sobrato. Keep an eye on rising stars Claudia Barnett (Leland), Nadine Huerta (North Monterey County), Libby Brokaw (Las Lomas), and Peral Rivers (Escalon). A re-match of the best team race last year will entertain as St. Ignatius won on a 6^th runner tie-breaker to Saratoga and were followed by Las Lomas only 1 point back!! And, Notre Dame-San Jose could steal the whole show!!!

The sophomore girls’ should be led by mega talent Rachel Hinds (St. Ignatius). She burst onto the CA running scene last year with her 18:56 race win here, a CCS DIII title, and an 8^th place in state! Noticeably absent during track, she will once again run over hill and dale. But, if track has helped anyone, it has thrust Jesse Peterson (Carlmont) right into the role of co-favorite here. She was 30 seconds back and 2^nd to Rachel here last year but cranked a 10:56 2 mile to win the CCS title! Flip a coin folks! Hannah Farr (St. Ignatius) returns to try and nab another top 3 finish. Akaysha Tahliwal (Madera South) has had a great summer and could surprise. Tanya Naranjo (Santa Cruz) returns, as do Amanda Schallert, Bridget Sullivan, Jacquelyn Urbina, Allison Siu, and Caileen Viehweg all from St. Ignatius! St. Ignatius will put on quite a show here. Last year they had a perfect 1-5 team sweep and a score of 15 to romp the competition! That’s unheard of in fields this size!! Leland looks to repeat with silver and Los Gatos and Presentation for bronze.

The freshman girls’ are a mystery but some teams will rise in stock very quickly after this one is done.

The BOYS will put on a show with the highest quality field ever assembled at Earlybird! Many state and section ranked teams and individuals highlight the meet. If that’s not enough, how about a CCS preview? 7 out of the top 9 ranked CCS teams are here! And, 5 teams in the “CA Super 31 Rankings” will toe the line in the first week of September!

2002 Champs? Madera. 2003 Champs? Madera. 2004 Champs? Madera. 2005 Champs? Madera. 2006 Champs? Madera. 2007 Champs? Madera! Well, we thought the streak would end 3 years ago as well as last year and the Coyotes came through like the champs that they are! But, all streaks come to an end and this may be the end of the greatest run in Earlybird history. Mountain View makes their Earlybird debut and they lead 5-6 teams that may spoil the Madera party. They come in ranked 1^st overall in CCS and 12^th overall in CA! Redondo Union makes history as the first Southern Section squad at Earlybird and may take gold ranked 14^th overall in CA! Flip a coin between DIII state powers Aptos, ranked 23^rd in all of CA, and Willow Glen, ranked 24^th in all of CA after placing 3^rd and 4^th in state last year! Bellarmine cracked the “Super 31” state teams at #31 and are ranked 1^st in CCS DI. St. Ignatius is always lurking ranked 3^rd in CCS DIII. Carlmont took some graduation hits but re-loaded nicely at #2 in CCS DI. Palma has developed some depth to compliment their leader at #1 in CCS DIV. San Benito and Serra will like to play spoilers as the #3 and #4 DI CCS schools. Madera has a great leader, will take their hits, and keep on fighting. Madera South joins the party and is led by their new coach that guided Madera during their current Earlybird win streak! Monterey, Sobrato, Los Gatos, Leland, and Evergreen Valley should also fare well. Host North Monterey County graduated 6 out of their top 7 but did not sulk over the summer. And, Clovis West, Enterprise, Las Lomas, and Escalon didn’t drive this far just to show up.

The senior boys’ race should be quite special with seasoned Earlybird veterans clashing with some out of the area newcomers! Tyre Johnson (Palma) had the breakthrough performance of the meet last year and will seek to repeat as Earlybird Champ! He has a 15:27 Toro time, good for 8^th all-time, to his credit. He later cruised a 9:17 2 mile and unfortunately most did not notice that he placed 2^nd to German Fernandez (Riverbank) at state as German set the Woodward Park record of 14:24!! German has since gone on to legendary status breaking the national 2 mile record with an 8:34!!! Cody Schmidt (Redondo Union) cruised a 9:10 2 mile and is ready to win Earlybird on his first try. Lance Wolfsmith (Sobrato) won as a sophomore and was 2^nd last year. I’m sure he would like to go out on top. Rylan Hunt (Aptos) is poised to have a spectacular senior year after a bit of roller coaster career. His 4^th place at state in the mile and a 4:13 best has him on quite a rise. And, his 15:43 at Toro for #17 all-time shows he knows how to run this tricky course. Jesse Arellano (Madera) had a historic freshman debut at Earlybird with a freshman record by 21 seconds with a fantastic 16:21. He was a bit off as a sophomore but bounced back with a 3^rd place run last year. Senior year may be the cherry on top. Nohe Lema (Willow Glen) has taken the mantle of leadership and may have the greatest up-side here. Cody’s twin, Simon Schmidt (Redondo Union), will make you scratch your head as you see double. Brennan Lynch (Santa Cruz), Dayne Gradone (Aptos), Jake Arveson (Monterey), Alan Menezes (Saratoga), Greg Innes (St. Ignatius), Kian Banks (Saratoga), Chris Pedro (Carlmont), Lawrence Smith (Bellarmine), Valentino Julien (Willow Glen), and Peter Birsinger (St. Ignatius) complete the power packed line-up. The senior team battle will be fierce with Bellarmine seeking a repeat win and Willow Glen, Palma, and St. Ignatius chasing.

The junior boys’ race will have Gregory Harper (Las Lomas) going for his 3^rd Earlybird win! 17:06 2 years ago, 16:29 last year, maybe sub 16:00 this year? Dalton Guthrie (Bellarmine) missed the win by one second last year and may know how to beat Gregory now to end the streak. But, Gregory and Dalton may be out of luck. Garrett Rowe (Mountain View) makes his debut and should end the streak quick if he’s healthy. He was 5^th in state last year and breezed to a 4:22 mile. His teammate Ian Myjer is also a rising star to watch. Kellen Levy (Clovis West) went 9:34 for 2 miles. Mitch Moriarty (Aptos) will carry the torch for his team next year. Also watch race veterans Nathan Lee (Carlmont), Zach Kaylor (Enterprise), KC Green (Las Lomas), Alan Rios (Sobrato), Nick Olsen (Saratoga), Miguel Gallegos (North Monterey County), and Michael Reher (St. Ignatius). Remington Besnoin (Redondo Union) joins the party this year. Las Lomas asserted themselves last year in this team race and Monta Vista, Serra, and North Monterey County will give chase.

In the sophomore boys’ race Domenic D’Aquisto (Enterprise) returns to go for win #2. He ran a fine 17:10 last year and will need to go sub 16:30 to hold the contenders at bay. He blazed the track with a 9:28 2 mile at state as a 9^th grader! Isaiah Lorenzo (Madera South) was just off of that with his 9:34 2 mile! Carl Gracely (Las Lomas) was only 3 ticks back of the win last year. Ben Bunk (Carlmont), Jesse He (Monta Vista), and Kevin Xie (Leland) return to challenge. Watch Jose Castillo (San Benito). He was only 15^th last year but should move up this time around. Carlmont returns to defend their team title but will be challenged by San Benito and Las Lomas, Monta Vista, Bellarmine, and Madera South will also contend.

The freshmen boys’ race will just keep us hoping they don’t go the wrong way.

Since the meet will be at Toro Park once again, we’ll keep an eye on the clock and see the Toro Park record books take some major hits. Matthew Petrillo (Los Gatos-2006) holds the park record at 15:12. We think there are 2-3 guys in the field that could flirt with that, especially later in the year! The boys will have to dip under 15:51 to make the all-time top 25 list. We’re looking at 6-8 guys that could do that this weekend! Tori Tyler (Gunn-2004) blazed a 17:16 and threw down a mark that will be hard to challenge for quite some time. To give you some perspective, #2 on the all-time Toro list is 17:53! To make the top 25, the girls will have to run 18:37. We’re looking at 4-5 girls that could do that here!

As far as team time records are concerned, Los Gatos boys ran a course record of 80:45 2 years ago. The 16:09 average for their scoring 5 may be safe for now with challenges coming later in the season. The girls’ team time record of 96:01 also set by Los Gatos 2 years ago doesn’t seem as safe. Averaging 19:12 for their top 5 girls is quite special, but, if Carlmont comes in healthy, watch out! Good luck to all and we hope you enjoy the meet!

2008 EARLYBIRD WILL BE THE BEST EVER, GUARANTEED!

Visit our meet website for coverage! http://nmcxc.tripod.com/ and http://www.dyestatcal.com/will be on hand!

Enjoy folks!
Coach Ibarra
North Monterey County High School Cross Country

North Monterey County Cross Country & Track and Field
http://nmcxc.tripod.com/
Hartnell College Track & Field
http://www.hartnell.edu/athletics/track_and_field/
Tri County Running Club
http://tricountyrunningclub.tripod.com/
Mr. Ibarra's Class Website
http://spanishlanguagearts.tripod.com/

Will be gone for a few days...

School will be off and running on Wednesday and I will not be posting for a couple of days. I will post the Division V pre-season rankings for NCS and CCS when I return.

Until then enjoy the following link which is the 2nd part of a clinic review:
•2^nd Annual Maine Coach & Athlete Cross Country Clinic (Part II: Nutrition Basics & Fueling for Performance)