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Oct 22, 2007 -- Jaguar Invitational

10/22/2007 Cross Country (UPDATED: 2/28/2008)

The Jaguar Invitational in Escondido turned out to be a pretty nice meet for us to attend.

REVIEW: Competing in the large school division, our boys ran 87:51 (compared to 89:24 last year) and finished third in the meet to Patrick Henry and Mater Dei. Our girls ran 85:27 (compared to 83:19 last year) to also finish third in the meet (Westridge and Mater Dei beat the girls). Our squads competed against some of the best teams in the San Diego section (Mt. Carmel and University City are two of the top programs in the San Diego Section) and did a good job overall. This was the first time this year that Mater Dei has beaten our boys or our girls and this defeat (to Mater Dei) might come back to haunt us as they (Mater Dei) are Division II in our Southern Section of CIF and are not ranked. Both the boys and the girls are ranked 10th right now in CIF and must maintain this ranking these next two weeks in order to advance to the CIF playoffs.

We are proud of the fact that the boys ran 1:27 faster this year than last year but we could have finished second if everyone had executed our race plan. We simply did not work the pack very well. Some of our runners simply refused to get in the positions we are capable of occupying in a race. We have to improve on this to not only keep our ranking but to also do well if we go to CIF. When we are a few yards behind our own runners and we do not make that move to get to them, we are cheating our team of a better finish. It should not be an option if we are to develop into a top-notch team. Fortunately, we have another chance this week. I will expect all seven runners to step it up as Jordan and Ryan did in this last meet.

Even though our girls ran some 2:08 slower this year than last, it was still a little better race than the previous two weeks. Both Sarah and Madison improved on their races. I cannot put my finger on why this team has progressively been losing it's confidence and aggressiveness on the course. Where we used to always run a great second half and gain momentum, now we are dropping back. Physically, we perform well in practice, but we have problems executing our gains on race day. This can happen if we are not focused, or if we don't take rest and nutrition seriously. We stress out about other activities and are not ready mentally to race when it comes to the meets. Each one of our girls has shown me they have the toughness it takes to run successfully in races. They all have done this in the past. I still am confident that we will get it together and there is still a chance it is not too late. We have another chance and the time and pride to rebound. Let's finish the season strong and where we belong.

Our frosh/soph boys and the JV boys did a good job as well. Geoffrey and Bryan ran well for the JVs and Josh and Will did great for the frosh/soph. Both of these teams finished well in the meet.

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK: Jordan Wozniak accepted the challenge and enjoyed an excellent race (51 seconds faster this year than last year). Madison Murphy had a 12 second improvement over last year’s race. In the lower levels, Geoffrey Swedlund and Youval Yadlin also ran significantly faster this year than last year.

WEEKLY SCHEDULE:

1) Apache Invitational on Thursday, October 25, 2007 at Arcadia Park in Arcadia (WHS to I-5 North to I-605 North to I-210 West to Santa Anita Blvd. Exit on Santa Anita Blvd and turn Left. The park will be on the corner of Huntington Drive and Santa Anita. Park in the lot just past Huntington Drive).

2) The bus will leave at 11:30am again. You will be dismissed from your 4th period class. Dress at home and be ready to board the bus after 3rd period.

3) The course is flat and fast. The schedule of races is: