With the Boys Varsity cross country runners currently tied for third place in the league with seven points and the Varsity girls placed fourth with six points, the team maintains high hopes of making it to C.I.F.
“Our expectations this year is to make C.I.F.,” Senior Ryan Lau said. “We’re close, but we aren’t going to make it unless we continue to push ourselves and put our full effort into it.”
During their league meet on Oct. 14, the first of three meets at La Crescenta Valley Park, the Varsity boys placed third, and during the Woodbridge Invitational on Sept. 18, many runners medalled. Sophomore Alex Ortega even won first place in his Varsity race. With the addition of several strong freshman runners, the team has elevated its rankings in the Rio Hondo League.
On Oct. 3 during the Staub Barnes Invitational, the sophomore and freshmen girls placed third overall in team scores, with the sophomores scoring a total of 82 points and the freshmen with 123 points. The freshmen boys were only five points away from placing in the top three overall team scores. In the Varsity race, Ortega was leading for the most part until he missed a turn in the last 200 meters, allowing his competitors to catch up and resulting in him earning third place with a time of 17:44.22.
The boy and girl runners rigorously prepared for the season with exercises that worked to build their endurance. During the school year, the team practices five days from Monday to Saturday, excluding race days. Practices are three miles or longer, incorporating either length and endurance, or intensity and speed.
Part of the runners’ drive comes from Coach Tomasulo’s support and encouragement. Runners like Lau utilize Tomasulo’s support as a source of motivation. Tomasulo anticipates that through hard work, the runners will be able to succeed.
“In cross country, the luck factor plays zero part,” Coach Mike Tomasulo said. “It’s basically your talent and how hard you work along with how hard you train.”
Although the runners face their own obstacles, such as lack of enough endurance or sleep, through their hardwork and determination, they plan to keep pushing themselves in order to make C.I.F.
“This season seems to be going really well so far,” Sophomore Leslie Ma said. “Everyone’s been working really hard during our past few meets and practices. Together, we’ve helped each other push through and our main goal is to get ready for our next ‘enchilada’- league finals.”