Ayalagirls reclaim Sierra League title

Pete Marshall,Staff Writer             

WALNUT- Ayala was the dominant girls cross country program in the Sierra League foryears and won 15 consecutive league titles at one point.

That impressive streak ended two years ago, but on Tuesday, after Chino Hills' two-year run as league champions, the Bulldogs are back.

Ayala edged out St. Lucy's 38-44 at the Sierra League Finals at Mt. San Antonio College to capture the 2009 league title.

The teams had each won one of the regular-season league races. Tuesday's result determined the league crown.

"We haven't won league since 2006," Ayala girls coach Dawn Staab said.

"Chino Hills had kicked our butts. But we ran well today."

On a hot, dry afternoon with air quality affected by a fire in Diamond Bar, it was survival of the fittest.

"Cross country is about dealing with adversity," Staab said.

After winner Lauren Justus of Glendora, St. Lucy's had the next two finishers,second- place finisher Taylor Hebb (19:07) and third-place Marissa Horton (19:12).

But Ayala had six of the next nine runners (led by fourth- place finisher Chandler Colquitt) to take the title.

"Honestly, we're disappointed," St. Lucy's coach Tony Reyes said. "Our goal was to win league."

St.Lucy's hasn't won a league title since 1997, but Reyes said an injury to his daughter, Mariah, hurt their chances. Mariah Reyes finished 19th.

Teams will advance into different CIF divisions for the CIF-SS Prelims Nov. 14. Ayala is ranked No. 10 in Division II while St. Lucy's is No. 5 in Division III.

It was not a big surprise that Glendora (ranked No. 2 in Division II) won the boys team title in scoring an impressive 25 points with the top three finishers: Kelly Hernandez (15:58), Austin Mendoza (16:03) and Austin Goodheart(16:09).  Justin Wright finished in fourth (16:13) to lead Ayala to a second-place finish and a second-place overall finish.

Chino Hills finished third in both boys and girls races and qualified for CIF in both. The top three teams in league qualify for CIF, plus finishers in the top six on non-qualifying teams.

"Our goal today was to finish in third," Chino Hills coach Jim Bergmann said.

"And we were able to accomplish that."

There was a scary moment earlier in the afternoon when Ayala junior Kassandra Cervantes collapsed at the end of the junior varsity race and had to be takento a hospital.

"She's been No. 1 in most of our JV races this year," Staab said. "But in the last 300 meters, her legs started to buckle. She finished, but then she collapsed. I think it's dehydration. I'm sure she'll be OK."

Ayala has catching up to do

PeteMarshall, Staff Writer

Created: 09/29/2009 10:31:29 PM PDT

SANDIMAS - Last year's battle for the Sierra League boys cross country crown camedown to Glendora and Ayala.Glendora won the first league meet, Ayala won the second and Glendora eked out a win in the third to earn the league title. For Ayala to win the second league meet after losing the first like last year, it's going to have alot of ground to make up.

On a cloudy and unseasonably cool afternoon at Bonelli Park on Tuesday, Glendora easily won the first league meet of 2009 with a score of 22 while Ayala was a distant second at 47. Last year, Glendora edged out Ayala in the first boys race, 28-35.

OnTuesday, Ayala won the girls race with 31 points, followed by St. Lucy's with52.

"I knew Glendora returned a lot and they ran well today," Ayala boys coach Steve Pye said. "And we didn't run our best.  "I told them, `We did it last year, and we can do it again.' "  Glendora had four of the top five finishers and six of the top 11, led by winner Anthony Castro in 16:02. Ayala's top finisher was Taylor Nasu, who was third in 16:19.   "We don't have a guy like (graduated) Tyler Reed, who you know is going to win, but we had a good pack," Pye said. "And Taylor Nasu ran a very good race."  The Ayala boys had five in the top 16 and all seven in the top 20.

The Ayala girls, ranked ninth in CIF-Southern Section Division II, also had their top finisher take third (Katie Weitz, 19:18), but had all seven runners finish among the top 12.  "I'm very happy," Ayala girls coach Dawn Staab said. "We're young, but this team continues to surprise me every week." Staab said Ayala's goal was to "sweep all five races," including three boys and two girls races.They won four and lost only the varsity boys. 

With temperatures much cooler than the 100 degrees routinely registered in the last couple of weeks, it would seem that would equalize the course. Coaches seemed to agree that especially for the first league race of the season, these were the coolest temperatures in at least four or five years.

But for some asthma sufferers like Chino Hills' Jenna Carpenter, it was a big help. The heat and dust did not bother Carpenter like they often do, and she won a league race for the first time with a time of 18:48. She beat runner-up Taylor Hebb of St. Lucy's by 20 seconds.  "I took the lead during the second (of two) laps and kept a fast pace," Carpenter said. "I wanted to win."

Chino Hills finished third among the boys with 82 points, followed by Diamond Bar with 88. Chino Hills also was third among the girls with 56 points. Diamond Bar came in fourth with 125.

13. Ayala Bulldogs (Southern Section)
Rich's Ranking Tier Classification: 2
Coach:  Steve Pye
League: Sierra
2008 Finish:  Placed 7th at State Meet in Division II
Returnees:  Five veterans are back.
2009 Outlook:  After a few postseason setbacks in recent years, the Bulldogs enjoyed their mightiest season close in recent 
memory with a celebratory seventh-place finish at the state meet in what evolved to be a great divisional with some of the 
nation's best teams. Though Ayala graduated frontrunner Tyler Reed, the Bulldogs return plenty, led by a tightly-packed senior 
quartet that includes Cole Firman, Taylor Nasu, Justin Wright and Alex Keifer -- all four within 14 seconds of each other (16:18 
to 16:32 at Woodward Park) at the state meet! It appears the Bulldogs turned a corner in 2008 and continuing that pattern 
in 2009 puts them right in in the CIF-SS Division II title hunt!

Email Head Boys Coach Pye

Email Head Girls Coach Staab

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