MSAC INVITATIONAL
Interesting day for us all at the Largest Cross Country Invitational in the World!! Colletti and Mario were terrific, made me feel like I was there watching and I'm so thankful and lucky to have such great coaches in this program! It's tough on a comparison level when half of the group ran the regular course and the other half (Freshmen and sophomores) ran 2 miles. I do feel that Candace Batsford's race and time Saturday spins out as a top 10 performance! We will try and come up with a performance measure that will figure out the Top Ten for the week. Most of our Top Ten performers were entered into those Varsity and JV Nationals races anyways.
Here's how things shake out:
Boys Ind. Sweeps: 2nd Place; 1st in DII - 80:23 Team Time (Same as 2010) Eagon and Martinez in the 15:00's, Martinez going for it this year! Times were not stellar or worthy of this great group. Tighten it up now and championships will be plenty.
JV Boys Nationals: 10th Place; 3rd in DII - Keifer and Avila both in the 16:00's - Keifer spins back onto Varsity
JV Girls Nationals: 10th Place; 5th in DII - Baughman makes a substantial comeback in 19:15 spinning her into Varsity. PR's were plenty in this crew
Girls Varsity: 5th Place - Beat by 3 teams that aren't even in our zip code. Kylie out today with injury and we failed to fill in the blanks. #4-7 PR! Group falls farther behind each week with no rhyme or reason. We will switch up the lineup drastically next week. Looking for great!
Girls Soph: 4th Place - Russavage, Feltdz and Chen ruled the top 15 in a shortened 2 Mile course.
Girls Frosh: 3rd Place - Batsford kills it with 2 weeks of running under her belt! What a talent and could come into play at crucial CIF Time!! Tighe up & coming
Boys Soph: 5th Place - Hooper back in action when it counts most! Hum, Loera and Newmann hot on his heels. FS rally for League - yes!!!
Boys Frosh: 5th Place - Ramirez in his best race of the season! Moran & Li charging the whole way!
Girls JV: 5th Place - Ramirez again charging back after an injury laden season. Ngo, Cordero, Sullivan and Tolman make a nice pack.
Boys JV: 9th Place - Huge PR from very capable when he wants to be Lucas Lam. Biedermann also runs big PR!
17 Girls PR'd out of 24 in the 3 Mile Race!!!
13 Boys PR'd out of 22 in the 3 Mile Race!!
The championship part of our season began Saturday. The boys spun out as a Top 3 Team in CIF today and are very close to 2nd place Loyola. Top 2 teams make the podium at CIF. We are worthy of this spot, but not with the times Saturday. Believe in yourself guys, and you will be surprised at the results. Run and expect it to happen, run with minimal discomfort, run with negative thoughts, run and not be hungry enough and you're 7th - still qualifying for State but throwing away the opportunity for greatness, and we think that's what this team is in this for.
We started this season with the two fastest teams in the history of Ayala!! Live up to the dream. It's not a term pulled out of the sky, but it's based on charts, formulas, facts, and benchmarks already hit. Do you want this? Then take it! No one's position is safe. Do your part, don't be left with a bad taste in your mouth. Want this for you, but even more so, want this for your teammates!
We have 1.5 weeks until league finals. 5 weeks until State, and the goal is to have two teams on that bus. In order to do that, there can be no more mis-steps. We have to practice what we want to do every single day. If you are in that group of the top 7-9 athletes, you had better be together in training day in and day out, not coasting in the back where it's comfortable. Comfort is a thing of the past! Excuses are a forbidden word at this point. Do it for your team, show us you want it!
SIERRA LEAGUE MEET #2
Congratulations Ayala Cross Country! What a day...
The goal today - 2 Varsity Wins and as many more as we could gather. You did it! Tremendous job. We were so proud of the performances. Must have been the fantastic spaghetti dinner at The Scheerer's last night (with help from Pat Ramirez, Terri Jones, Stephanie Maudlin, Karin Muth and Renee Harrison)
Sometimes it's nice to race on the weekend and then see what more damage you can do a few days later. It gives everyone a chance to correct their mistakes or build on their successes.
Girls JV 1st Place Course Team Time Record by 2 seconds (hey, a record is a record)
Girls Varsity 1st Place Race Winner Chandler Colquitt
Boys JV 2nd Place Race Winner Jacob Keifer
Boys F/S 2nd Place Race Winner Anthony Avila
Boys Varsity 1st Place Course Record Time By Almost 2:00!!! That's the boys we know and love!
We are seeing so many breakthrough races for both our individuals and teams, and a great deal of these performances come from having confidence in what you're doing everyday and the results you're achieving out on the course. There are very few of you that aren't improving at this point of the season. Look at the positive, control what you can control, leave behind what you can't and go out and get it. We don't ever make excuses, we're Ayala!
SIERRA LEAGUE MEET #1
Today was our League Opener, and we were racing hard right out of the gate! Congratulations on a job well done. Two weeks from now, we're going to inflict some major damage as we tighten things up around here.
Congrats to the following:
Girls JV 1st Place Race Winner Katie Shadler
Boys JV 1st Place Race Winner Sammy Tran
Boys FS 3rd Place
Girls V 1st Place Race Winner Chandler Colquitt
Boys V 2nd Place
As it always is the first league meet, the sun decided to really cook the inland empire today (99 degrees) and the cool temperatures of yesterday were a distant memory. Our league is a highly competitive league, with 4 ranked teams competing. If someone has an off day, it's anyone's race and that's exactly what happened. We have a lot of fine tuning to do right now and I know you're all willing to do the work. I feel like we have one of the strongest FS teams in years, but the results were just not completely there today, but with a little concentration and hard work, we'll get there. Boys Varsity had some mis-steps that we can't afford to have against a talented Damien squad. We won't make excuses, we'll just tighten things up.
38 out of 47 Girls PR'd today!
41 out of 46 Boys PR'd today!
Those are some pretty impressive numbers.
Most Improved Girls were: Emily Dunham, Sami Kosin, and Haley Daskas.
Most Improved Boys were: George Barerra, Sean Morse, Sammy Tran, Jonathon Caruana, Peter Do, and Zachary Sikes.
Next up we have an invitational on the State Meet Course in Clovis/Fresno. Invitations will go out in the next two days.
WOODBRIDGE 2011
It's nice to look at the meet with fresh eyes, and I see that we've accomplished close to the impossible, PR's from everyone, except for three coming back from an injury, which is to be expected. We're speechless!!! Obviously more than we could ask for in that respect. The goal is to always move forward, and beginning on that note, I have to mention the school records we set today:
GIRLS JV School Record in Team Time (beating the old record by almost 6:00!!!)
FRESHMAN GIRLS School Record in Team Time (beating the old record by almost 3:00!!)
SOPHOMORE GIRLS School Record in Team Time (beating the old record by :29 seconds)
GIRLS SWEEPSTAKES School Record in Team Time (beating the old record by 1:08!!)
FRESHMAN BOYS School Record in Team Time (beating our old record by almost 2:00!!)
JUNIOR BOYS School Record in Team Time (beating our old record by 2:02!!)
BOYS RATED/VARSITY School Record in Team Time (beating our old record by 1:49!!)
For almost every squad to have beaten last year's records is a great feat, one that you have worked towards all summer long. We can really see this team building right now as many of you start to see that you CAN make a difference, and it's all based off of hard work. You cannot skate through these daily workouts and expect greatness, and you now you see what pushing yourself will bring you.
My apologies for the almost disastrous late arrival Saturday. Never in the history of getting to a meet did we meet with such adversity. Extremely frustrating and my heart went out to the girls JV. I believe they had 5 minutes of warm-up time before they went to the line. A great big thank you to Mrs. Artinian, Michelle and Santos for sitting with me in the middle of the grass and getting everyone's number pinned and ready to go for that race.
This leads me to our next section, the races of the day. While we had many, there were two that really made us happy.
GIRLS JV: We already mentioned the no warm up time, did we mention almost no racing flats to be found. These girls calmed me down, didn't complain about anything, just stepped on the line and got ready to compete. They looked at me and said, "well, at least we have adrenaline pumping!" Just a phenomenal attitude from each and every one of these girls and it paid off with a 4th place Plaque!!! The scoring top 5 girls were all under 21:00!!
BOYS RATED/VARSITY: We already knew going into this meet that we now have the fastest boys team in Ayala history running for us this season, bar none. None of them disappointed!! To take almost 2:00 off a varsity squad's amazing 2010 performance is a feat in itself, but to have three guys in the top 25 spots in a championship race, well that sets us apart from most teams. Unfortunately Damien is breathing down our necks, so get ready for the battle in league. Christian and Kenny both took turns at leading and that tells us that neither one of them is ready to concede ownership of this team. Martinez is now emerging as one of our top $$ racers.
Our Varsity Boys were the 12th fastest team of the day out of all divisions, the 3rd Fastest in DII behind Golden Valley and Hart.
Our Girls Varsity/Sweepstakes Team was not as fortunate, and was the 22nd Fastest Team of the Day. We suspect that we will take quite a dive in the rankings with 8 DII Teams in front of us.
Christian Eagon was the 26th Fastest Individual Racer of the Day and our sole 14 minuter!! Remember everyone, this is out of over 1000 boys!!! Kenny Tanner was #55 and Robert Martinez #86!!
FRESHMEN: The freshmen continue to amaze us with a truly great squad on both sides, so much so that two of the girls were 'borrowed' for the Sweepstakes race and the freshmen girls still managed to pull out 5th place and a nice plaque. The boys took 7th missing that plaque by one spot. Not too shabby for the newbies. 7 medals for the boys and 8 for the girls. The lessons of Laguna have been taken to heart and you're all improving by leaps and bounds.
GIRLS SWEEPSTAKES: Well, there were many surprises here, and while we improved as a team, so did the rest of the southern section and I would be lying if I said we brought our 'A' game today, as that was not in evidence. It's good we make these mistakes now, learn from them and move forward. This was a huge race, one with a lot of traffic and similar to what we'll see at State. Kudos to 1st time varsity athletes Kylie Eagon, truly on her road to greatness and I suspect she will never take the red jersey off for the rest of the season. Batsford gave a valiant effort and impressed us greatly after falling at the start, getting up and competing to get back in the race. Another spill of a ' I'm not really sure where this comes from' vein happened when Colquitt, Taylor and Russell knocked together and had to recover. Jackie took the reins once again to lead, but with 64th being our first runner, we're hurting. I won't even mention the obvious here, thank goodness we have the depth to cover us. Much work to be done and while I should look at the positives in time, I expect more and so should all of you.
GIRLS VARSITY #2: Well, we thought we had the depth this year to have another varsity team in action and it really paid off. The times were phenomenal with two of you entering the top 7!!! Kudos to Santos who is finally coming into her own and Morgan Tanner, sicker than a dog, sucking it up and running with heart!! Big PR's from this squad!
SOPH GIRLS: Another great group with talent and they are starting to see that if they don't start pushing it, the freshmen are going to catch them, so they're stepping up to the plate and quite nicely we might add.
SOPH BOYS: This is a dangerous group and good picking grounds for future varsity runners, perhaps this year! Nathan and Trevor surprised with great performances and brought company to the other top 4.
JUNIOR BOYS: Tran coming back from injury is almost back where he started, with Firman and Butterly hot on his heels. Many of our juniors are now running varsity, which ones from this group will move up this year?
The best thing about last night is we have incredible depth. You are all competing with each other as well as the other kids on the race course. To have a team that is this competitive is a blessing.
Thank you to those of you who took a position of leadership yesterday in setting up our camp when things were going awry. More of this please. Not happy with the 'lying like a blob' under the tent for most of the time waiting for your race. Those of you who are older and supposedly wiser, use those talents for good and cheer your teammates on, answer questions. No one is Hollywood here. I had great appreciation for those of you that chose to go to the bus last and picked up all the trash in our camp, gathered all the lost and found items and got everything back to the bus. Some of you are leaving very valuable things on the field. Finally, there were many of you that gave us notes that you were going home with parents at the meet. No more, they must come in the day before so we have an accurate count. If you hand it to us at the meet, we don't care who you are, you will not be allowed to leave. It is a huge liability to us, I'm sure you'll all understand.
We're looking forward to our next meet, which has a little more of a small town feel to it, and that is Sierra League Meet #1 a week from Tuesday. Come ready to compete. There will be no easy victories this season, and that's fine by us, for those are no fun.
LAGUNA 2011
Wow, while these times are not yet official, we can't help but be a little excited Ayala's results today. What do we call success? When 99% of you run Personal Record times!!! We're beyond thrilled at what we saw today. Ayala is now a team on the radar once again, boys and girls!
There is no other sport that trains for 13 weeks before finally seeing any action. I'll admit to more than a little frustration at the past two weeks. Wondering if THIS TEAM is THE TEAM, wondering if this year we will be the team with the targets on our back. We train very hard, and you may wonder why. Hopefully today gave you all a little taste. So many medals!!! Early season benchmarks told us we were on the right track, and with the numbers of runners we have this year come the possibility of greatness!
We saw School Team Time records (Top 5 Age Group times added together) in both Girls Senior and Girls Freshman divisions. We also saw the Junior Boys break theirs as well.
Fastest Girl and Boy of the Day were Jaclyn Gonzalez (18:25 - #2 in School History)), improving over last year’s time by :31 seconds and Christian Eagon (15:28 - #2 in School History), improving over last year’s time by 1:12 seconds! Here are our
The best news of the day,we set 2 School Records on having the 5 fastest girls and the 5 fastest boys of all timein Ayala's History. We didn't just break it by a little, we broke it by a lottle! Boys by almost 2:00, and Girls by 1:17. The teams we have this year are very competitive and the depth is incredible, and the great thing about varsity is that whether you're a freshman or a senior, if you're in the top 7, you can qualify to wear a red jersey next week at the Woodbridge Invitational.
Most Improved Boys: Peter Do, George Barerra and Bryan Eddings!
Most Improved Girls: Emily Dunham, Rebecca Russavage and Jennifer Feldtz and Daylyn Young.
Top Freshmen were Kylie Eagon (19:17) and Zach Harrison (17:32)!
Top Sophs were Kaitlyn Lopez (20:01) and Michael Delbuono (17:08)!
Top Juniors were Christian Eagon (15:28) and Breanne Baughman (19:15)
Top Seniors were Jaclyn Gonzalez (18:25) and Kenny Tanner (15:42)
BOYS: There is not a question in my mind today, Ayala is back, and back in a big way. We were never really gone, it just seemed like we were always putting teams together throughout the years and they never meshed 100% at that crucial stage. I truly believe last year was a huge wake-up call after missing the State meet by 3 points. You all realized that weakness is not an option. The work began during track season and a team has really emerged over the summer. What I saw today, was one of the strongest teams we have ever had in Ayala history, and running a team time of 79 minutes just rocked my core to what lies ahead. The hardest thing with you boys in the past has been to get you to believe that you could accomplish great things. This is that year - you've taken real ownership of this team, and true responsibility for yourselves as individuals. But nothing will come without each one of you putting in the work that lies ahead. We have depth, just like the girls, and since swicthing the training two years ago, I think we are producing a wider age range of athletes in which we can draw from. I wouldn't be surprised to see some super sophs step up to that red jersey, perhaps even a freshman by CIF time.
We had so many victories today, and those of you that ran well and feel good about your finish know that you went to battle with both your minds and your bodies today. This is not an easy sport, but it is a sport that rewards hard work, plain and simple. Remember the last interval where you think you can't do any more, then when you accomplish it, it's just more money in the bank to withdraw from at the end of the season.
We're very anxious to watch how this season will progress. We've had seasons that build, I think this will be the season of attack. I like that kind of blitz from boys teams, no fear, just get it done and you can take names later...if you have time. I fully expect to go out and win that Rated race at Woodbridge next Saturday. How many of you will fight to wear that Red Jersey at the League Meet? This will be the year we take back the boys title. It's been a long dry spell with some talented teams in the Sierra League. Now we're going to be the team to beat, and we will be unbeatable this season!
I hope you all know how important you are to the success of this team, but we will be nothing without being able to depend on each other this year.
GIRLS: I was expecting great, but not this. We debated this year in keeping the numbers so high, because it is tough to give the attention necessary to each individual, but I think this team has proven to us that there are tough individuals out here and they are even better together as a team.
Our chances with the top 7 in 2011 are the best chances we've had at a podium finish in 5 years. I think our success will lie in our depth and the ability to have people step up to the plate. There is no room for weakness because there is someone waiting in the wings to take over if something goes south, so for that I am grateful. Ayala has always been known for having girls teams that have grown the strongest their senior year. Most teams have freshmen/sophmore heavy varsity squads because in girl-ville, the younger ones can really make an impact. I remember 6 years ago an article written about us because we did the 'hard to do', produced mature athletes that got stronger every year. Well this year, I think we have the best of both worlds now and something we haven't see in several years, an amazingly talented freshman class of runners, as evidenced in today's meet in a big-time way. I think that it's put everyone on notice, and everyone realizes that there is not a moment this season for weakness. No one can afford to be left behind, because we have what I term the 'fat, dumb and happy' freshmen (of course not literally, ) but they don't know what to expect, so they just go out there and do it, and do it fantastically well, I might add.
The bonus we have, to have a team this year led by such terrific upperclassmen - we are truly blessed with their wisdom, what they've learned, what they know works, and they have been great teachers along the way. They're not an exclusive group, but rather an inclusive one and anyone can make an impact this year if you do the work. Nothing will come to any of you easily. You will have to take a risk, move out of your comfort zones and see what you're truly made of. Once we accomplish that, and I saw a great start to that Saturday, then we will be a very dangerous group. Don't think because you're #22, that you can't be top 7 by the end of the year. We've never not been surprised by what happens out there.
All this takes is belief in yourselves, and the realization that you can make a difference on this team if you try. You can continue to try and race within your comfort zones, or you can go out there and make it hurt a little more this coming Saturday night at Woodbridge, and what a place to go crazy. One of the best meets we'll attend this year! Get ready ladies, greatness is ours this year. Being humble in our achievements and gracious in accepting the challenges ahead will be priceless
TIME TRIAL #2
Huge Day!!! Today was our 2nd 2.3 Mile Team Time Trial and there were huge improvements all around. 26 out of 46 Girls PR'd today and 29 out of 48 Boys PR'd today - that's more than we had last year at this TT so give yourself a hand, especially after loading a ton of work into you over the past two weeks and upping the mileage! If you're wondering why you're tired right now, well.....
We are now 4 weeks into our training (plus 3 unofficial weeks) - and they've all been very tough weeks. This is our base period, the hard work that needs to be in place in order to be able to draw from it once we start racing.
First we breakdown, then we re-build, so for the veterans to PR right now amidst adding to their training levels is always a bonus.
The veteran boys stepped up to 70 mile weeks this week and are getting used to a pace of sub 7:00 daily. The veteran girls are at 50 running between 7:45-8:00 pace. Freshmen have also stepped it up, running 30 miles a week, many of them staying with the top runners until their turnaround. This is when our team peaks in mileage, and it will continue at this level for 5 weeks, then we start dropping to get ready for race time!
The Girls Varsity Team is 2 seconds off their course record and that's once again without #1 Taylor Khan. This year we are deep, and so are the boys! Look out Sierra League, look out State!
Your race winners were Kenny Tanner - Sr. (13:13) and Chandler Colquitt - Sr. (15:25).
The work ethic bar has been set high this season and everyone is looking to do some damage in 2011!
Top Freshmen were Candice Batsford taking almost a minute off her time and breaking into our Top 7, and Kylie Eagon, who had a very nice finish (barf) after taking over a minute and a half off her time. Tanner, Phelps and Tighe are next up to challenge.
Top Freshman Boy again was Zach Harrison, improving his time by 14 seconds and Christian Barajas and Gabriel Amancio fighting for the next two spots with a 30 second improvement by Gabriel!
First season seniors Kaydee Tolman, with Sarah Moore and Robyn Brown and Junior Edward Pak are definitely here to stay.
Most Improved Athletes are Monique Garcia (2:51), Kylie Eagon (1:26), Sierra Phelps (1:02)and George Barerra (5:09), Jonathan Caruana (4:16), and Zachary Sikes (3:25). You can see it in their daily training. If you work hard, you will get faster. Train with faster people, you will see a huge improvement over time. Imagine if Monique gets new shoes!!!! The sky is the limit!
TIME TRIAL #1
What a tremendously fast and impressive time trial this morning, and we're not just saying that. It's made for great conversation banter amongst the coaches with all the surprise times that rolled in. Then of course we have to pull out the times from the past few years and we realize, yes we have numbers this year, but we also have speed!!! This time trial helps to set in our mind who has a lot of natural talent and has done the base work. As we start to throw in workouts over the next two weeks, you'll see how much of a difference it makes. Some people have been known to take over a minute off.
It's also interesting to note how many PR's we had today (highlighted), when most of the returners previous PR's were set at the end of last summer when they were in tip top shape. It will be exciting to see what we can accomplish this year as a whole.
CROSS COUNTRY SCORING 101: For those of you who are new to the game, scoring works by adding the places of our top 5 runners. Team Time works by adding the top 5 times together. We don't score this race because we are racing amongst ourselves, but come the Alumni Race on August 4th, we plan on taking down any and all comers!!!
GIRLS TEAM: We were missing our #1 runner, Taylor Khan, which would have thrown us into the range of 77:37 or better, more than 1:30 faster than our 6th place in State Team last year. Jaclyn Gonzalez wins the race today with a PR effort. Chaise Brown made an impressive improvement in one year to land in the top 5 after a fantastic track season.
GIRLS WOW: Sarah Moore, brand new to running in her senior year with another newbie senior, KayDee Tolman in the top 10 of a team that was pretty impressive before, now loaded. Top freshman Candace Batsford looks to be breaking into that group shortly with her impressive effort with legacy runner Morgan Tanner hot on her heels.
BOYS TEAM: Kenny Tanner once again takes control early on setting a huge PR continuing the roll he was on last year into his senior season. Those of you who have followed Ayala's history of champions will note that Kenny is only a few seconds off Spencer Doolittle's (4:13 in the 1600) fastest time on the course. Even more impressive, the boys team lost 4 varsity runners to graduation and we're seconds of their fastest team time. Robert Martinez, now consistent in his summer attendance makes a big move today as well and throws himself into a key position.
BOYS WOW: Sammy Tran continues to push his way into the top 10 along with our two other very nice surprises, Sean Morse and Jordy Garcia! Top freshman Zach Harrison and newcomer Anthony Avila look to put everyone on notice as well with frosh Christian Barajas hot on their heels. We have to make note of super freshman to be/to be (7th grader, Taylor Khan's brother) Steven Khan running in the top 20 taking 2:00 off his time from last summer!!
BOYS MOST IMPROVED: Bryan Eddings who went from 21:22 last year to 16:44 (-4:38!)
GIRLS MOST IMPROVED: Jennifer Feldtz who went from 25:54 last year to 21:21 (-4:33!)
We have never had so many athletes make it under 20:30 for the girls and 17:30 for the boys! This team will be on fire by the time we reach our first meet in Laguna. The hardware we take home should be momentous. We run this program like a collegiate team, and the results pay off year after year.
Running is based on natural talent and hard work. Natural talent is wonderful, but strong work ethic is what we love! Combine the two and we have superstardom, but we have had many superstars come from dedicating themselves to the work at had. There is no making up for that work ethic once we reach the end of the summer, and that's why we say cross country is won in the summer.