The Redondo Union results and stats for the Great Cow Run Cross Country Invitational held in Cerritos last Saturday September 11th are now posted in the Meet Results section on the right.
My thanks go out to those that helped take splits, tabulate the order of the runners and shot the backup video; Joey Gold, Kia Johnson and Jarred Sweatman at the 2-mile mark, and Ahmed Kabbani and Gary Jolicoeur with me at the one mile mark and the finish line. There was no way this was a one-man job. Sorry we missed a few splits. And it’s possible that a few people may be out of order at the mile and 2-mile marks, but I have re-verified all the finishing times and places with the official results put out by the Meet Director. So those mistakes (and there are some) are Great Cow Run sins, not mine. Regardless, there are, no doubt, a few errors and typos. If you notice anything, please email me at [email protected], with the corrections. There are always a few, and I always re-post the results with the corrections a few days later.
In calculating the mile splits and the average mile pace, it was necessary to display the time across 3 columns (minutes, :, seconds), as Excel does not do the kind of math needed to display the calculated times as a time. Excel also does not display whole numbers with a zero in front of them. As a result, you will see that all the times in these columns with the seconds lower than 10, display as a single number. For example, a 19:03 time displays as 19:3. Everything else has been made to look like a real time.
For each race there is a general information bar at the top showing the race name, the place and points scored, the team’s combined time, and the team’s average time. These team times are taken from the top five finishers, as they represent the scoring members of the team.
Below that is the table showing all the runners in the race in order of finish, then their grade, then their 1-mile time, their 2-mile time, their split for the second mile, their 3-mile time (finish time) and their split for the third mile. The next column is their race-finishing place, followed by the individual’s average mile pace for the entire 3-mile course.
For the official full results, showing all the competitors and teams, follow this link to the ESPN Rise website http://tinyurl.com/RiseXC1. Look just below the Meet Director’s article and the pictures and you should be able to easily locate Kristen’s video of the girls and boys varsity races.
For an on-line article and race pictures on our local on-line news service, Redondo Beach Patch, follow this link, http://tinyurl.com/PatchXC1a.
Varsity Girls Race
At the sound of the starter’s gun, the Redondo girl’s varsity team took control of the race and moved straight into front-pack position. And stayed there. Pretty much all of them. Pretty much the whole three miles. Even though Anique Villegas and Alexis Thibodeau fell off the pace and ran with the chase pack, they made it look like another race, with the two Redondo girls challenging for the lead.
Meanwhile, up front, Rachel Bush, Lyndsey Mull, Laura O’Neil, Cara Ulizio, Kelly Ryan and Kayla Ferron came through the mile mark at 5:36 to 5:37, bunched tight and all alone. Crossing the 2-mile mark with a 6:00 split the pack was still intact, with only Kayla dropping back a short distance.
In the final mile, only one lone runner from Saugus could change her fate. Moving up on Kayla, the two ratcheted up the pace and met each other’s challenge. And in that most-difficult mile of the race, both overcame fatigue and pain in their individual efforts to best their adversary. Saugus-girl may have prevailed, but not before Kayla dropped 20 seconds off her mile-2 split to match the pace of the day’s winners with a 5:49 final mile.
Meanwhile, back up front, the lead pack was stretching out a little. In the last half mile there was now some small daylight between Kelly and Laura and the three frontrunners. Kelly, a distant sixth-girl in the Alumni Race, was now powering through this 3-mile course. Laura was cruising along with her, and the two changed position several times with Laura moving ahead in the final seconds.
Meanwhile, back up in the front of the front, surprise sophomore talent, Cara Ulizio, was firmly attached to veteran varsity teammates Lyndsey and Rachel. Running strong and looking at ease, she had obviously decided a long time ago to be a contributor. And today she could have been first-girl varsity on any other team in the race.
In the end, The Sea Hawks swept the first five places for what is called a “perfect score” in cross country team scoring. First place was a tie between Rachel and Lyndsey, with Cara only a split-second back. The 2 times at 17:25 and Cara’s at 17:26 are now 4th, 5th and 6th on the All-Time List for this course.
Laura was 4th at 17:31, Kelly 5th at 17:32, and Kayla 7th at 17:37. In taking 6 of the top 7 slots, Redondo showed remarkable depth. Anique and Alexis, the 7th and 8th runners, took 20th and 26th, at 18:41 and 18:54. That 6th place finisher from Saugus High was Nicole Penick.
Out of 19 schools and 154 finishers, almost one third of the runners in the top 26 were from Redondo! The combined team time of 87:19 is a new varsitygirls course record.
Top 3 team scores: Redondo was 1st with 15, Los Alamitos was 2nd with 89, and Saugus was 3rd with 93. Our South Bay neighbor, Torrance was 6th with 160.
Freshman Boys Race
Setting the example for this freshman team of 24 runners, Will Tait and Dustin Herold came through the mile mark in 5:21, part of a three person lead pack. In the crowd that made up the chase pack, Tomohiro and Takahiro Yamaya followed with 5:34, 5:35 splits, with Paul Bodin, Tanner Childs, Tyler Bird and Ryan Keliher making up another set of Redondo runners about 10 to 12 seconds back. So even in that first mile, Redondo’s neophytes were running fast, staying grouped and keeping contact with the competition.
By mile 2, Dustin had pulled in front by a few seconds. He was still controlling the race as frontrunner, with the Loyola and Marina runners trying to stay up, and Will keeping the pressure on from behind. Then at 20, 30 and 37 seconds back, the rest of the scoring team was about to improve their positions. Tomohiro seemed determined to stay in the top dozen. Tanner, after a slow start, was moving up through the ranks. Soon afterward, Takahiro seemed to be realizing that he was no longer as tired as he had been after that fast first mile, as he was now beginning to grind out a faster pace.
The Sea Hawk freshmen continued through mile-three to set the tone of the race. Dustin wore down all challengers to win in 16:40, good for third on the All-Time List for freshman boys on this course. Will finished at 4th in 16:58, with Tomohiro at 11th in 17:40, Tanner at 12th in 17:41, and Takahiro at 14th in 17:46, providing the low score to take the first place team title. These guys also set a new freshman boys combined team time record of 86:45, completely annihilating the previous record set by Saugus last year by 2:59. Call it three minutes even
Out of 13 teams and 202 finishers in this race, over one third of the runners in the top 15 were from Redondo Union!
Top 3 team scores: Redondo was 1st with 42, King was 2nd with 100, and Torrance was 3rd with 132. Our South Bay neighbor, South Torrance was 11th with 273.
Frosh/Soph Girls Race
The starts of many cross country races often seem like a mad sprint as the runners try to get out and into a good position before everyone settles into their race pace. On this day, Erin South, bless her heart, bolted off the starting line and in 70 yards had a commanding lead on the entire field of 18 team’s 256 runners. Despite the knee brace, her smooth and powerful strides must have been a frightful sight to all those with thoughts of winning this race. One thing’s for sure, she took them out hard and fast and made it an honest race for everyone.
By mile-one, it was now Elizabeth Del La Torre’s job to show that Redondo XC produces frontrunners, as she passed through in 6:04 as part of a three person lead pack. 25 to 35 seconds back Siena Hsu, Mikela Bettes and Eva Pace were holding good positions, with Mya Gelber rounding out the fifth-girl scoring spot another 10 seconds back.
By mile-two Elizabeth had dropped back a little, but Eva was advancing through the ranks and was now Redondo’s second-girl. The other three were slowing off the pace, but so was the entire field.
With the lead pack, and various chase packs, now strung out, there was a lot of space between the top 15 or so runners. The leaders from Saugus and King had broken away and were gone. Strong teams from Saugus and King had by now created a long line of fast moving girls. With 1,000 yards to go our Elizabeth was all alone, running her own race, keeping focused, and fighting to stay in the game, some 90 seconds ahead of her nearest teammate.
In the final stretch, a 150-yard incline to the finish line, Elizabeth held her pace and took 11th place, running 19:28. Meanwhile, Eva was pouring it on, moving up in position and sprinting home in 32nd place with a 21:06, followed by Siena in 45th with a 21:24, Mikela in 49th with a 21:30, and Mya in 61st with a 22:05, good for fifth place in the team race, and a combine team time of 95:33.
Top 3 team scores: Saugus was 1st with 22, King was 2nd with 54, and Marina was 3rd with 133. The South Bay schools were Redondo in 5th with 165, South Torrance 7th with 246, and Torrance in 10th with 258.
Sophomore Boys Race
Joe Levine led the Redondo sophomore boys through the mile mark in 5:27. Six to 15 seconds back, Cameron Lindquist and three more of his teammates streamed though as part of a river of runners moving down the pathway. And with 19 Sea Hawks in the race, the red shirts just kept on coming.
As the race settled in and strung out, RJ Mushaney moved up to shadow Joe, with Art Fontana keeping within striking distance. Past the 2-mile mark and right on through to the finish, these three stayed competitive. Joe took 22nd place in 17:15, with RJ right on his heels in 26th at 17:18. Art held his own down the final stretch coming in 33rd with a 17:27. Soon it was Cameron and Serge Ganous side-by-side racing each other up that last incline to the finish, with Cameron prevailing and both clocked at 17:55 for 44th and 45th place.
Our other sophomore boys ran well, many kept pace with each other and came in close together. Zack Rodger and Ryan Colescott both at 19:09, and Sebastian Coronel and David Alexander both at 19:56, with Adam Johnson breathing down their necks at 19:58.
The scoring team had a combined time of 87:50, scoring 145 points to take 6th place, just behind South Bay neighbor Torrance in 5th with 138. There were 14 teams and 186 finishers in the race.
Varsity Boys Race
Our varsity boys went out fast and stayed tightly grouped. They comprised the bulk of the chase pack (well, the chase pack chasing the lead pack which was by then well behind two time D2 State Champ, Elias Gedyon), passing the mile mark in 4:55 to 4:58. Lead by Tyler Caracoza with Evan Malone-White riding on his shoulder, Dezhan Bland and Patrick Borgerding two steps behind, and Nick Herold and Garrett Klatte another couple steps back, these guys comprised 8th through 13th place, with no other teams in between them. A dozen seconds back was 7th-man Alex Guzman running smoothly, but now lost in the crowd.
At 2 miles, Justin had moved out in front of the Redondo group, with Evan, Dezhan and Patrick still bunched, and Nick and Garrett about three or four seconds back, so still a good group of five keeping the pace strong and steady. Unfortunately, a number of runners from Saugus and Marina had notched up the tempo and looked to be battling it out for the team title, even over last year’s D2 State Championship team, Loyola.
Still, not to be intimidated, our boys bumped up their own pace with Tyler pushing through the finish with a 5:10 final mile for a 15:26 23rd place effort. Evan followed him through with a 5:14 finish to his 15:34 26th place. Patrick went head-to-head with South’s top runner, edging him out, also with a finishing 5:14 mile for a 15:36 28th place. The next three streamed through at three-second intervals; Dezhan at 15:57 for 39th, Garrett at 16:00 for 41st and Nick at 16:03 for 44th. Half a minute back, Alex finished in 16:36, good for 65th place, with almost 100 runners still behind him.
The combined 5-runner scoring team time was 78:33, they totaled up 157 points and took 5th place over all.
Top 3 team scores: Saugus was 1st with 39, Marina was 2nd with 45, and Loyola was 3rd with 85. Our South Bay neighbors Torrance came in 11th with 323 points, and South Torrance took 12th with 377.
Junior Varsity Girls Race
Competing with only four girls, our squad was one runner short of being able to field a scoring 5-person team. So it was a race for personal satisfaction as far as scoring was concerned. But as far as Redondo runners are concerned, a race is a race and you run to place. So our girls lined up with 14 teams and 141 other runners, and when that gun went off they dashed down that grass field as though there were 50 of them.
Last year’s race champion, Pammie Sherman, came through the mile in second place, right on the shoulder of Saugus’ first-girl with a 6:17 split. Running between the two leaders and the chase pack was Brenna Sopp at 6:22. Lisa Inoue passed through 10th with a 6:33, and Nour Kabbani followed her, passing the mile mark in 6:39 in 17th place. At this point, they were all looking smooth and under control, and with this kind of up-front running, things were looking good.
Another mile into it, and it was now Pammie who was running in between packs, with 3 runners well ahead and the rest well behind her. That third mile is a tough one, but all the more so when you have to run it all by yourself. You’re at a disadvantage trying to catch a pack running ahead of you, and at a disadvantage trying to stay ahead of a pack coming up behind you. But with the lead pack slowly pulling away, Pammie held her own, doing what you have to do under these circumstances, and that’s to throw all you’ve got into running the best race you can.
Further back, everyone had lost a few places from where they were in the first mile, but nothing drastic. Brenna was still running strong, and Nour was picking up her pace. Lisa had dialed into her race tempo and was not giving up ground easily.
Everyone ran their second and third miles at about the same pace, so no one threw in the towel. Nour even knocked off 14 seconds and moved up a few places. Pammie held on to her 4th place position through the finish line, beating her time from last year by 18 seconds, with a 20:16. Brenna took 17th with a 20:49, Nour took 27th with a 21:23, and Lisa took 32nd with a 21:55.
Of course with only four runners, there was no way to score in the team standings. But, given the non-scoring 6th-girl from the Frosh/Soph race, Ally Lopez, who ran 22:46, they would have racked up 129 points and snatched 5th place from our South Bay neighbors Torrance, who scored 130.
Top 3 team scores: Saugus and Marina both scored 44 points, with the win going to Saugus based on the lower placing of their 6th-girl, putting Marina in 2nd, and Loyola in 3rd with 85.
Junior Varsity Boys Race
It was the last race of the day. It was the best of times… it was the worst of times…, it was time to scrape up all the leftovers, roll them up in a flour tortilla and call them the Junior Burrito Varsity. And when I say leftovers, I’m talking about guys who you’d never imagine turning out for cross country. Not as a sport anyway. Maybe as a dare, or an ill-considered plea for attention, but not for a sport. These guys are tough, hard-bitten individualists. They might even be dangerous. You’ve all seen teams like this before. Groups, or squads, or platoons, put together to go on suicide missions behind enemy lines. They’re guys with nothing left to loose, tough as nails, nails too tough for hammers. You’ve seen their movies and TV shows, The Dirty Dozen, Seven Samurai, the Wild Bunch, Kelly’s Heroes, Hogan’s Heroes, Heroes, the A Team.
This unlikely set of misfits includes Eric Emdee, a quarter-miler. Sometimes mistaken for a quarter horse, he’s fast, wears a saddle and likes to kick. He finished up league competition last track season by running the 3200. When asked why, he replied that he’d just eaten six pizzas and wanted to experience acid reflux disease for himself.
Two pole-vaulters: Jason Taragno and Jhonathan Ruiz. When the concept of cross country was explained to them, they said, “So let me get this straight, you run three miles over hill and dale, and then you plant the pole in the box and see how high you can spring up in the air?” Coach Leetch didn’t want to go over it again, so he just said, “Yes, exactly”.
If you’re going to have two pole-vaulters, it makes perfect sense to also have two hurdlers. Both Julian Singer and Ben McLaughlin, a.k.a. Bennie, run the 110 and the 300 hurdles in track. Bennie also does high jump. Asked if they have ever run all the way around the track, Ben replied, “You mean the whole way?” And Julian said, “Why would you run all the way around? It’s a circle. You’d just come right back to where you started.” When told that in cross country you don’t run in a circle, you run from point A to point B, Bennie said, “I’m not afraid of bees, sign me up”. Not to be out done, Julian said he wasn’t afraid either.
Yes, there are a couple of runners on the team, but they’re middle distance types. Hector Echavarria runs the mile in track, but also does the high jump. A sure sign of schizophrenia, which is his most important qualification to be a JV XC runner. Andrew Hazeltine seems a nice enough kid. Runs the 800 and mile in track. But secretly, he wants to wrestle alligators at Gatorland, just outside Orlando, Florida. Perfect.
That leaves Andrew Lopez, Zack Omar-Amrani, and Adrian Benoit. Who are these guys? They were last seen as a posse, tracking Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid across bare rock, up rivers and even in the dark. Butch and Sundance were always saying, “Who are those guys?”
Overheard at the starting line, they were discussing the relative merits of shaving with cold water, and Eric says, “You use water?” Then the gun goes off, and as the runners sprint down the field our boys jump the starter and wrestle him to the ground, disarming him in seconds. Jason holds up the gun and says, “Hey it’s not even real”.
Needless to say, they started the race at a small disadvantage. But these guys are tough. Andrew came through the mile mark in 5:28, with the next seven all under 6:00, and Jason right on it, still holding the gun. Jon and Ben were right behind him.
Out on the course, reports were coming in that one of the Redondo guys was running with a bowie knife in his teeth. Another had jumped on a live grenade. Another was talking to some girls who were sitting on the hood of a car in the parking lot. Eric was caught shaving in the duck pond.
However, as the race was nearing completion, they all, one-by-one charged up the final stretch to the finish line. Andrew Hazeltine blew across in 17:03 for 30th place. Andrew Lopez was clocked at 17:40 for 50th. A clean-shaven Eric was 70th in 18:09, Jon was 83rd in 18:27, followed closely by Hector at 88th in 18:31, Julian in 91st in 18:38, and Zach in 98th in 18:46. Adrian took 115th in 19:17, with Jason at 128th in 19:37, Jhonathan at 140th in 20:49, and Ben, a.k.a. Bennie, at 159th in 20:57. Before they’d even caught their breath, the phone was ringing, as the governor was on the line offering to grant a reprieve in regards to that egg poaching incident that had been hanging over their heads since last spring.
All told, the race went well. Everyone’s shoelaces remained tied, no one argued with the ref, there were no explosions, no oil spills, no computer glitches, and no animals were harmed in the running of this race. But most of all our JV boys ran like true Sea Hawks. They seized the day, showed no mercy, gave no quarter, and never stopped once. Except for what happened to that poor man with the starter’s pistol.
Their combined team time was 88:50. They scored 214 points for 7th place over South Bay neighbors Torrance in 11th with 306, and South Torrance in 12th with 355.
– Doug Boswell ~ XC Info Director