Summer Cross Country training and the upcoming fall season
Coronado has had a lot of success in the fall sport of Cross Country over the years but it takes summer training to be ready for the fall competition. Once school starts on 24 August there are only two days until our first meet on the 26th. Obviously two days isn’t enough time to get into shape for a cross country meet which is why we’re in training now. Early training is more aerobic than what we’ll be doing at the end of the season but that base is needed for the races and workouts we’ll be doing later. Since a 5,000-meter race is about 80% aerobic, the major part of training focuses on aerobic energy systems… VO2max, tempo, and base runs. We also factor in strength, a touch of speed, and hill work as part of this regimen. We’re looking for dedicated runners for the upcoming season to continue our winning tradition. For more information visit our website at IslanderTrack.com or go right to our summer training blog. There, you can also contact me if you’re interested in joining us.
Dune Training at North Beach
This year we’ll be in a different league. For decades, we were in the smaller school section of the City Conference which consisted of the Western League; the Eastern League; and the smaller league called at various times Harbor League, Central League, and City League. Last season we were moved up to the Eastern League where the competition was much better. The girls still dominated and the boys managed to also win the league championship with a 6th runner tie-breaker.
This year we’re in the Western League with larger schools and better programs where things will be very competitive for us. This is a good thing. The other Western League Schools are Cathedral Catholic, La Jolla, Scripps Ranch, Serra, and University City. In California, Cross Country is split into five CIF divisions, based on enrollment, with D-I the largest and D-V the smallest. Coronado is about in the middle of D-IV, Scripps Ranch is in D-II, and the rest of the other Western League schools are in D-III. Last season the Cathedral Catholic boys’ team was ranked 5th overall in San Diego and they won the D-III competition at the State Meet. However, four of their top seven varsity guys have graduated. Scripps Ranch was ranked 12th but their top two have graduated. Coronado was ranked 21st overall but this season we bring everyone back and we’ll add a fast runner or two. Of the rest, Serra was 33rd last season with three graduating from their varsity squad, University City was 45th with all returning, and La Jolla 47th with all returning. This will be an interesting and competitive season for the boys.
For the girls’ squad Cathedral Catholic was the top team in San Diego last season with their top four returning. They’ll be tough. Coronado was the 4th ranked team in the county but we lost two of our top three girls to graduation. Hopefully our new runners will be able to give us the depth we need to be competitive. University City was ranked 8th and lost two of their top five. Of the rest, Scripps Ranch was 16th last season, La Jolla 25th, and Serra 44th.
Our top 10 returning boys include Luke Klingenberg, Spencer Busby, Cole Mullins, Ian Hurlburt, Connor Janes, Danny Mineo, Kenneth May, and Patrick Harris. When you factor in a promising newcomer from the middle school program, Grant Hawthorne, the boys’ team looks stronger than it has in years and should be able to place among the top three teams at the D-IV CIF finals and earn a trip to the state meet in Fresno. Sage Creek dominated this division last season and, even though they graduated three of their varsity runners, they’ll be very strong this season as well. On paper, we appear to be the 2nd team with High Tech High about 10 points back. The wild card to break into the top 3 is Valley Center.
Our top returning girls include Teresa Perez, Madden Hundley, Naya Tamariz, Claire Morris, Natalya Gomez, Chapin Miller-Maes, Paige Karnas, and Katie Larratt. We’ll get at least one promising newcomer from the girls’ middle school team in Abigail Hundley (Madden’s sister). Even with the younger Hundley and a few others who may join, the girl’s team will probably be smaller than usual. However, as usual, it’ll be a pretty good team as a full varsity scoring squad consists of seven runners. The girls have won the D-IV CIF championship for the last five years in a row. This season should be no exception except that Sage Creek also looks very strong this season with a big gap to the 3rd place contender which could be either High Tech High or Valley Center.
Tentative Cross Country Schedule for 2017
26 Aug: Vaquero Invite at Lindo Lake
9 Sep: Bronco Roundup at Kit Carson Park
16 Sep: Mt. Carmel (Morley Field) and/or Woodbridge Invite in Riverside
22 Sep: South Bay Invite at Rohr Park (some of team)
23 Sep: Dana Hills Invite at Dana Hills High School (rest of team)
29 Sep: Downey Classic at Morley Field (tentative)
3 Oct: First League meet with Scripps Ranch and Serra (all league meets are at Morley Field)
10 Oct: League meet with University City
20 Oct: Mt SAC (Mount San Antonio College) in Walnut California.
24 Oct: League Meet with La Jolla
31 Oct: League Meet with Cathedral Catholic
7 Nov: Western League Championships at Morley Field
18 Nov: CIF championships at Morley Field
25 Nov: State meet at Woodward Park in Fresno
