Mustangs Peak at Prelims

The Mustangs capped their season on a positive note on Saturday, peaking at the right time, cutting well over 3 minutes on their team time on the hilly Mt. SAC course.  On Friday, October 20, at the Mt. SAC Invitational the Mustangs had a team time of 1:31:20.  Three weeks later, the Mustangs were able to cut it down to 1:28:09.  Unfortunately, the Mustangs fell short of advancing to Finals by 6 seconds.  

Senior Freddy Robles paced the Mustangs with a time of 16:54.  He was followed by senior Edwin Garcia with a time of 17:28.  In close pursuit of Edwin were juniors Carlos Alvarez and Ivan Rafael with times of 17:40 and 17:47 respectively.  Senior Lisa Ruiz finished 5th man for the Mustangs with a time of 18:20.  Junior Eric Castanon clocked the 2.91 course in 18:46, with sophomore Daniel Verdin in 19:01.

Salesian will return 7 of their 10 top runners next year. 

Sante Fe League Title recaptured by the Mustangs

Both varsity and junior varsity teams captured the Sante Fe League Titles on Wednesday, fulfilling one of the goals of the season.  The varsity team placed 6 runners on the All-League Team, whereas the junior varsity team swept their race.  The Mustangs enter the post-season on the brink of their peak.  Currently, the Mustangs are ranked 10th in division 4.

Leading the march for the Mustangs was senior Freddy Robles, winning in a time of 16:19, capturing in the process the Most Valuable Runner Award.  Freddy led from the start, setting a blistering pace in the first half of the race, and never looked back, cruising his way to victory the last quarter mile. Improving by nearly 40 seconds from the Bell-Jeff Invitational held five weeks ago, Freddy now looks forward to leading the Mustangs deep into the playoffs, and has a personal goal of earning All-C.I.F. honors.

Junior Carlos Alvarez was in close pursuit of Freddy, finishing 3rd overall with a time of 16:47, a PR by 24 seconds.  Senior Edwin Garcia, and juniors Ivan Rafael and Eric Castanon, as well as sophomore Daniel Verdin, finished 5th, 6th, 7th, and 9th respectively.  Although Edwin has run faster on the Bell-Jeff course, coaches have no doubt that he will rebound in time to run a race he is capable of at Prelims.  Ivan, Eric, and Daniel ran as expected with all three improving by about 15 seconds from September 23.  Senior Christian Ruiz had a sub-par race, finishing 12th.  Disappointed with his finish, Lisa is already eager to prove that his lack luster performance was a fluke.  He gets his opportunity to spring back to form in 10 days.

On the junior varsity level, sophomore Abraham Santa Cruz won the Most Valuable Runner Award, finishing with a time of 18:16, a PR by 28 seconds.  Juniors Paul Cornejo and Adan Garcia tried to match the pace set by Abraham, but were unable to keep up.  Sophomores Carlos Franco and  Daniel Garcia finished 4th and 5th in that order.  First year runners, sophomores Uriel Rafael and Steve Almazan, as well as freshman Marc Casteneda all ran well, completing their first season of running.  Both Abraham and Paul will accompany the varsity team in their quest for a state berth. 

The Mustangs next race on Saturday, November 11 at C.I.F. Prelims.

Mustangs ranked  #10 once again

For the first time since the first rankings were released in early September, the Mustangs as a result of their strong showing at the Mt. SAC Invitational, are back in the thick of things, ranking at the 10 spot  in division 4 for the second time this year.  The Mustangs have one final tune-up race, League Finals, before they embark on the most intense and focal part of the season--the playoffs. 

At C.I.F. Prelims on Saturday, November 11, the Mustangs need to finish as one of the top 13 teams in division 4 to advance to C.I.F. Finals.  In all likely hood, 2 heats will be run with the top 6 teams in each heat, as well as the next fastest team, advancing to Finals the next Saturday.  A State Meet berth then hinges on the Mustangs finishing as one of the top 7 at Finals.  With less than a month to go in the season, the Mustangs have yet to reach their peak, and consequently are within striking distance of several teams ranked ahead of them.

The top 10 ranked teams in division 4 as of October 24: 

1. Big Bear, Big Bear Lake
2. Laguna Beach
3. Morro Bay
4. Oaks Christian, Thousand Oaks
5. Maranatha, Pasadena
6. St. Joseph, Santa Maria
7. Harvard/Westlake, North Hollywood
8. Nordhoff
9. Crespi, Encino
10. Salesian, Los Angeles
Others: Notre Dame-SO

Impressive showing for the Mustangs at the Mt. SAC Invitational

With their strong showing at the 59th running of the Mt. SAC Invitational, the Mustangs have reestablished themselves as one of the better teams in division 4, beating 2 teams ranked in the top 10.  Coming off a sub par cross country season, the Mustangs were set on reaching the Southern Section Finals at their peak with a reasonable chance to earn a state berth.  On Friday, with less than a month left in the season, the Mustangs are on pace to make their goal a reality. 

Despite warm weather, all but one Mustang ran Prs.  Senior Freddy Robles as has been the norm all season, paced the Mustangs with a time of 17:27, 7 seconds off his PR.  Freddy is primed to win the Sante Fe League Individual title and earn all C.I.F. honors. 

Finishing with times of 18:11 and 18:12, senior Edwin Garcia and junior Carlos Alvarez provided stability to the scorers.  Although Edwin has only been training for less than a month since returning from his foot injury, he ran a personal best by 43 seconds.  On Thursday evening, Carlos played in a soccer game in which he bruised his knee.  Yet, without a day of recovery, and hampered by an aching knee, Carlos remarkably did not lose a step, matching his PR.  Coaches would not be surprise if both Carlos and Edwin run with Freddy by years end. 

The fourth man for the Mustangs on Friday was junior Ivan Rafael, finishing 27 seconds behind Carlos.  Ivan's time of 18:39 surpassed last year's invitational time by 1:31.  Running with Ivan the majority of the race, senior Lisa Ruiz, gingerly completing the course in 18:51.  Lisa claims to have pulled a hamstring during the last section of the course.  Nevertheless, he was healthy enough to improve his personal record on the Mt. SAC course by 2:17.  Running with 6 runners on the varsity level, junior Eric Castanon finished in a time of 19:22, less than a minute faster than last year.    

The rare Mt. SAC medal was awarded to 3 Mustangs this year by virtue of their top 15 finish.  Junior Paul Cornejo finished in 12th place in the junior varsity race, running in a time and PR by 1:18 of 19:35.  Finishing one spot and 3 seconds short of a medal, junior Adan Garcia completed the run in a time of 19:52.  In the sophomore race, Daniel Verdin and Abraham Santa Cruz finished seconds apart, finishing 14th and 15th respectively.  Daniel finished in 19:47 and Abraham in 19:52.  Both sophomores Pred by nearly 1:30.  Running impressively for the first 2 miles, Daniel Garcia seemed on the verge of a breakout race, but faded in the last mile, no doubt caused by the heat and difficulty of the course.  Nonetheless, Daniel still managed to PR by 38 seconds.       

The Mustangs next race on Wednesday, November 1 at the Greek Theater.