XC Summaries

Ed Sias: This was an excellent first meet for the boy's team, which took fourth in the small school varsity race (behind Petaluma and Campolindo, two of the best Division III teams in the state). The Acalanes team ran most of the two mile race together and ended up finishing with only a 19 second gap between our first runner (Ryan Troxel in 10:53) and our fourth (Brett Cantrell in 11:12). Tyler Sorensen won the Frosh race in 11:10. He will most likely spend the rest of the season rounding out the top five on varsity. The girl's team, wracked by injury and illnesses, was only able to field four runners (a full team is five to seven). Katie Berge and Katie Bruzzone had strong individual performances, finishing 16th in 13:40 and 20th in 13:56 respectively.

Good for a summary. When you compose this into your first draft, be sure add information about any expectations, losses from last year,interviews, etc.

The first three mile race of the season did not prove to a great success for either the girls or the boys. Last year, Nate Beach won the two hundred person race with a time of 15:15 and led the team to a medal. This year, our first finisher was 42nd with a time of 16:28 (actually a very good race for Ryan). Freshman Tyler Sorensen continued to improve, running 17:06 and finishing third for the team. Less than ideal races by Brett Cantrell and David McDiarmid (17:13 and 17:22) brought the team to a distant twelfth place finish. Campolindo finished third, putting all five of their scoring runners in front of our first (impressive times: 15:28, 16:04, 16:05, 16:25, 16:26). This does not bode well for our duel meet against them this coming Wednesday, and it is beginning to seem unlikely that we will be able to defend our title as league champions, which we have held for the past three years. The girl's team continued to go down in flames without most of it's leaders, who are either hurt or sick. They were only able to field two runners (and not the best two). Last year's frontrunner Emily Shearer will be out for most of the season as she recovers from severe shin splints, and it has now emerged that Katie Berge has a stress fracture in her foot. The Acalanes girls therefore have some serious work to do if they hope to be competitive in league competitions.

I'll get some interviews starting with Campo on Wednesday.

I wont need that until thursday- that's when 1st drafts are due

9/23/08

Me: What do you think is going to happen in the meet against Campo tomorrow?
Toshi: I think both varsity teams will be destroyed and I’m pretty sure we’ll lose on all levels.

Me: Any thoughs about what’s going to happen tomorrow against Campolindo?
Manny: Yeah. Their varsity boys team is one of the best in the state right now and we’re rebuilding. The varsity girls team is one of the best in state right now and ours is decimated with injuries so we’re just hoping to run as a team tomorrow and survive.

9/24/08

Me: Was today pretty much what you expected?
Tad: Yeah… I think that everybody’s getting ready for the bigger races and I think we pretty much raced to form and hopefully everybody had a pretty easy run today and we’ll get ready for Stanford on Saturday.
Me: Is there anything you would have liked to see happen differently?
Tad: No. I think everybody’s listening for once and paying attention. I think we’re getting a nice grouping together and I think everybody seems pretty positive. I think you guys should race well.

Me: How do you feel about what happened today against Campolindo?
Ryan: Well, it’s just a shame that we had to lose that badly, but on a brighter note we’re just focusing on the bigger meets to come such as the invitationals and such.
Me: So what do you think are our prospects for the end of the season?
Ryan: I personally think that we’re going to have a very good chance of doing well at some of the big invitationals and league, NCS, and state.

Me: How do you feel about the girls cross country team this year? How are you guys doing?
Michelle: We were expecting a lot out of the team this year. Unfortunately people got hurt, not able to run, so we’re trying to work through it. We only have… I don’t know… five people so far, which is the minimum number you can even enter in a race so… hopefully more people will be able to run. And though it’s been tough, we’ll try to train everyone and get everyone ready to race so… yeah… it’s a work in progress.
Me: How’d you feel about the Campo meet today?
Michelle: Well… Alhambra definitely was better than we were all expecting so that was kind of a shock but… I mean… it went really well. We had people run the varsity race that had either never run varsity before or had only run it once, so… that’s a mile distance between the two races so we’re all really proud of them for pushing through, especially on that course, which is one of the hardest, so we did well.

For the Acalanes cross country team, a new and unfamiliar type of season is at hand. On the boys’ side, the era of Nate Beach is over; the star who led Acalanes to three consecutive league championships has graduated along with many of the other top runners, leaving behind a young team devoid of the type of standouts responsible for the Don’s past successes. The girls have been devastated, to an even greater extent, not by graduation but by injuries. Many of top Lady Dons, including all-leaguers Emily Shearer and Katie Berge, are out of commission for most of the season as a result of health problems. According to senior Michelle Caine, “We were expecting a lot out of the team this year. Unfortunately, people got hurt, [and are] not able to run, so we’re trying to work through it.”

If the first few meets are any measure, the girls certainly do have a lot of work to do if they hope to move past their teammates’ injuries and repeat the successes of last season’s fourth place in NCS finish. At the Ed Sias Invitational in Martinez, Acalanes was only able to field a varsity team of four runners, falling short of achieving a full team of five to seven athletes. Although Katie Berge and Katie Bruzzone ran strong individual races, finishing 16th and 20th respectively, the shortage of runners erased any chance of the team placing before the race had even begun. The situation was even worse at the Nike Invitational a week later. Four varsity runners had dwindled to two, and the day did not bode well for the first league competition against Alhambra and Campolindo. Expectations for the first duel meet of the season were low. Said head coach Manny Myers, “The [Campolindo] varsity girls team is one of the best in the state right now and ours is decimated with injuries, so we’re just hoping to run as team tomorrow and survive.” Somewhat surprisingly, five Acalanes varsity girls found their way to the starting line, and although they were defeated handily by both Campolindo and Alhambra, they were finally able to compete as a team. After the loss, the Lady Dons remained optismistic. Caine, choosing to focus on the silver lining of a rather dark cloud, said “It went really well. We had people run the varsity race that had never run varsity before or had only run it once… so we’re all ready proud of them for pushing through, especially on that course, which is one of the hardest.” Hopefully, positive attitude will eventually translate into wins for the 0-2 Acalanes team.

For the boys varsity team, the start of the season has been better, but still far from perfect. No longer able to rely on stars like Nate Beach, Joey Thomas, and Maxime Stinnet to pull most of the weight, the team is focusing on keeping its five scoring runners close together so that all will finish in fairly good positions. At the Ed Sias Inviational, the team executed this strategy perfectly. Only nineteen seconds separated the first and the fourth runners in the varsity race and freshman Tyler Sorensen won the Frosh race in a time that would have made him the fourth finisher on the varsity team. This strong team effort earned the Dons fourth place in the small school race, which included many of the best Division III teams in the North Coast Section.

The Nike Invitational was somewhat less auspicious for the Dons. Although frontrunner Ryan Troxel ran a personal best time of 16:28 and Sorensen continued to improve, finishing third for the Dons, less than ideal performances by the fourth and fifth runners resulted in a time gap of 56 seconds and a distant twelfth place finish. Campolindo, by contrast, finished third, so the team was not very optimistic about their chances against the Cougars in the upcoming duel meet. Toshi Kellogg, chipper as ever, announced his expectation that, “both [Acalanes] varsity teams will be destroyed and I’m pretty sure we’ll lose on all levels.” The Cougars did indeed crush the Dons rather soundly, but Acalanes was able to score a decisive victory over a far-from-horrible Alhambra team. As the Don's record moved to 1-1, the team and coaching staff stayed positive. Boys varsity coach Tad Beach expressed delight that “everybody’s listening for once and paying attention.” Coach Beach revealed that the team’s main goal was to get past Campolindo and Alhambra and prepare for the Stanford Invitational on Saturday. Ryan Troxel echoed this sentiment. “It’s a shame that we had to lose that badly,” he said, “but on a brighter note we’re just focusing on the bigger meets to come… I personally think that we’re going to have a very good chance of doing well at some of the big invitationals, and League, NCS, and State.”