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CIF  Finals
Southern Section
Division 4

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Men at CIF Finals

Saturday November 20, 2010

Click here to view team results

Mt. SAC’s Rain Course Not Good to the Guys

2010-11-20 - Michael Robbie Peaky make turn (CIF Finals)

The big three, Robbie Moreton (left), Peaky Yuter (center) and Michael Gimbel (right), execute a hard left turn in pouring rain at Mt. SAC just over halfway into the race.  CIF Finals were run on the alternate rain course for the first time since 1995.

Team Places 14th
Season Finished With Surprise CIF Finals Appearance

San Marino’s cross country team was out of its element Saturday.  With three strong hill runners primed for the tortuous Mt. SAC hills and looking to make a move on teams with weaker hill runners, the rain forced the meet organizers to abandon that course and run the Finals on the asphalt surfaces around the school.  That translated into a 14th place finish for the Titans instead of the 12th or even 10th place finish possible on the regular course.  It also factored into the team’s top 3 runners not challenging the field for the 5 at-large invitations to next Saturday’s State meet in Fresno.  In the end, the guys were just happy to get home and get dry.

The rain course, rarely used and not familiar to any of the runners, included two laps within the Mt. SAC sports fields.  Spectators could hear the squish of racing shoes not designed for splashing through puddles.  A little over halfway into the race, the Titan’s three lead runners were together but well behind the lead pack.  Senior Michael Gimbel, running his last cross country race as a Titan, broke away from Peaky and Robbie at the 2 mile mark.  Robbie and Peaky also picked up the pace and all three of them passed quite a few competitors in the final mile.  All three were attempting to secure an at-large invitation to State but Michael, the closest, was 12 seconds out of that last at-large spot.  The hard-luck runner of the race had to be Banning’s Mark Santiago Flores who finished an inch behind Big Bear’s Bobby Morales, barely out of the State meet.

Regardless of the tough day for our guys, they will look back on this season with pride as they beat the odds through hard work and a great ethic.  In what could be the beginning of a long run of CIF appearances under Coach Mundo, the men made something big out of a thin team.  They started the year with essentially only three varsity runners.  Freshman Drew Jack quickly proved that he was up to the task and then we had to wait to see what other runners would emerge from the freshman class.  Making CIF was the last thing that any of us expected at the beginning of the year.  It just doesn’t happen for teams that are heavy with freshmen.  But, Drew, Kenny Lee and Yuvan Wickramsinghe set out to prove that they could help this team extend their season beyond league.  And they did.

Next year should be a lot of fun to watch.  Not only is the girls team going to be stronger but the men may be, as well.  Even though the team is losing senior leader Michael Gimbel, the team returns two of its stars - juniors Peaky Yuter and Robbie Moreton.  Peaky has previously been a member of the tennis team during spring but this year has opted to run the 800 meters in track.  That will mean that he will have a full year of training in preparation for cross country season next year.  And Robbie keeps getting faster.  Expect the two of them to challenge the league’s leading runners.  And then we have the three freshman returning as sophomores, a year of valuable experience under their belts.  Finally, it appears as though the team may have one or two more valuable additions to the team.  We’ll have to wait and see what develops on that front.  This year is done and is now a great memory.  But, just wait until next year!

2010-11-20 - Drew on last 800 (CIF Finals)

Freshman Drew Jack tries to listen to Coach Mundo’s encouragement in the last 800 meters of a very wet race.

2010-11-20 - Kenny Yuvan Daniel (CIF Finals)

Freshmen Kenny Lee (right), Yuvan Wickransinghe (center) and junior Daniel Covarrubias (left) do their best under trying circumstances.

Team Results - Division 4

Place

    Team

Points

Places

1

Harvard-Westlake

80

5-10-12-29-35

2

Don Bosco Tech

117

14-17-21-38-47

3

Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks)

146

13-44-49-67-99

4

Crespi

174

4-27-39-62-63

5

Nordhoff

177

9-15-23-72-77

6

JSerra

193

7-34-43-56-76

7

Laguna Beach

197

2-32-46-69-70

8

Salesian

203

22-33-50-51-73

9

Big Bear

210

18-24-53-55-85

10

Maranatha

244

8-40-48-79-93

11

Morro Bay

246

26-30-59-66-91

12

Banning

249

19-31-52-68-104

13

Fillmore

270

25-57-58-74-84

14

San Marino

295

28-42-45-97-111

15

Santa Ynez

310

13-61-65-96-101

16

Paraclete

320

36-54-83-86-89

Individual  Performances

Place

    Runner

Class

Time

28

Michael Gimbel

Senior

17:19

42

Peaky Yuter

Junior

17:30

45

Robbie Moreton

Junior

17:34

97

Drew Jack

Freshman

18:31

111

Kenny Lee

Freshman

19:17

115

Yuvan Wickramsinghe

Freshman

19:47

117

Daniel Covarrubias

Junior

20:47

Pre-Race Analysis

Candidates for 5 Open Slots

1

Matt Neev

Laguna

15:49

4

G. Sanchez

Nordhf

16:16

*

D.De La Torre

La Salle

16:21

*

C. Bates

Whittier

16:32

9

M. Sant-Flores

Banning

16:34

*

J. Hudson

LA Bapt

16:36

10

B. Carroll

Morro B

16:37

12

C. Reck

S. Ynez

16:38

*

R. Rousseau

Vasqz

16:39

* Ran CIF Prelims as an open runner.

The top 5 runners who are not part of a team advancing to State will advance as individuals.  The table below shows the projected individuals vying for those 5 open slots.

CIF Finals - Projected Scoring

    Team

Finishing Places

Score

Crespi

6-7-8-39-48

108

Harvard-Westlake

16-17-18-34-37

122

JSerra

2-15-30-47-50

144

Don Bosco

3-33-41-44-46

167

Maranatha

5-20-24-64-69

182

Notre Dame (Sh Oaks)

13-14-42-49-87

205

Salesian

11-31-54-60-61

217

Laguna Beach

1-26-62-65-68

222

Fillmore

27-32-45-58-66

228

Morro Bay

10-19-57-73-86

245

Banning

9-35-36-76-90

246

San Marino

21-22-28-75-106

252

Nordhoff

4-23-43-91-92

253

Santa Ynez

12-25-51-70-98

256

Big Bear

38-52-55-74-78

297

Paraclete

29-40-63-83-84

299

Based upon CIF Prelims times for each of the runners on each of the 16 teams, the table above shows how the teams would finish if everyone ran the exact same time.

The top 7 teams advance to State (shown above in orange).

2010-11-20 - Weather forecast for Mt SAC (CIF Finals)

Is there a rain course?     
Yes, and Coach found a map of it.  The CIF meet information says that the standard course will be run unless the weather conditions are “extreme”.

Mt SAC rain course - rough map

Click here for
TeamTrax website page
on the finals.

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