2014 Earlybird
Invitational Preview by Coach
Gustavo Ibarra
North Monterey County
High School is proud to
present the 20th Annual Earlybird
Invitational! We’re
set for a 9th year at Toro Park, site of this year’s CCS
Championship in Salinas. The meet held its first 11 events on the campus of
North Monterey County High School and started in 1994 with a modest hand-full
of local teams. With the loss of the course at the school, the event moved to
Toro where it has grown to become one of the premiere meets in California in
the early season. The 20th annual event will not disappoint with our
largest field ever assembled. Over 75 schools and 2,500 runners will converge
September 6th to kick off the 2014 season with a bang and celebrate with
an anniversary cake and DJ!
Earlybird races are always held
by grade levels with combined team times being used for overall bragging
rights. This year our traditional line-up of powerhouse squads from the north
and central part of the state continues with some very nice additions to the
party. The Central Coast Section steals the show with 20 out of the top 25
ranked boys’ squads clashing here including 11 out of the top 12! The ladies
from CCS aren’t far behind with 6 out of the top 10 and 19 out of the top 25. The
Central, North Coast, Sac Joaquin, San Francisco, and the Northern Section will
also send some of their best including several squads ranked in the top 3 in
their section and state ranked squads that always break up the CCS party. As
cross country is a true team sport, we’ll start by highlighting the top teams
followed by the top individuals. We’ll start with the boys this year.
The BOYS will
steal
the show with the fastest 10 teams ever at the park locking horns here. The
Central Coast Section teams are not afraid to meet early on here and the top
ranked squads always use Earlybird as a CCS season preview. But, and it’s a BIG
but, the Central and Southern Section has sent its best teams to spoil the
coastal fun. CCS showed well before 2002 with top performances by Bellarmine
(1998), San Benito (1999), and Aptos (2000 & 2001). From 2002-2007 the
titles went to Central Section powerhouse Madera. In 2008, Redondo Union rolled
into town from the Southern Section and dethroned the Central Valley kings. CCS
stormed back in 2009 & 2010 with Bellarmine highlighting. Three years back
Madera South, headed by Coach Rich Parris who led Madera to its streak, held
off the Bells for a thrilling win and they have repeated the 1-2 finish each
year since.
2014 should be icing on the anniversary
cake as these Division 1 power-houses lock horns once again with Bellarmine
trying to break the current streak. Although Coach Parris has recently stepped
down to take a position as an Athletic Director at Chowchila, we are still
going with hard-working Madera South
from the Central Section as favorites to defend their title and make it 4 in a
row. A win here under a new head coach who assisted previously would be a nice
testament to the program they have built. They are coming off a program best 2nd
place showing last year at the state championships where the Stallions made
history by qualifying for the National Championships! The team averaged a mind
blowing 15:43 on the 5k Woodward Park layout and return 5 from that squad
including some of the top young runners in the state. We will go out on a limb
here and give Madera South a very good shot at the Toro Park record here with
another state plaque looking very likely. Last week they blew the doors off the
competition at their own invitational with FOUR guys under the old course
record! D1 rival Bellarmine will counter
and shine for the CCS with a win not out of the question. The Bells placed a
very solid 6th at State last year after a nice section title and return
six from that squad. Throw in the top 9th grader in the state for
good measure and what may be the deepest team in the state will purr along just
fine. Here’s hoping a state plaque is in the cards for them also. Los Gatos
on paper looks very dangerous
and could mix it up with these two giants this season. They return the whole
squad and could play among the state’s best in D2. They were spotted at Toro
Park 2 weeks back and will come with some business in mind. St. Ignatius comes
in as the top ranked
CCS D3 squad and hopes to upset the bigger schools. Carlmont has made CCS D1
a back and forth affair with Bellarmine
while Homestead has had to settle
for 3rd best for some time. They both return four and should have
good battle once again. Scotts Valley
comes in as the top CCS D4 squad and return five from a 5th place
state team. Lynbrook will be without
their top gun here who’s out for knee surgery so watch for them later on if he
can re-join the squad. Some smaller sized schools to keep an eye on include Aptos,
ranked 2nd in D3, and
host school North Monterey County,
who make their debut in D4. King City
showed very well at Toro just last week and could climb the rankings early on.
Some spoiler squads who hope to upset the form charts include Los Altos, San Benito, Clovis West,
Willow Glen, Saratoga, Monta Vista,
Leland, Seaside, and Westmont
with a new young 9th
grade star.
The senior boys usually
have the most fire-power on the boy’s side and we will call this the clash of
the Earlybird titans as defending champion Chris
Foster (Los Gatos) will be seeking his 3rd Earlybird win after
wins in 9th and 11th grade. He will be holding off Steven Sum
(Saratoga) who returns after
missing last year’s race and winning his 10th grade year in a great
15:32, making him the fastest returnee at Toro. Steven has slightly better
track credentials with a 4:15 1600 and 9:10 3200 to his credit compared to
Chris’s 4:17/9:16 but Toro Park has hills and Chris showed better last year at
state with a fine 15:29 over the Woodward Park layout compared to Steven’s 15:50.
If either of them blink it will be Juan
Macias (Madera South) who may sneak in and notch his first Earlybird win
after a nice 15:49 run at state. Jose
Pina (Lincoln) just missed the win last year by 3 seconds and hopes to play
spoiler. Miles and Tucker Meijer (Bellarmine)
will start
the team showcase here while Edgar
Bonilla (King City) will shine after
a great 5th place at state in D4 (15:46). Others hoping for top 10
places include Ben Haderle (Los Gatos),
Mark Vingralek (Carlmont), Alex Sasser
(Bellarmine), Samuel Blake (Westmont), and the host
school’s Oscar Mora (North Monterey
County). Finally, keep an eye on spoilers Johain Ounadjela (Carlmont) after
a fine 4:18 mile in track and Jesus Cacique (Madera South).
The Bellarmine seniors will put on a TEAM clinic here after dominating
wins the last 2 years as 10th and 11th graders and will have
Los Gatos, Carlmont, and Madera South
in their rear-view mirror hoping for 2nd and 3rd place
medals.
The junior boys feature Eduardo
Herrera (Madera South). The now veteran leader of one of the top teams in
the country has credentials most top juniors and seniors would envy. He has won
his first 2 Earlybirds (15:43 in 2013) and should take a 3rd title
in a row here. He is coming off a brilliant course record run last week at home
and ran 15:21 good for an all-state medal (7th) last year in D1. To
give you an idea of his fitness, he ran 25 seconds faster last week than he did
last year at this time. Keep an eye on the all-time Toro records as he takes a
shot at them! Kevin Lehr (St. Ignatius)
could only keep Eduardo within 25 seconds last year and may try to close that
gap here after a nice 15:41 at state. Ben
Zaeske (Los Altos) returns for another top 3 placing. Others hoping to get
some hardware include Nolan Dozier
(Sobrato), Patrick Olsen (Aptos),
teammates Marcus Avila and Donald Welsh
(Bellarmine), and fast
improving host Freddy Torres (North
Monterey County). Also keep an eye on sleeper Salem Bouhassen (Mission SF)
who was one of the top youngsters in
that area last year.
Bellarmine will look for another
win here after holding off Los Altos and St.
Ignatius last year.
The sophomore boys feature the top returning youngster
in the
whole state! Last year Miguel Villar
(Madera South) won here by a whopping 50 seconds with a fine 16:07 run and
went on to blast a 15:29 at state for a top 30 place in D1! Not bad for a 9th
grader!! Last week he ran 28 seconds faster on his home course compared to last
year putting him with a potential sub 15:40 here this weekend. Let’s watch the
clock since that’s all Miguel may be racing here. Hoping for 2nd
best once again will be his own teammate Michael
Ochoa (Madera South). The rest of the contenders for a top 3 finish include
Max Sawyer (Monta Vista), Taisei Nishiki
(Los Gatos), Dylan Doblar (Bellarmine), Alfredo
Miranda
(Madera South), Bryce
Rausch (Homestead), and Sean Hoerger
(Westmont).
Bellarmine won here last year as
9th graders but Madera South could have won it with a
solid 5th runner. If Madera South has solidified that back end they
could break up the Bellarmine plaque haul. Homestead
also returns with medal aspirations.
The freshmen boys had a star on our radar last year in
Miguel
Villar (Madera South) and 2014 welcomes yet another star! Alex Scales (Bellarmine)
makes his high school debut as the top 9th
grader and we’ll see how close he can get to Miguel’s 16:07 from last year!
Alex won the middle school race at Mt. Sac last year and may break up
Bellarmine’s talented varsity as a 9th grader. He won’t be alone as Jason Gomez (Westmont) sparkled with a
sub 4:30 mile equivalent last year. Also watch the next star for the Stallions
in Adrian Alvarez (Madera South).
Bellarmine usually shines as a team
here with their army and
it will take a very special squad to upset them, especially with Alex leading.
The GIRLS don’t want to miss out on the fun and
are led by top
ranked CCS squad Aptos. The Mariners
looked great last year winning CCS and placing 11th at state in D3.
They return 6 and had some of the best young talent around. They sometimes lay
a tad low early on and may open the door here for Clovis West making the trip
from the Central Section. They return 5
from a team that just missed going to state and may be hungry for a great year
with a trip to Fresno on their bucket list. Monta Vista is the top CCS D1 team
after a nice section title and
will counter with 5 returnees from a 12th place state team. San Lorenzo
Valley is not ranked highly
after losing four from a STATE CHAMPIONSHIP D4 team but they add an all state
transfer who is now eligible to run. Keep an eye on them as defending Earlybird
Champs. Madera South returns the
whole kit and caboodle from a 17th place state D2 team and should
shine with nice coastal weather. Los
Altos also has a veteran crew with 6 back from a top 20 state team in D2. Homestead,
Los Gatos, Santa Teresa,
Lynbrook, Leland, Scotts Valley, Greenfield, St.
Ignatius, San Benito,
Fremont, Mountain View, Santa
Catalina, Salinas, and Firebaugh
hope for top 10 finishes.
The senior girls wrap up the day for the ladies and have
a cast
of favorites! Leading are defending champion Jenna Storms (West Valley) and 2
time winner Jenny Xu (Monta Vista)! Jenny will be going for a 3rd
win after placing 2nd last year while Jenna will hope to make it 2
titles a piece. Kaila Gibson (SLV)
makes her debut for them after a transfer and could spoil the champions’ party.
Grace Ling (Lynbrook) returns to try
to duplicate her top 3 finish after a nice 10:54 3200 in track but Hannah Allen (Homestead)
just may topple
the cart and win the whole thing after a nice 18:30 run at state. Also note Katie
Grootendorst (Clovis West) with
big meet experience. Others to keep an eye on include Amy Lynch (Mountain View),
Nicole
Colonna (Pinewood), Yulisa Abundis
(Aptos), Cecily Johnson (Los Gatos),
Maddie McKenzie (Carmel), Amy Quinones
(San Benito), Jessica Germany (SLV), and Karina Martinez (Madera South).
Monta Vista returns to defend their
title with Madera South, Homestead,
and Los Gatos
hoping for medals as well.
The junior girls feature the class of last year’s
meet in Lauren Jacob (Los Altos). Lauren
torched Toro Park in a sizzling 17:49 two years back and returned for an
Earlybird win at 18:12 for the top time of the day! We are hoping to see her
get back to sub 18:00 times this year with CCS at Toro to follow up on her nice
17:52 good for 11th at state and her 10:45 3200. Cate Ratliff (Santa Cruz)
was 2nd
last year and should give chase along with Jonnie
Montano (Madera South) and Matti
Peoples (Aptos). Jaqueline Escalera
(Fremont) won 2 years back and hopes to get back up front after a 9th
place showing last
year. Kaitlyn and Danielle Pacheco (Clovis
West) are
hoping to work together to upset the locals. Others shooting for medals include
Olivia Quinn (Aptos), Riley Mason (Leland),
Madeleine Yip (Monta Vista), Jennifer
Saucedo (Santa Teresa), Kailey Eddy (Valley Christian), Duyen Tran (Independence), Ashley Matthews (Santa Teresa), and MacKenzie Cox (Fremont).
St. Ignatius and Silver
Creek are co-favorites with Monta
Vista giving chase.
The sophomore girls have an open door as defending champion
Franki Navarro (Madera South) is not listed on the entries. That’s the good
news for everyone else. The bad news? Several girls have a chance to get their
first win making this a true toss up! Anika
McBride (Aptos) was 2nd last year but will have her hands full
with Lindsay Allen (Homestead), Kelly
Bishop (Monta Vista), Abbey Meck (SLV), Jennifer
Foster (Los Gatos), and teammates Brianna Bilter and Emilia
Jaiczek (St. Ignatius). Your guess is as good as ours here!
Los Gatos blew everyone away here
last year and we’ll see if
they can hold to form again with St.
Ignatius and Los Altos medaling
on paper.
The freshman girls’
race kicks off the meet and could immediately make decent teams great teams! We
never have much information on the young ones so let us know about the stars
coming in!
Ever since the CCS meet
has moved to Toro Park on alternating
years the park records have been constantly taking hits! The two year old
course record of 15:02 by CCS star Yohaness Estifanos
(Milpitas-2012) should be safe
today early in the year but don’t be surprised if Eduardo Herrera (Madera South)
takes a shot at it. Chris Foster (Los Gatos) and Steven Sum (Saratoga) may also work
together to challenge the time early but may need a full season to get close by
CCS Finals. Instead, the top guns here will be shooting to eclipse the 15:34 mark
to make the all-time top 25
list! If Miguel Villar (Madera
South) in the sophomore race can do it on his own we could see 3-4 guys
under that! For the ladies, Tori Tyler (Gunn-2004) blazed a 17:16
course record and threw down a mark that we thought may be out of reach.
Anna Maxwell (SLV) had other thoughts
and tore the course up on way to a 17:23 2nd best ever at the park
last year giving it a scare. We don’t see those times challenged here but Lauren
Jacob (Los Altos) has the tools to make it close later on. To make the
top 25, the elite girls will
have to run 18:23 which is quite challenging this early in the season. We
see 2-3 girls capable of that here.
As far as team time
records are concerned, the boys from Carlmont
dazzled 2 years ago at the CCS Championships with a first ever sub 80:00
clocking at the park with a standing course record of 79:58 averaging
just under 16:00 per scorer! Madera South has given the park
record a great scare the last few years at Earlybird and may have the horses on
deck here to take a shot once again. It will take a very special day from their
4th and 5th men to get it done but they do have the crew up-front
to pull it off! Riding the wave of their participation at the Nike Cross Country National
Championships
along with earning the program’s first ever state plaque may be enough.
Finally, the loss of their coach could provide muster to get it done all year
in his honor. Madera South will need to
average 15:59 for their top 5 and may pull it off! Bellarmine and
Los Gatos could also be within a
minute or two of the record. The girls’ team time record of 96:01 set by
Los Gatos 6 years ago averaging 19:12 for their top 5 girls seems like a
tall order this early on. Look
for the top CCS teams to take a shot later on at CCS Finals. To crack the
top ten team times ever at
Toro Park, boys’ teams will have to break 81:39 and girls’ teams 98:30.
Finally,
Earlybird has always favored huge teams that can beat the bushes and recruit,
recruit, and recruit! Cross Country is a great sport for ANYONE and the meet
set-up is geared towards rewarding teams that can cover their bases and field
multiple teams at various grade levels and genders. The largest plaque of the
day goes to the team that scores well in multiple races and usually is won by a
large squad. Bellarmine has been taking the plaque home the last few
years and looks as favorites to do so once again! Certainly a feat to be noted,
considering they only have boys at the school and have no chance to score in
half the races!!!!
Good luck to all and
we hope you enjoy the 20th Anniversary Earlybird!
