Cross Country Team Advances into League Finals as Fortified Team

KAYIU WONG
Staff Writer

After their second league race on Oct. 23, the Alhambra cross country team advanced in Almont League rankings. Out of the six competing league schools, the varsity girls’ team currently stands in third place, while the varsity boys are in third, frosh-soph girls in fifth and the frosh-soph boys in third.

During the race at Legg Lake, junior Anhayte Guajardo placed second and freshman Yaneli Guajardo ended in fourth place for the varsity girls’ team. Additionally, junior Gabriel Castro finished third and junior Daniel Ramirez placed fifth on the varsity boys’ team.

“I felt scared going into the race because I wasn’t so sure how I would do and a lot of people were counting on me. Now, I am proud of [myself for] placing and achieving a new personal best time,” Anhayte Guajardo said.
The team is on a road toward finishing strong and Head Coach Sandra Rodriguez believes that progressing into the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) preliminaries will be the next big step. The athletes’ ability to work together smoothly and show great teamwork is what she describes as the biggest improvement this season.

“They have learned to really support one another during a race and with this, the team has matured and become more confident in their ability to complete three miles,” Rodriguez said.

During practice, the runners are primarily focusing on increasing speed and endurance and properly implementing drills. Running times have been their focal points to reduce and establish personal records during each race is another focus. To junior captain Raymond Chau, for example, reaching his season goal time of less than 18 minutes has been the driving force for him to enhance his speed.

“When finals come, it will all pay off,” Chau said.

Almont League finals are on Nov. 7 for the team and cross country’s accomplishing strides have made advancing into CIF preliminaries a hopeful possibility in the coming week.