Cross Country Strides Towards League Finals
Cross Country JV Runners Bryant Vo and Matthew Roberts
and Johnathan Banhprepare for League Finals
MOOR photo by SARA HERNANDEZWILLIAM RODRIGUEZ
Staff Writer
As the season is coming closer to an end, the varsity cross country team is getting ready for the Almont League Finals. If successful, the team hopes to advance to the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Preliminaries.
In preparation for league finals, the cross country team had their first league meet of the season on Oct. 1, which took place at Legg Lake in Whittier Narrows. At the shot of the gun, the six teams of the league were off. In the varsity girls’ race, the quintet of Alhambra girls finished with an accumulated score of 54, maintaining a third place team finish. Individually, sophomore Yaneli Guajardo, captain Anhayte Guajardo and freshman Kelly Luu finished amongst the top five in the race.
“Being a freshman on the [varsity] team is very intimidating because most of the other girls are older and have more experience. [However], I’m grateful to be able to have this opportunity as only a freshman,” Luu said.
Along with the girls, the boys’varsity team ended with a third place finish, with a total score of 62. If it had been league finals, both the boys’ and girls’ would advance to CIF preliminaries. As for the individual results in the race, senior Gabriel Castro strided for the win which contributed to the teams’ third place rank.
“It feels amazing to be able to help out my team this year. Winning [individually] makes me feel confident because this race gave me a sense of how league [finals] will be,” Castro said.
With a successful turnout from the first Almont League meet, the cross country team entered into their second-to-last league meet of the season on Oct. 22. In hopes to secure their top three spot, the varsity girls earned a second team place finish with a score of 46. The varsity boys earned a third place finish with a score of 73. Both teams are still in contention for qualifying to the CIF Preliminaries.
After several months of training and anticipation, both varsity boys and girls will be competing to maintain a third place team finish or better to qualify for the CIF Prelims. The Almont League Cross Country Finals will take place at Legg Lake on Thursday, Nov. 6.