Boys' Perfomance of the Year, State Finals

Thanksgiving Day weekend means a time to give thanks for God's grace and blessing in our lives. What better way then dinner with family and friends on Thursday and a trip to Fresno on Friday and Saturday to compete in State Finals? Well, maybe not the Fresno part, but the State Finals are definitely a blessing.

The goal all year was to put together the best performance of the year at State Finals, and the boys clearly accomplished that goal. The boys improved their team time OC Record by 2 minutes and 11 seconds which was set at the Clovis Invitational in October. Also, six runners posted personal best times on the Woodward Park course. The overall team finish was 14th, two places better than the 2004 team (& 3:05 faster team time). The boys can clearly claim they are the best in OC history.

Charlie led the way again (10 of 11 times this season CP has been OC's fastest runner of the day) with a 18th place individual finish and a time of 16:24, both OC bests for the boys. Charlie broke Kyle Block's, last standing, school record of 16:41 by :17 seconds. Charlie was also the fastest sophomore in the D4 state final.

Ethan made good on his return trip to the State Meet by posting a 16:52 to rank him #3 in OC history. Ethan was the only OC runner competing that had any previous state experience. Ethan and Rosie are the only athletes in OC history to compete at more than one state final. Ethan placed 49th place (improving from 126th as a Frosh).

Hunter PR'd with a 17:24 and cracked the top 100 with a 94th place finish.

Mike ran his second race after sitting out all of October and early November to recover from a stress fracture. He debuted on th Woodward Park course with a 17:51, 123rd place and OC's #4 runner on the day.

Rafael continued his late season surge capping the season with a fine 17:54 PR and a 129th finish in State.

Nick C, the only frosh on the varsity squad PR'd with a 18:13, this ranks him as the #3 frosh in OC history behind CHarlie and Ethan. Nick was the 7th fastest frosh in the D4 state final, he placed 150th overall.

Justin rounded out the team with a 19:01 and 178th place finish.


Next stop...Awards Night Dec 3rd. Do miss it!!

Boys to State Finals

For the second consecutive week the cross country teams watched the sun rise as they traveled the I-10 east to Mt. San Antonio College to compete in the CIF Southern Section Championships. This week was the finals and state qualifying berths up for grabs.

The boys race kicked off at 7:45 am and was successful. The boys earned their spot at state finals for the second time in OC history. The boys set a number of OC bests in the process. Their 6th place team finish is the highest in the school's seven seasons. The team time of 85:24 is a OC record on the MSAC course bettering last weeks mark by :40 and the state finals team of 2004's time by 1:07. Additionally, the team time for all seven runners combined was also the fastest in OC history on the MSAC course.

Charlie led the team placing 11th overall in 16:17. Although he did not improve his OC record time his 11th place finish is the highest by any boy in OC history. He is also the first boys to ever medal for OC.

Ethan placed 19th with a PR 16:27 to move to #2 all-time in OC history. He has now moved ahead of Eric Meissner and Kyle Block who both ran 16:30. His 16:27 improved his OC junior record from MSAC Invitational by :07.

Hunter was next in 17:16 followed by Rafael in a PR 17:20. They placed 48th and 49th respectively. Mike, having rested a leg injury, had not raced since Stanford. Mike gutted out a 18:04 to be the fifth man for OC. Nick C was next in 18:08. Justin ran 20:02.

Rosie competed in her third CIF SS Finals, the most by any girl in OC history. Her season ended sooner than expected, but now she will enjoy some well earned rest and relaxation.

The Lions will be traveling to Fresno next weekend. They will depart on Friday morning, arrive at the race course for a brief practice and meet check-in. Saturday morning at 8:30 am the boys will toe the line for the last time this season and a chance to make history at the State Finals. Don't miss it!!

Rosie and Her Boys Adavance to CIF SS Finals

Walnut, CA - The cross country program watched the sun rise Saturday morning after meeting at OCS at 4:45 am to drive to MSAC for CIF SS Prelims. With the primary objective to qualify for CIF SS Finals next Saturday the athletes took care of business and did just that, qualified.

The boys varsity kicked of the day running in race #1 at 7:45 am. Charlie motored aglong to a OC record 16:11 and a fourth place finish. Ethan glided conservingly in 16:43, 13th. Rafael cruised easily to a 17:34 PR. Hunter was next in 17:38. Nick C improved his #3 lifetime OC Frosh time to 18:02. Senior Tyler may have run his last time at MSAC, and did so in at his bestg - a PR 18:25. Justin rounded out the group in 19:09. The boys team set the OC record team time (top 5) with a 86:08. This was :50 better than the MSAC invitation and :23 better than the previous record set at CIF Finals 2004.

Rosie then easily managed her position to clinch herself a spot at CIF Finals for her third consecutive season. Having locked up the qualifying position she eased to the finish in 19:11.

Next stop: CIF Southern Section Div 4 Finals at MSAC Nov, 18th. All-CIF team and individual honors on the line and qualifying for the State Finals!!

A Look Back...10 and 20 years ago

As we approach the post-season and the 20th annual California State Finals let's take a quick look back...


1986 - 20 years ago
Reagan was President
world popualtion was 4.9 billion
NY Mets won the World Series
Argentina won the World Cup
Academy Award, Best Movie: Out of Africa

Coach Smith was a 10th grader, had a break out race when he placed 6th at the Alpha League then out-kicked the number one runner on his squad at CIF Prelims. He never lost to a teammate again.
Coach Chavez as a seventh grader broke the school record for 1000m, 3:03. It is still the record.

There was no State Finals, the inaugral State Meet was in 1987


1996 - 10 years ago
Clinton was President
world population 5.7 billion
NY Yankees won the World Series
Academy Award, Best Movie: Braveheart

Coach Smith is in his 5th season coaching
Rachel Smith (Davis) is a sophomore in her first season running cross country (for Coach Smith). Rachel placed 6th at Alpha Leagye Finals then finished as the #1 runner for her team at CIF Prelims.
The previous Spring Coach Mortensen ran 9:48 for 3200m, still the National HS Record. Coach was also the 1995 National Cross Country Champion (11 years ago)

State Finals: Div 4 Champions
Individuals: Isaiah Festa (Morro Bay) & Sara Ellis (La Canada)
Team: Corona Del Mar (Boys) & Nordhoff (Girls)


2006 - the present
Bush is President
world population +6.4 billion
SL Cardinals won the World Series
Italy won the World Cup
Academy Award, Best Movie: TBA (maybe "Just My Luck" will take the honors)

Coach Smith in his 15th season coaching.

State Finals: Div 4 Champions
Individuals: TBA
Team: TBA

Maybe OC's RJF and BV will take the honors?! Both are better odds than "Just My Luck" :)

Rosie and Her Boys Advance to CIF Prelims

The Tri-Valley League Finals were contested at the Cal Lutheran University 3 mile course. The weather was ideal and the course tough, but OC athletes rose to the occasion.

The boys JV placed second avenging their previous loss to Nordhoff and claime second outright. Greg led the way for the BJV (19:35). David had a day off from play practice, so he came gave a performance in cross country instead (19:55). Robbie closed out his career with a lifetime best performance (20:16) and was the #3 BJV runner. Nick (20:17), Dylan, H (20:47), Dylan B (), Scott (), Anders () and Kevin () completed the team.

The girls varsity stepped to the line next to give it one more shot. Roseanne battled the leaders beautifully to claim runner up honors (19:17). Morgan (22:27), Emily (23:35) and Samantha (23:58) completed the GV finishers. The course got the best of Megan and Erin who attempted their season debut, but their aling injuries caused them to end the day early.

The boys varsity placed second in a tightly fought race. At the half way point the boys had Oak Park on the ropes, but Nordhoff'd top 3 runners were causing problems. The OP slipped away this time and OC answered all of Nordhoff's threats. The boys will see Nordhoff in the post-season. Charlie attacked the two leaders in the last mile and made the senior from Nordhoff earn every step as Charlie (16:22) grabbed runner up honors and first team all league honors for the second time. Ethan earned first team all league honors placing 5th (16:49). Hunter (17:24) and Rafael (17:30) earned second team all league honors placing 11th and 12th respectively. Nick (17:54), Justin (18:14) and Tyler (18:43) rounded out the squad.

Girls JV closed the day for the Lions with a fourth place team finish. This was the first complete team perfomance by the JV team in a TVL meet this season. Kayla (), Marta (), Shaleene (), Sara (), Jenna () and Lillian () were our team.

OC qualifies the boys squad ) and Roseanne to the CIF SS Prelims which will be held at MSAC Sat, Nov 11th, 7:45 am. Everyone is encouraged to attend and support your teammates as they push to the State Finals.

The Active CIF Roster includes:

Roseanne

Charlie
Ethan
Hunter
Rafael
Nick C
Justin
Tyler
Alternate's
Mike
Greg

The Expanded Roster includes: (expected to continue practices)
Nick M
Dylan B
Anders
Samantha
Morgan
Emily

The following are invited and encouraged to continue practices:
David - limited by commitment to the play
Chase - limited by commitment to the play
Scott
Dylan H
Kevin
Robbie