CROSS COUNTRY SPORT SHORTS, 2011
(Latest cross country sports shorts will be at the top of the section. For the previous meet, check out the Cross country sport shorts: WSL Central Section Finals.)

SEASON END

CIF Central Section Final–Nov. 10
To finish off the season for the Eagles cross country team they ran in the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Central Section Finals at Woodward Park, Nov. 10. Running in this race were all five divisions of the league, with a maximum of six schools per division.

All participants ran the five kilometer course, mostly rolling hills and followed by a dirt road throughout Woodward Park.

All the boys on the team ran in the Division V boys race. The race had 37 participants ranging from varsity to freshman/sophomore. There were five schools participating in the race and six FC runners.

Leading the Eagles at 17th place was Tyler Laird, ’14, who came in with a time of 20:03. Laird felt proud of his season and felt that he beat most of his goals.

“I am really glad I improved over the course of the season,” Laird said. “I think I did fairly well considering I was only three seconds behind my goal time for that race and really well considering my times at the beginning of the season.”

Following Laird was Daniel Moore, ’14, who came in 19th place with a time of 20:07. Following was freshman Jordan Castro who came in at 24th place with time of 21:05. During the race Castro suffered from an asthma attack and had trouble breathing.

“After the first mile or so i started pushing my self too hard plus i forgot my asthma medication so a huge pin started coming over my abdomen,” Castro said. “It affected my time because i was running holding my side and I didn’t have the physical buildup to keep my pace in pain.”

Nick Fontes, ’15, came in next at 25th place with a time of 21:31. Following was Sophomore Jon Agao who placed at 30th with a time of 22:54.

The lone FC girl participant was Aliciana Quintana, ’14, who ran in the Division V – girls 5K/3.1 miles race. Quintana came in 22nd place out of 27 participants with a time of 28:12.

Coach Ross Laird feels extremely proud of his team and is impressed with how they have improved throughout the year.

“With a team made up of entirely underclassmen I didn’t know what to except other than great effort for the entire season,” Laird said. ” With some of the runners this year having no experience with what it takes to run long distance, the learning curve was pretty steep. It was my privilege and blessing to watch them all improve as the year went along and the training got harder.”

Coach Laird also feels that the team showed their training specifically in the final race of the season.

“At the Central Section Finals at Woodward Park, the team’s hard work paid off,” coach Laird said. ” Without exception, they improved their times by two or three minutes from the first race of the season over the same 5K course. This was a monumental improvement and bodes well for next year.”