Don’t tell the cross country team they can’t succeed because they are likely to run over that notion. Coming off a great season in 2012 capped off by winning the league title on the boys’ side, Coach Steve Munoz and company know what they had to do to get back to CCS. Munoz says, “I don’t feel like there is any added pressure to repeat it’s a very different team from last year, but I’d like to build the team up to that level.”

With the comfort of staying in the Gabilan Division of the Monterey Bay League, the team was able to focus on fundamentals and building endurance, which Munoz said was one of the biggest focuses during the summer.

The girls’ division features some competitive schools like Salinas High and Hollister to compete for the league title. Munoz said, “I believe we’re going to CCS and can place second in league.”

On the boys’ side Seaside, North County, and Hollister look to be the most competitive this year with Munoz expecting the boys to finish top three in league.

Overall the team added 60 new members this year while also having around 40 returning members. Munoz believes building endurance is going to be a challenge for the first time runners but that it should come naturally to them as the season progresses.

The girl’s team looks to be better prepared starting in the season with more returning experienced runners. Munoz added that “many good runners won’t make varsity because of the number of experienced runners from last year.”

The first meet of the season started with the Early Bird Invitational at Toro Park and every runner who went to the meet got a personal record that day. Munoz said, “The team needs to improve in some areas but I was very impressed with the returning girls.”

The Chieftain Classic Invitational followed, and while the score didn’t exactly show the team to have done well, all but four runners got a personal record at the Toro Park course. Each group from freshmen to Varsity averaged 4th to 5th place. Munoz said, “I’m not too worried about it, this meet doesn’t count towards us because only Center Meets and the MBL championships count.” The first meet which will count towards the season is the Center Meet at Hollister on September 25th.

Munoz had many things to be happy about at the Earthquake Invitational at Hollister where the team walked out placing high in most levels. The team started off great with the Frosh/Soph boys taking first place overall. Runners Giovanni Ruiz and Andrew Martinez placed both first and second. The top two JV boys were Alex Mitra and Bryan Saldaña and the group placed 5th overall. Finally the Varsity boys placed 7th with Daniel Gutierrez and Abraham Espinoza as the top two runners.

Giselle Cortez and Dalia Contreras were the first Alisal runners to finish for the Frosh/Soph girls helping the group place second overall. JV girls also placed second with the top two runners Carolina Mundo and Elizabeth Gonzales. The Varsity girls placed 4rth with Liliana Garduño and Elizabeth Hernandez being the top two. However, Maria Rodriguez and Jocelyn Ruiz, who are the regular top girls, were not able to attend the meet due to testing
Munoz also said, “The boys have been struggling in these first meets but I know they will improve moving forward. The girls have been doing great there are 15 possible Varsity girl candidates.” However, the team is only allowed to have 7 Varsity runners.

While it is still early in the season, some runners did catch Munoz’s attention, like freshmen Jaime Mendoza, a possible varsity runner who is currently the fastest freshmen runner and 7th overall on the team, as well as fellow freshmen Caesar Martin Del Campo and Tony Coronado who are the 2nd and 3rd fastest runners, according to Munoz.

Varsity girl standouts include seniors Maria Rodriguez, Jocelyen Ruiz who are the top two girl runners and junior Liliana Garduño who is the 3rd fastest. Munoz said, “Liliana is a runner to keep an eye on this season. She was around the 15th fastest runner last season and she came in 3rd in the first meet.” Varsity runner Elizabeth Hernandez said, “This year’s Varsity group is very competitive. We all have to compete every meet to keep our spots. All the varsity girls are working hard to win the Salinas city league championships.”

Boy standouts include seniors Arturo Rivera and Jorge Figueroa who were part of last season’s undefeated championship team. Munoz believes it is too early to tell for any of the JV runners and he expects to have a better idea by the start of the regular season.

This year’s team, according to Munoz, is a very young team with many first time runners in numbers every group, with big for both the freshmen and sophomores. Munoz is trying to work the team to the level or previous years to continue to have success moving forward. Arturo Rivera who is currently the top runner said “I think our Varsity team is very competitive and wants to place high in championships but we need our team to be more consistent during meets and try to stick together.”