Posted on Fri, Sep. 23, 2005
PHIL JENSEN: TIMES STAFF WRITER
Prep Scene: Fall Notebook
A Campolindo, Miramonte high school competition is always riveting, no matter which sport.
In cross country, the teams have developed a tradition of excellence. In the last 12 years, at least one of the two high schools has had squads finish in the top five in a California Interscholastic Federation state championship race. In each of the last two years, both schools have had a team in the top five at state.
When the Cougars and Matadors faced each other Wednesday on the opening day of Diablo Foothill Athletic League competition, the girls teams of both schools had already won invitational titles in this young season.
Wednesday's results between the teams sure were close. Campolindo beat Miramonte by a single point in the girls race, and eight points in the boys race.
"It reminds me of the old Ali-Frazier fights," Campolindo co-coach Chris Walsh said. "We call this the 'Boast for the Coast.'"
"This first one is basically for bragging rights, for a while. We just have to come back from the knockdown and get a few jabs in ourselves," Miramonte coach Brian Henderson said. "For us, (the rivalry) is probably the best thing that Miramonte cross country could have. It makes us better. We are friendly rivals, but at the same time, you want to beat them. It definitely is intense at times. Chris has raised the bar since he's been there. It definitely has made me a better coach."
The schools met in their league opener for the second year in a row, but a tough matchup in the first week of league action is inevitable considering the DFAL's strength, Walsh said.
"Inevitably, we are going to bang heads with someone strong in the North Coast or state level in the first week (of league). It's great By the time we get to North Coast or state, there are no surprises. We've been facing good competition all year long, every year," Walsh said.
Besides Campolindo and Miramonte, the DFAL also has College Park (the two-time defending CIF Division II girls state champion) and Acalanes, which was ranked ninth in the state for Division III boys teams in the preseason rankings on DyeStatCal.com on Sept. 6.
Campolindo's boys team is ranked sixth in Division III, followed by Miramonte at No. 7.
In girls rankings, College Park is third in Division I, Campolindo is sixth in Division III and Miramonte is 10th in Division III.
In the Campolindo-Miramonte girls race Wednesday, each team had five runners among the top 10 finishers.
"It was a classic cross country race," Walsh said. "Henderson does such a good job with those girls."
The Matadors' Jenny Bergren won the 3.1-mile race at Martinez Marina in 18 minutes, 53 seconds, with Campolindo's Catherine Murillo just five seconds behind in second place. Miramonte's Grace Peck gave her team an early advantage with a third-place finish (19:10), but the Cougars had the next two finishers, Marie Casabonne (19:22) and Laurie Finnegan (19:28). The next five places alternated between Miramonte and Campolindo, with the Cougars claiming a close 27-28 win. Both teams also defeated Alhambra in the tri-meet.
In the boys race, Campolindo won without Chris Vizcaino, the 2004 Times Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year who has not competed this season due to a hip flexor injury. Walsh said Vizcaino would race next Wednesday against Acalanes and Concord.
"He could have run (Wednesday), but we wanted to be cautious," Walsh said.
Campolindo's Emerson Powell won Wednesday's boys race in 16:09. Alhambra's Matt LoForte finished second (16:13) and Miramonte's Mike Gherini was third (16:16). Campolindo's second through fifth runners finished fifth, seventh, ninth and 10th to claim a 24-32 win over Miramonte. Tom Akita was fifth (16:32) and Jed Hubbard was seventh (16:59) for the Cougars. Sandy Spicer was Miramonte's No. 2 runner with a sixth-place finish (16:47).
The Fall Notebook features a different prep sport each week. Phil Jensen can be reached at pjensen@cctimes.com.