WEEK 1--Runners of the Week

Week 1 saw the Knights traveling to Vacaville for the Lagoon Valley Invitational. There were many excellant performances but the coaches thought that Guadalupe Torres and Eleni Quick stood out among the others.

GUADALUPE TORRES
was Downey's top finisher in the Large School Varsity Boy's 5K. He finished 87th out of 162 runners and completed the course in 18:42.88.

ELENI QUICK
In her debut race in a Downey uniform Eleni competed in the JV 2mi. She ran 18:55.05 on the hilly, difficult course. She finished 73rd out of 141 runners and was Downey's 4th JV finisher.

Lagoon Valley Invitational

The 2011 XC season for the Downey Knights got underway yesterday with the team traveling to Vacaville for the Lagoon Valley Invitational. The weather was warm and the course was challenging but the team had a nice openning day.

First up on the 5K course was the varsity girls. With Katie nursing an injury, Maddie moved up to the varsity team and really ran well (more on that in a minute). Sierra led the girls placing a somewhat disappointing 44th. She was in about 20th at the mile mark when she was elbowed in the mouth and nose. Although she did finish respectablly it threw her off her game. The real story of the girl's race was the 2-5 girls. Rocio ran her best race in almost a year to place 59th and she was closely followed by Natalie (62nd), Rory (64th), and Maddie (67th). These 5 ladies together landed the team in 10th place out of 17.

In the boy's varsity race Andrew was sailing along the first mile in the top 20 when he caught a tree branch in the face and eye. Unsure about his status he stopped. By the time he figured out that he was okay it was too late to jump back into the race. Guadalupe was the first Knight finisher in 87th. The rest of the team labored on the two tough hills. Ernesto (114), Pierson (124), Kenji (140), and David (154) completed the scoring five. They finished 21st out of the 23 teams.

The JV boys ran the 2 mile course (which still went up the two huge hills). Cameron was the lone Downey medal winner with his 26th place in the JV race. Alfonso started slowly but was charging at the end to place 56th. Justin Goering and Conner Hannon had nice rookie efforts by scoring 119th and 120th respectively. The JV boys place 11th out of 22 teams.

The JV girls were led by a surprisingly strong effort by Erin (47th) who edged out Alicia (48th) by less than a second. Jenny(72) and Eleni (73)had good opening efforts. Yaneli showed her experience and strength by placing 74th. Carolyn has improved greatly over the summer. With each workout she gets stronger. Her 86th place was impressive. The JV girls placed 8th out of 11 teams.

Afterwards everyone enjoyed a BBQ at the park courtesy of Mr Holloway and Mr Osgood. Also much thanks to the Binghams for supplying the fruit and everyone who made the long drive to support the team.

Below is a link to complete results:
http://rise.espn.go.com/track-and-xc/california/2011-xc/Results/September/Week-2/03-Lagoon-Valley.aspx?pursuit=TrackAndXC

Link to picts from the meet:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1741712481783.72372.1807850130&l=fb3f3cf636&type=1

BELOW IS A COMPLETE LIST OF DOWNEY TIMES

Last Name	First Name		lag val 9/3/11
Miller	Cameron	12	2mi--13:04.01
Urbano	Alfonso	10	2mi--13:55.90
Holloway	Ryan	12	2mi--15:04.24
Goering	Justin	9	2mi--15:04.74
Hannon	Conner	9	2mi--15:05.01
Carson	Alec	11	2mi--15:37.71
Soares	Seiji	11	2mi--15:47.42
Thomas	Alex	12	2mi--15:51.02
Mauricio	Danny	10	2mi--16:02.05
Walsh	Tanner	9	2mi--16:04.11
Garibay	Emanuel	11	2mi--16:11.36
Ayers	Chris	12	2mi--16:26.18
Rojas	Eri	12	2mi--16:29.90
Solorzeno	Francisco	11	2mi--16:44.64
Redding	Erin	9	2mi--18:04.47
Baragas	Alicia	10	2mi--18:05.13
Hernandez	Jenny	12	2mi--18:53.55
Quick	Eleni	9	2mi--18:55.04
Ortiz	Yaneli	12	2mi--18:55.64
Gunderson	Theron	12	2mi--18:59.08
Fraze	Carolyn	10	2mi--19:31.22
Homan	Abby	10	2mi--20:05.14
Heyman	Justin	12	2mi--20:22.25
Martin	Dejanee	10	2mi--21:20.14
Nuon	Caroline	11	2mi--21:20.81
Torres	Guadalupe	11	5K--18:42.88
Limon	Ernesto	12	5K--19:48.16
Devers	Pierson	11	5K--20:14.94
Soares	Kenji	12	5K--20:45.11
Durham	Sierra	11	5K--22:01.38
O'Bryan	David	11	5K--22:16.03
Bingham	Tyler	11	5K--22:39.47
Ramirez-Castro	Rocio	11	5K--23:10.86
Franco	Natalie	10	5K--23:33.78
Jimenez	Aurora	10	5K--23:34.69
Souza	Madeleine	9	5K--23:42.56
Redding	Karina	11	5K--25:46.45
Casas	Adelaida	10	5K--26:24.45
Osgood	Andrew	11	dnf
Ippolito	Nick	11	dnr
Puryear	Haeden	10	dnr
Scheder	Katherine	10	dnr

Lagoon Valley, Vacaville Meet Info

The Lagoon valley Classic is coming up this Saturday. The bus will be leaving the Downey parking lot at 6:30 sharp--so plan on being there prior to 6:30.

The following girls are running in the varsity girls 5000m race: Sierra, Rory, Natalie, Karina, Katie, Adelaida, and Rocio. All the other girls are running in the JV girls 2 mi.

The following boys are running in the varsity boys 5000m race: Andrew, Kenji, Ernesto, Pierson, Guadalupe, Ryan, and Cameron. All other boys are running in the JV boys 2 mi.

Directions to the park:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=FTKaPgIdthHK-Cmt4GMMEFSQgDG6e0tktoaofw%3BFdTqSAIdTEm6-Ckz3OGqxheFgDGO2ku9yZ4u8w&q=1000+coffee+rd,+modesto+to+lagoon+valley+park,+vacaville&aq=&sll=37.99621,-121.52103&sspn=0.727253,1.668549&vpsrc=6&ie=UTF8&ll=37.805444,-120.901794&spn=1.458268,3.337097&t=h&z=9&saddr=1000+coffee+rd,+modesto&daddr=lagoon+valley+park,+vacaville&layer=c&ei=jgpbTvL5GpSMsAOcobgf&pw=2

Info on the Lagoon Valley Meet: http://internal.vusd.solanocoe.k12.ca.us/Staff/xcountry/lagoon.htm
 2mi course map:

3 mi course map:

Timed Mile(?) @ Legion Results

Guadalupe and Pierson easily distanced the field (with Andrew O still nursing a sore ankle) and battled each other for bragging rights. Sierra ran away from all the girls (and many of the boys) but behind her Rory, Natalie, and Katie all looked strong and competed to the finishline.
Below is a link to the pictures of the event:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1713511376773.71199.1807850130&l=a98801c1b5&type=1

Last Name	First Name		M/F	8/18/2011
Torres	Guadalupe	11	M	5:45
Devers	Pierson	11	M	5:52
Holloway	Ryan	12	M	5:58
Soares	Kenji	12	M	6:05
Limon	Ernesto	12	M	6:10
Mauricio	Danny	10	M	6:13
Miller	Cameron	12	M	6:16
O'Bryan	David	11	M	6:18
Soares	Seiji	11	M	6:18
Bingham	Tyler	11	M	6:22
Durham	Sierra	11	F	6:28
Ayers	Chris	12	M	6:32
Hannon	Conner	9	M	6:47
Garibay	Emanuel	11	M	6:48
Heyman	Justin	12	M	6:48
Solorzeno	Francisco	11	M	6:51
Jimenez	Aurora	10	F	6:55
Walsh	Tanner	9	M	6:57
Franco	Natalie	10	F	6:58
Martinez-Gonzalez	Omar	11	M	6:58
Carson	Alec	11	M	7:00
Scheder	Katherine	10	F	7:02
Rojas	Eri	12	M	7:02
Redding	Karina	11	F	7:11
Thomas	Alex	12	M	7:18
Ramirez-Castro	Rocio	11	F	7:19
Souza	Madeleine	9	F	7:20
Baragas	Alicia	10	F	7:24
	Adelaida	10	F	7:29
Redding	Erin	9	F	7:35
Gunderson	Theron	12	M	7:38
Puryear	Haeden	10	M	7:40
Hernandez	Jenny	12	F	8:22
Homan	Abby	10	F	8:28
Quick	Eleni	9	F	8:30
Fraze	Carolyn	10	F	8:42
Ortiz	Yaneli	12	F	8:43
Nuon	Caroline	11	F	9:45
Goering	Justin	9	M
Ippolito	Nick	11	M
Osgood	Andrew	11	M
Urbano	Alfonso	10	M

Stanislaus County Preseason XC Rankings

Picking up right where they left off in track and last year's XC season, Andrew Osgood and Sierra Durham ranked highly in the county's preseason list. Andrew showed that he has really gained the respect of the local coaches and boosters by grabbing the second spot on the list. His strong showing in both the 1600 and 3200m in track showed that the leg issues that haunted his frosh campaign are behind him. He will have to work hard to maintain his lofty ranking as there are a pack of young and talented county athletes right behind him.

In what is an incredibly talented girls field, Sierra Durham grabbed the fifth spot. She was ranked in the top five for almost the entire season last year, but many runners greatly improved their status over the track season.

Downey is well represented by these determined and hard working runners. Sierra finished 30th in last year's sub-sect meet and has her sights set on a top twenty section finish this year. Andrew just missed qualifying for last year's section championship, and I know he has ambitious goals for his junior season.

For the complete rankings:
http://runninruben.blogspot.com/

Summer Conditioning: Saturday @ Berkeley

A handful of Downey XC runners travel to the Berkeley area today. They met up with Crystal Esparza (former Beyer standout runner and current Cal runner) for a workout on the trails and hills at a park in the hills above Berkeley. It was foggy when we got there (way different than Modesto's summer climate), and the trails where muddy in a few spots; but the kids seemed to have a great time and a good workout. Then we drove down the hill to the Cal campus. We walked around a bit and Crystal showed us the Cal track and took us down to actually stand on the golden circuit. The Osgoods treated everyone to a lunch of pizza from Blondies. All in all a really nice day!

picts from the trip:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1693573918349.70248.1807850130&l=985bd2bb56&type=1

 

Summer Conditioning

The team has been working hard throughout the summer getting ready for the up coming season. They have concentrated on building their base and increasing their strength. Coach Osgood has included Yoga into the traditional stretching and core strengthening exercises.

On a separte note, congratulations to ANDREW OSGOOD for placing 1st overall at this past weekend's (7/16) Escalon Fete 10K race. His time of 38:06 bested everyone in the field by one and one-half minutes. Nice job Andrew, we'll be looking for you to carry this momentum into the up coming season.


LINKS TO SUMMER WORKOUT PICTURES:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1654693746369.68453.1807850130&l=45151b8b00&type=1