Local harriers will look for strong start at state cross country
meet this weekend
HOLLISTER
The state cross country meet at Fresno’s Woodward Park will be held this weekend, where Division I runners in the girls race are expected to be clocking sub-six minute times on the first mile.
And they say speed kills.
The course isn’t as uphill as Toro Park in Salinas, and it’s not as downhill as Crystal Springs in Belmont, but with so many elite runners all trying to set the pace at the start, the CIF State Cross Country Championships has a tendency to take off at the gun.
“It’s pretty flat, so everyone goes out way too fast,” Anzar coach Doug MacKinnon said. “I think the main thing is that there are a lot of people there … You want to go out strong, but not crazy. It’s a bit of a balancing act, and some kids are better than others.”
The Hawks will return to the state finals after finishing 13th out of 22 teams in Division V last year. Led by sophomore Aaron Hsia-Coron, who recorded a personal best time of 16:54 at the Central Coast Section meet two weeks ago and paced Anzar to a third-place finish, the Hawks will run Saturday close to full strength.
Armando Zepeda is recovering from the flu but is expected to run, and Andre Melicdam, who collapsed at the finish line from the excessive heat during the CCS meet, is doing well and is slated to run, MacKinnon said.
Anzar’s Izzy Parra is day to day, the coach added, and is expected to be a meet-time decision. Parra has been suffering from a knee injury that held him out of the CCS meet, and he just returned to practice on Tuesday.
Anzar will test the Woodward Park course beforehand, though. They’ll head south today and hold practice in Fresno in order to “demystify” the course and reacquaint the returning runners with the terrain.
“The week before any big race, we do a fair amount of speed work,” MacKinnon said. “Short distances and high intensity, but not a lot. We want the kids to have fresh legs on Saturday.”
San Benito’s Courtney Allen and Rachel Shimabukuro have been focusing on the speed aspect as well, running frequent 400s this past week.
It will be Shimabukuro’s first trip to state after she recorded a 19:59 at CCS to finish eighth, whereas Allen is returning to the state competition after she finished fourth overall in 19:21 at CCS.
And Allen would like get another shot at Woodward, no doubt, where she was 93rd overall last year in 19:34.
“Coach (Jess) Morales says I can be in the top 10, so that’s what I’m aiming for,” Allen said. “Last year, I (physically) felt like my season was over as soon as CCS was over. But this year I’m pretty sure I’m ready for state. I don’t feel like my season is over.”
The fast start at state shouldn’t necessarily hurt Allen either, as the San Benito senior is usually out in front of the pack from the beginning.
It’s a different story for Shimabukuro, though. The junior runner prefers to stay back in the beginning, then make her move to the front toward the end of the race.
“I’m gonna try and stay with Courtney for the first part,” Shimabukuro said. “If you’re at the front in the beginning, then you’ll be near the front for much of the race.”
Shimabukuro admits that is easier said than done, of course.
“I’ve been out trying fast starts in short distances and it kicks my butt,” she said.
Coach Jess Morales pointed to the fact that many teams from the southern section run at Woodward Park frequently throughout the season, and may be more accustomed to the nooks and crannies of the course.
“They’ll set the pace because that’s where they run most of their league championship and section championship races,” Morales said. “But that first mile is the most important part of the whole race.
“Just hold on tight.”
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The Division I girls race will begin at 9:30 a.m. The Division V boys race is slated for 11:45 a.m. Both races will be held at Woodward Park in Fresno on Saturday.
