For the past two seasons, the Anzar High boys cross country team
has had little to no competition within the Coastal Athletic
League, posting back-to-back undefeated regular seasons among its
cross country counterparts, and earning back-to-back CAL titles in
the process.
But two years removed from claiming the Central Coast Section
Division V crown, Anzar has witnessed the emergence of league rival
York.
HOLLISTER
For the past two seasons, the Anzar High boys cross country team has had little to no competition within the Coastal Athletic League, posting back-to-back undefeated regular seasons among its cross country counterparts, and earning back-to-back CAL titles in the process.
But two years removed from claiming the Central Coast Section Division V crown, Anzar has witnessed the emergence of league rival York. After finishing behind the Hawks at every meet during the regular season last year, even taking runner-up to Anzar at the CAL Championships by a 24-44 margin, York finally leapfrogged the San Juan Bautista school at the year-end CCS Championships last November.
Although both the Falcons and Hawks posted matching scores of 82 at the section finale, York was awarded the tiebreaker, and a rivalry was born.
“It should be a pretty interesting match,” Anzar head coach Doug MacKinnon said. “I think it’s gonna do both of us some good to have competition within league, make both of us stronger.”
York returns a full team, MacKinnon added. The Falcons placed four runners within the top 19 places at last year’s CCS Championships, and were anchored by now-junior James Palaniuk, who clocked an eighth-place time of 18:12.
“They’re hard-working kids over there,” MacKinnon said. “They want to get better. I wasn’t surprised by their improvement.”
In the Hawks’ only meet this season, the Stevenson Invitational held last Saturday, a relay event that records total team times, Anzar clocked a 45:43 and finished fourth overall within the Small School division – mostly made up of Division V schools.
York, though, finished one better than Anzar in third place, recording a 45:19.
“At this point,” MacKinnon said, “we’re dead even or they’re a little bit ahead of us.
“Maybe we’ll take this as a wake-up call to get our collective acts together. They’re a good team and I think we will be too. We’re just not in race shape yet.”
While Anzar did lose Christian Heath, who ran a 19:36 at CCS last year as a senior and was arguably the team’s second strongest runner, the Hawks return plenty, including section standout Aaron Hsia-Coron.
Last season, as a sophomore, Hsia-Coron recorded a 16:54 at the CCS Championships and beat second-place finisher Michael Young of St. Francis Central Coast by 19 seconds to claim the Division V title. It was a personal best time for Hsia-Coron, who should be battling Young and his St. Francis teammate Adrian Duran for section supremacy once again.
Additionally, the Hawks bring back Jacob Wilkenson, who recorded a 12th-place 18:28 at CCS last year; Armando Zepeda, whose 18:46 placed him 16th; and Izzy Parra, who battled a knee injury toward the end of the year and was unable to compete at the CCS Championships.
On the girls side, MacKinnon said the team has about seven runners right now, and should be led by freshman Valerie Quezada, who recorded the top time for Anzar at the Stevenson Invitational.
“The kids are about where I expect them to be and they’ll only get better,” MacKinnon said. “Last year, I think we peaked a little early. I think we’re gonna bring them along a little slower (this year) to peak in November rather than October.
“But we’ll see how that goes. It’s always a work in progress.”
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Anzar will race Thursday in a four-team league meet at Gavilan College in Gilroy. Oakwood, Marina and Calvary Christian are expected to be in attendence. Meet time is 4 p.m.
