AgouraCrossCountry

Chris Baird Shines at State Finals!

Chris Baird topped off his 5-week string of great races with his best performance of all at the State Finals meet in Fresno today.  He finished 13th place and earned himself 2nd Team All-State honors.  Although the course was 3.1 miles (the longest course of the year), Chris ran 15:48.  This translates to approximately 15:10 for 3 miles.  Evidencing how well Chris did, he defeated Brandon Shirck from Nordhoff who was the Ventura County champion, Jose Alcantar from Hueneme who edged Chris at CIF Finals, and Alex Routh (Royal's 4th runner) who finished in front of Chris at League Finals.  Royals' top 3 runners were the only Ventura County runners with faster times than Chris today.  It was an exciting day at Woodward Park, the home of the State Meet since the 1980's, and there were literally thousands of spectators lining the course.  Hopefully some of our other current Agoura runners will get the opportunity to participate in this memorable event before their high school careers come to a close.

Chris Baird Qualifies for State Finals

Chris Baird added to his spectacular season by finishing 6th at the CIF Finals.  Not only did this qualify him for the State Finals in Fresno this coming Saturday, it also earned him First Team All-CIF honors to go along with his All-League and All-County honors.   Chris gave a tremendous effort today, and could barely stand up long after the race ended.  He passed the Mile mark at 4:52 with about 20 other runners, gained ground in the first set of hills moving him into the top-10, and put on a furious kick to finish 6th.  Three seconds slower and it would have been season over.  Talent is important, but there's no substitute for consistent training and all-out effort.  Chris is reportedly the first Agoura runner to qualify for State in at least 9 years ... which one of you out there will be next?

Chris Baird Qualifies for CIF Finals

Chris Baird's tremendous senior season continues as the Agoura High School cross country runner finished 3rd in his heat (15:39) at the CIF Prelims held at Mt. SAC yesterday, qualifying for CIF Finals this coming Saturday.  Chris ran the first mile in 4:54 with a pack of about 15 runners, and then quickly moved into the top-6 group of runners on the steep hill that begins at Mile 2.  From there he ran a hard-but-controlled pace to the finish, easily qualifying for the next round.  Chris will be the first Agoura HS runner in several years to compete at CIF Finals!

A Very Timely Quote of the Week from the Rabbi

With cross country ending for everyone but Chris, and the offseason training for track about to begin, Rabbi Jared has come up with the most-appropriate of quotes from the man often referred to as the "Grandfather of Our Country" (GW, of course, being the Father):

"Resolve to perform what you ought to preform. Perform without fail what you resolve." -Ben Franklin

I hope y'all will memorize that quote and apply its wisdom throughout the winter!!!

Report on League Finals

The varsity boys did not achieve our goal of reaching CIF this season, but those who ran yesterday did everything they could to make it possible.  Had Kenneth not had the unfortunate injury to his foot, all he would have had to do would have been to finish one spot in front of Matt for us to qualify.  But that's just how it is in sports ...  injuries happen so we just need to build more depth in our program so that we can overcome injuries in the future.  But if someone at the beginning of the season had told me our No. 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 runners would run as well as they did yesterday, I would have been ecstatic!!

Yet despite our setback, the team was not without its playoff success.  Senior Chris Baird continued his fantastic final season with a 5th place finish (15:44), qualifying as an individual for next week's CIF prelims.  The only runners to defeat Chris were Royal's 4 top runners.  Given that Royal is the No. 2 ranked team in the nation, that is a great accomplishment by Chris.

Senior Matt Schroeder also had a great final race, breaking 17:00 for the first time ever on our home course and, more importantly, absolutely giving everything he had during that race.  He could barely stand up long after the race was over.  Sophomore Brandon Severson continued his late season surge with a fine 17:13, sophomore Adam Brosh ran a solid 17:30 despite tripping and injuring himself near the beginning of the race, sophomore Sean Slavin also broke 18:00 on our home course for the first time, and Greg Stanger put on his patented 400M kick to finish in a solid 17:54 -- not bad for a soccer playing 400M runner.  Congratulations Varsity ... you gave your best despite the season-long adversity we faced.

Other fine performances were put in by our soph/frosh and jv teams, including sophomore Cameron Thomas (18:16), and freshmen Bryan Quintanilla (18:53), Ben Wolhaupter (19:32), Max Byer (19:35), Brennan Bown (19:49) and Aaron Argiso (19:51).  Congratulations also are again in order to Harrison Sobel who ran a PR of 24:35, defeating 20 other runners.

ATHLETE OF THE MEET:  Matt Schroeder

I will post the Girls Results once Coach Prater files her report, so stay tuned!