Notre Dame Cross Country 2009
The Boys team finished 10th at the California CIF State Championship Meet, their first trip to Woodward Park in Fresno in seven years. The Running Knights were lead by Richard Lucas, 11th and Will Conway 14th. Also competing at the year end classic were Shawn Dunn, Max Tovar, Joe Mudy, Jack Apablasa and Alex Reilly. The alternates were Eduardo Felix and Riley Adair. Also earning a varsity letter was Michael Romo.
At CIF Finals Will Conway 7th, Richard Lucas 9th, made 1st team all CIF where the Knights finished 6th. In CIF Prelims ND finished 2nd in Division 4. At Mission League Finals Richard Lucas 3rd, Will Conway 7th, and Shawn Dunn 11th were first team all Mission League. The Girls team qualified for CIF Prelims for the fourth year in a row finishing 3rd with Kazia Mermel making all Mission League with her 5th place finish. At CIF Prelims Kazia finished 10th.
In the Mission League dual meet season the Lady Running Knights which featured varsity letter winners Kazia Mermel, Ivone Escobedo, Molly & Imuri Pacheco, Courtney Pascual, Andraea Aksentijevic, Alyssa Banuelos, Lauren Broussard, Kym Conley, and Miranda Cornwell, finished the season with 2 wins and 3 losses. The Boys were 3 wins and 3 losses in a tough Mission League which sent five boys squads to CIF and three to the State Meet. The Boys won the D4 race at the prestigious Mt. Sac Invitational. The girls JV team posted a 4 win 2 loss season and the JV Boys finished with 3 wins and 3 loses.
Notre Dame’s cross country team has been growing steadily in the four years that Jon Sutherland has been head coach. In 2006 & 2007 both the boys and girls teams made it to CIF Finals together for the first time in ND history. In 2007 the girls Team lead by all Mission League performers Cristina Lucas (three times) and Michelle Lewis (four times) won the Mission League championship for the first time in ND history. At the 2007 CIF State Meet senior Charles Maginnis V, finished 5th, the highest place of any NDXC runner ever. In 2009 both Richard Lucas and Will Conway’s State Meet times were faster as juniors.
“What we lack in the number of runners compared to other teams, we make up with smarts and heart,” Coach Sutherland said. “We are building another proud tradition in the ND sports family and I won’t be satisfied until both the boys and girls teams are State contenders every year." in 2009 NDXC added Jacqueline "Jaqi" Hansen, a two time woman's world marathon record holder as a coach which added to the squad's strength.
Cross Country is a fall sport and the training begins each summer on July 1st. The top twenty runners each year venture to the beautiful eastern Sierra Mountains at Mammoth Lakes to train for ten days at high altitude. The team runs between seven and ten races over three miles distance in September and October before the Mission League Finals (the last week of October) and the Championship season (November). Each runner will train according to their level of fitness and any student who wants to run and compete is welcomed to become a Running Knight in the fastest growing sport on American high school campuses.
The Running Knights are Headed to the State Championships!
Notre Dame’s boys cross country team qualified for the State Championships at CIF Finals. “I am so proud how our runners battled adversity to get to the big stage,” Coach Jon Sutherland said. “This cast of characters amazes me every time we race. Will ‘The Thrill’ Conway and Richard ‘Buzzy’ Lucas both made first team all CIF. Shawn ‘Get it’ Dunn, Max ‘Lazlo’ Tovar, and Joe ‘J-Mud’ Mudy sealed the deal. We’re off to Woodward Park in Fresno to run against the State’s best teams. Thanks for your support!”
Girls Make it Four in a Row
Lead by freshman Kazia Mermel, the lady running knights advanced to CIF Prelims for the fourth year in a row. They finished third in the Mission League and Kazia made first team all Mission League. Ivone Escobedo, Molly & Imuri Pacheco, and Lauren Broussard were the top finishers at CIF Prelims where the girls finished sixth.
Boys Advance to CIF Finals
Running Knights compete at CIF Finals on Saturday 11/21/2009 at Mt. Sac at 10:05 am!
Unrated at the beginning of the season the running lads from ND struggled through several set backs and burst out at the prestigious Mt. Sac Invitational with a clutch win in ninety-five degree heat. At the Mission League Championships the boys advanced with Richard Lucas, Will Conway and Shawn Dunn taking first all league honors. At CIF Prelims the boys beat several state rated teams and finished second and are favored to make it to the CIF State Championships.
Cross Country 2009 CIF Update
The running Lady Knights finished in sixth place at the CIF Prelims and had a fine season. The boys’ team advanced to CIF Finals by coming in second and beat several state ranked teams. Richard Lucas, Will Conway, Shawn Dunn, Max Tovar and Joe Mudy all ran their best race of the season on the same day and will run to qualify for the State Championships on Saturday. Go Running Knights!
2009 Cross Country Season Begins
Notre Dame’s cross country Running Knights have begun their 2009 journey. At our opening meet at Seaside in Ventura eleven of our harriers came home with medals. The next week at our home meet against Chaminade and Alemany captain Richard Lucas won the race and paced teammates Shawn Dunn, Will Conway and Max Tovar to victory and an eighth place rating in CIF D4. The girls were lead by Kazia Mermel, Molly Pacheco, and Ivone Escobedo. Thanks for your support!!
Click here for the Daily News article and scroll down for highlights of the meet.
Season Re-cap
Boys and girls cross country had a successful season with many of the individual runners receiving outstanding recognition. Cristina Lucas '09 led the Lady Knights to a third place finish in the Mission League Championships, earning them a spot to run in the CIF Championships.