Members of the Trabuco Hills boys cross country team have established one simple motto they hope will define them in 2010.
Win every race.
Widely considered one of the top teams in the state through the past few seasons, the Mustangs begin this season poised to revisit the same success that helped the program win its first CIF championship in 2006.
“The team definitely has some big goals for the season, and I’m trying to help them reach the goals they’ve set,” Mustangs coach Liam Clemons said.
Trabuco Hills will feature a lineup comprised of all five runners that helped it finish third at the CIF-SS Division 1 finals, and six of the seven runners that competed for it at the CIF Division 1 state finals, where the Mustangs ultimately placed sixth.
Click here for a breakdown of the top teams and players for the season.
Among those returners are all-county senior Jantzen Oshier, who finished fourth at the CIF-SS Division 1 finals and seventh at the state meet, along with fellow seniors and Ryan Herson, Brent Ritschel, and Brian Gomez.
Clemons said that the team’s offseason preparation has it confident for a run at the state title, and that he is entering the 2010 season “more relaxed” than at any point during his coaching tenure.
“I have a very senior-heavy group that has worked hard over the summer and matured quite a bit,” said Clemons. “They have stepped up and haven’t given me a reason to worry.”
New competition
The re-leaguing process has created many new exciting league matchups throughout the county, but nowhere is that more evident and anticipated than in the new South Coast League.
On the boys’ side, the top three teams in the county preseason poll (Trabuco Hills, Dana Hills, and El Toro) were three of the top six finishers from last season’s Division 1 state finals and will now compete against each other along with Aliso Niguel and San Clemente.
Since 2004, the Dolphins, Chargers, and Mustangs have combined to win four team state titles while placing in the top five at the state meet a combined nine times.
The girls’ league also features a strong trio of teams that could vie for a Division 1 state title. Dana Hills, the 2008 state champion, has finished in the top five every year since 2007. San Clemente has finished third in both 2008 and 2009, while Trabuco Hills has finished in the top five in two of the last three seasons.
Getting started
The county’s first invitational kicks off Saturday morning as Laguna Hills plays host to the 27th annual Laguna Hills Cross Country Invitational.
There will be three divisions, and runners will compete by age group. The meet is scheduled to begin at 7:45, and fans are advised to arrive early due to limited parking at the school and in the surrounding area.
