2009 girls cross country Co-Coach of the Year: Jack Preus

Over the last couple of seasons, the Orange Lutheran girls cross country team has continued a steady rise toward becoming one of the top teams in Orange County.

The 2009 season would see them take the final steps toward becoming an elite squad, validating their ascent with a string of impressive team triumphs and record-setting performances.

Guiding the Lancers' on their season-long run of success was head coach Jack Preus, who skillfully and confidently helped lead the Lancers to heights never before reached in the history of the program.

For his accomplishments this season, Preus has been selected the 2009 girls cross country Co-Coach of the Year.

"We returned some great runners and added a couple over the summer, and I realized that we were going to be pretty special," said Preus.

With talented freshman Jacquie Adams and junior transfer Rebekah Bahra leading the way, the Lancers began the season with a solid fifth place finish at the Woodbridge Invitational, second best among all county schools.

While the Lancers picked up their first team victory of the season in the Division III race at the Stanford Invitational, it was their effort at the Orange County Championships that announced their arrival among the county's best.

All five scoring runners finished in the top 20, as Orange Lutheran posted a 23-point win to claim the program's first ever O.C.C. title. Their team time of 1:29:55 was the fourth best ever ran on the modern championship course.

"That was a performance we were waiting for," recalled Preus. "The girls had a lot of energy coming into the meet and that race showed not only the running community but the team that we were ready to start competing with the best."

The Lancers made more history at the Trinity League finals setting a team time Central Park course record en route to a dominant team victory and headed into CIF as the top ranked team in the county and in CIF-SS Division III.

At the CIF-SS Division III finals, Orange Lutheran hooked up with rival Corona del Mar in a memorable battle that saw the Lancers edged the Sea Queens by three points to claim their first CIF-SS title and end Corona del Mar's run of five consecutive titles.

"The girls expected to win and were excited when they did," said Preus.

The two teams then engaged in another tight showdown the following week at the CIF state meet. Orange Lutheran forged a small lead going into the final mile, but a late Sea Queen rally gave them a five point win and denied the Lancers their second state title in three seasons.

Despite suffering a disappointing defeat on the state's biggest day, Preus credited Corona del Mar's performance and said his team was already looking forward to 2010 season, when all five of the Lancers top runners will return.

"We got beat by a great team and you have to tip your cap to them," he said. "In the context of the season, we were proud of the girls, the strides they made, and what they learned."