Boys - Mammoth Camp Recap

Captains' Logs - Our Captain's recap from Cross Country Camp in Mammoth

This past week up in Mammoth was full of intense training as well as some sweet memories. It built character, built toughness, and most importantly, it brought our guys team together as one. From the camp olympics, to the 3 hour run up at Iceberg Lake, to even the star watching hike at night, the team all in all had a good time. With the majority of our top runners up there, the team all in all got stronger and faster. Few noticeable performances were Tyler Spicer hitting mileage he’s never even been close to hitting before, Caleb Myers and Gio Orellana killing it, besides the fact of getting lost, at Inyo Crater, and most noticeably, Daniel Perez who absolutely hammered the insane trail that is Duck Pass in outstanding fashion on his way to a 100 mile week. The team is looking further developed heading into the upcoming season and this trip up to Mammoth was just one of the first stepping stones towards the ultimate goal of winning that 3rd state title and heading to NXN.

    This year at camp, most of the freshmen were invited to experience just how hard and painful cross country is.  Some of the runs they did in Mammoth will be the hardest they will ever do in their high school career.  One particular freshman handled every run with diligence, determination, and tenacity.  Shane Gaffikin was always one of the first freshman to finish each run.  He survived brutal runs up mountains and extremely difficult long runs through sandy terrain.  Out of the freshman class, he had arguably the most successful camp.  Although the runs were tough and painful, the team also had time to bond over the camp Olympics.  Sophomore Noah Tamagno shined for his team Ethiopia in the eating contest.  Noah had to eat three different types of baby food from a shot glass as fast as he could.  Wolfing it down, he powered his team to an overall finish of 3rd place.  Overall, it was a great experience for the team and not only a great time to run a ton of miles, but also bond together united as Brea Olinda.

Easily the hardest run at camp was Iceberg lake. 7 and a half miles to reach the top of the mountain on a path clearly never intended for humans making RTG seem like a piece of cake. Of course, Drew Apahidean didn’t think that 15 miles was enough mileage for the morning. After taking a wrong turn and adding 2 miles to his run, Drew realized his mistake and went back on the correct trail. However, instead of turning around when he would have gotten a total of 15 miles for the run as most others would, Drew was determined to complete the run and make it to the end of the trail. (Due to popular demand, I was told to say that Drew said a prayer at the top of the mountain. How pious) When he finally got back, Drew ran the farthest he’s ever ran before. However, his watch said that he was close to 17, so Drew did laps around the cars until got 17 miles. With a new mileage PR, Drew proved that nothing would stand in his way no matter how exhausting or improbable it is. With Drew’s persistence, perseverance, and determination, he undeniably will be an unstoppable force this coming year that will push himself and our team to victory and State.