Captain's Log - Riverside Showcase

The second year at Riverside Showcase proved to be a massive success for our team. The Frosh/Soph team kicked off the meet with an incredible amount of energy which helped them place 2nd in the Frosh/Soph division. Luke Stratton pulled off an incredible start to his high school racing journey, going under 12 minutes in the process (2.25 Miles), with a 11:54 and a 3rd place individual finish. Not far behind him was another newcomer, Manny Debarros, who annihilated most of his opponents placing 11th, achieving his first high school medal, and an outstanding time of 12:22! Jack Livingston, Brandon Kuo, and Shane Park all proved to be great returning athletes from their freshman year finishing together in a group with times of 12:41 (Jack), and 12:42 (Shane and Brandon) improving their PR’s from last year. Evan Gomez and Benji Garner ran under 15 minutes, Andrew Kim and Anthony Motts under 16, and Chris Landreth took off more than 10 minutes from his time last year. Eric Lee, Peyton Garcia, Carson Nienhouse and Jaden Rios also proved their talented skills in running their first XC race! Brea’s Frosh/Soph team is looking quite strong this year and definitely has potential for a league championship later in the season.
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The JV team also ran an excellent opening race for the season. Made up of seven runners from the junior class, they placed 4th in a field of 11 teams. Led by the silent assassin, Jordan Ostby with a time 12:24, showing how 70 plus miles a week pays off. JV’s second and third runner, Aakash Kadakia and Miguel Andrade look promising for future races, with times of 12:37 and 13:04. John Root and Chris Furumizo raced side by side pushing each other to finish with times of 13:57 and 13:58. The team was rounded off by Angel Fuerte and Logan Rios. With each runner having significant PR’s the JV team looks to tear up the field for the rest of season.

The varsity team also had an impressive race. Five of seven made their varsity debut, with only Shane Gaffikin and Jonathan Manara returning. The team placed second, improving from last year’s seventh place. Shane led the group, coming in at a time of 11:16 at a five minute pace, and finishing third overall. Jonathan was not too far behind, with a time of 11:32. Matthew Appahidean, Carlos Perez, Ryan Daedler, and Jack Hannum all came in within ten seconds of each other, with times of 11:46, 11:47, 11:51, and 11:53. This is a promising sign for the season, as a tight pack improves the chance of scoring well when teammates work together. Andrew Velasco fell at the start of the race and worked his way back toward the rest of the team and finished with a time of 12:03. Clearly the hard work is paying off for this varsity team. Already running faster than last year’s team at this time, they hold great potential to do great things later in the season.