Boys Write-up

To the left, the season results grid tells a story, mostly of self improvement. Anything to the left that is in red is a Personal Best or Personal Record. "PR or PB".  12 athletes ran personal bests on Saturday, and next Saturday when we face Norco will most likely be our last XC race of the season. We are 2-2 heading into our final race, if we win, we will be 3rd place in league to two tough teams with a lot of seniors making up the scorers of their squads. Santiago and King will be tough opponents moving forward. Let's show them what we're made of, on the oval.

Your season is almost over, what do you want the finale to be? Commit to the small things, like rolling, stretching, eating healthy, mental training, and most importantly: hydration and sleeping well.

We have some final goals for the team to accomplish, let's go out there and make a statement.

Some notable performances in no particular order, about some of the athletes accomplishments.

Welcome to the sub 18:00 Club Kevin Rodulfo. Once this kid gets everything out, he's someone that has the potential to crack into and start challenging varsity. We have two more XC seasons Kevin, what do you want to accomplish?

Manny Unzueta?? Where did he come from? I am sure other coaches are thinking.... We knew he was fit. We battled some calf tightness, a few days off, a few deep tissue massages from Grandma, a couple easy runs, a decent workout, and a 1 minute PR? Aw yea. We're all happy for you Manny. The key to success is staying healthy. If you want to see how fast the Unzueta engine can run, keep the car well maintained. Great work. Earned his first varsity letter with his third race under 17:30 being a 16:19.

Rodelo runs his fourth PR in a row. Can he make it five in a row? We shall see on Saturday.

Tucker Woods earns his varsity letter, his third year in a row running varsity. Tucker is about 15 seconds away from his personal best, and he knows what he needs to do to keep his foot healthy and I hope this week builds into next week. Proud of your hard work kid.

Ventura shows up here and there, I know he's running and putting the work in. 21:08 to 18:40 Personal Best no problem. Next goal, sub 18:00. 

Valiente 4th man. Hitched his ride to the pain train and ran a 10 second PR to score some points for the varsity team. 

Buncher4 coming in as the team's 3rd man for the second week in a row, and with his third PR in a row. How good can we be in November? It's March 1st, start thinking long term about what you and the team want to do in Fresno in Thanksgiving. Ryan Bunch has what it takes to be a leader, and I like to think something clicked with him in the last two weeks. Let's run fast, enjoy a healthy track season and think about what we can do for the team and what we can do for each other.

Jude has quietly emerged as a force in the league, and has run his third race in a row under 16:30. With a new PR of 16:18, Jude continues to be a consistent scorer. You only get one more XC season with Andy, Breckner, Bunch, Valiente, Manny and the Browns as senior varsity runners in their final XC season. The time is now, to capitalize on just how great we can be over the next year.

Jose Linares has had a rough storm, but he's battled it and come through the other side a changed man. Linares has in four races, gone from 18:17 to 17:01. He needs one more race under 17:30 to earn his varsity letter, and he's very close to sub 17:00. Looking forward to seeing you compete next weekend.

Zachary Lang has clinched his 3rd varsity letter in his four year career, and he's very close to running sub 17. With his PR from last year being 16:32, on a very tough course, I think Zack has the ability to go off. He's been ready for a moment like this, and I hope he makes it happen. Lang has learned a lot over his career, and his training has been coming along well. I look forward to watching you race next weekend as well.

Esparza back in the 17's after a few weeks of dedication. This kid can run under 15 minutes someday, and I can see him having a long and successful running career. In my long running career, to sum it up, "Consistent, uninterrupted training". Start training for November, today.

Martin Chavez with his 30+second PR to run sub 18 minutes. No big deal. This kid is going to run sub 2 minutes in the 800, and score points in pole vault. Welcome to the sub 18 Minutes club. One more race xc race in your hs career, let's get after it.

Andy is back, and for the second week in a row, he finished as the #1 man for the team. For those of you that do not know, Andy had a partial tear in March/April of last year in his Achilles, and missed months of training. He got back in shape throughout the fall, and then had a small groin issue and had miss time. Staying healthy, and believing in yourself and your teammates, we need you to continue to be a positive force up front. Bring the pack with you this Fall. Dream big. I'm looking forward you letting you rip this track season.

The Browns are responding to the speed as we sharpen up. The base work was hampered a bit, but I think both can run sub 18 minutes this weekend. I think both are going to go off this track season. Two Prs for the twins. Push each other and who knows where you can be this Fall in your LAST XC Season in high school.

The Arellano bros got the chance to run together during xc season, and I hope they get the chance to do it on the track, as Javier will be heading to varsity soccer soon, he and his brother get one final race together this Saturday. Can Javier earn his letter and go sub 17:00? The answer is yes. Let's give it one final go.

Girls Write-up

As we began this season in the middle of the pandemic, things looked a little bit different. Many decisions were made that put the team in a difficult situation. We didn’t know if we would have a racing season at all. It was difficult keeping morale up, but we all remained hopeful....It went like this: we will race invitationals and league meets.... Actually never mind there may not be any invitationals..... Then, it looks like we won’t have league meets either.... Let’s just stay in shape and get ready for track. But hold on, we’ll be having dual meets after all. There might even be a championship race at the end.....Nope, no championship race.... This all went on and we adjusted our training based on the latest information. Now considering all this yo-yoing, the girls were able to roll with the punches. They ducked and they weaved to put together one of the best XC seasons the girls’ Roosevelt team has ever had. In fact, we were able to maintain the numbers as other schools lost their athletes. There is no doubt that these girls love to be part of the team.

Now, according to the previous season’s results the girls team was slated for 3rd place with Santiago’s and King’s outstanding teams that were returning. The season looked grim, we might have to settle for 3rd in the league.  However, with Roosevelt girl’s sights set high and a goal of going to state, league meets were going to be just obstacles to get through. Obviously, the state meet was also cancelled but it wasn’t just about physically going to state, it was about being in the right state of mind to prepare as if we still could. And that is just what the girls did. They trained hard and smart. They lost sleep to make early sessions. They put in double training days with morning runs and evening core and strength training. Some even changed their eating habits and sleeping patterns to maximize their training and efforts. So far, it has all paid off.

Roosevelt girls are currently undefeated with a 4-0 record and one more match to race. And as long as everything goes according to plan, this next one should be in the bag. To finalize an undefeated season. However, just because the team goals have been met, doesn’t mean that athlete’s individual goals are done. We have quite a number of athletes with their individual goals to accomplish during this last performance. Expect something special as these athletes let their hair down for one more amazing showdown.

We had seven athlete’s with new Personal Records (PR) this past race against Centennial:

Leilani ran her fastest 3 mile race (PR) with a 20:03. She runs light on her feet like she’s floating. I tell you, she floats like a butterfly.

Ivette is new this season. She ran her 3rd 3 mile race and she keeps getting faster as she learns how to pace herself. 

Leslie is a returning junior. She was able to run a PR despite nursing some knee pain. Way to go, Leslie.

Jamie had an amazing second race where she was able to PR with a time of 23:13.7. Welcome back Jamie!

Madyson not only won the race but she managed a new PR by only just one second. :)

Reese also PR’d by shattering her previous time by almost 2 minutes. Wow! Congratulations Reese! 

Kayla closed the gap to break 19 minutes as she ran 19:15.7. This also puts her as the 7th fastest runner in the league.

There were also seven season records:

Marisol had her season debut as she participated in her first race. Surprising herself and her coach on such a strong performance.

Jenna is starting to fly through the course as she breaks 20 minutes this season with a time of 19:57.2. We all know there is more where that came from.

Jordan has now broken the 20 minute barrier and ran a phenomenal race. Second fastest time of her life

Priscila has also made her first appearance at this race and ran very well.

Joelle keeps getting faster each and every race. She is well on her way to get per personal best. She stings like a bee.

Esha has broken the 30 minute barrier and is chasing a PR when we race against Norco.

Melissa is creeping into the low 21s as she races focused and finishes with a strong kick.

So far in the season we have had 17 girls run their personal best and we have a few more chasing that goal this next Saturday against Norco. What will your last race be like? Who will you chase down? Which record will you break? Does the King course still owe you one? Norco, nothing personal but we’ve got goals to accomplish.