By: Jared Vazquez Lopez, Jett Zwahlen & Will Snyder
On Sept. 19th at the Woodbridge Cross Country Race in Irvine, the El Diamante girls’ cross country team placed 4th out of 250+ schools in the largest cross-country meet in the nation, with over 15,000 spectators. Teams from all over the country participated in one of the largest cross country races in the nation. The team is very proud of this achievement, with five out of seven Miners earning medals.
El Diamante Coach Tucker says this about the big achievement, “It was really a big morale booster…I think we’re going to have multiple state contenders this year.”
Varsity Runner Brooklyn Bawanan added, “It was very exciting, just the vibes of the race in general were really fun.”
Isabella Vazquez, a 15-year-old sophomore, placed 4th overall out of 1,000 runners with a 5k time of 17:01.
Vazquez had this to say about her achievement, “I felt very nervous … I am very proud of our team.” She added this when asked about preparing for the meet, “I smother myself in Bio Freeze and tiger bomb and I pray.” The team is very proud of Isabella’s outstanding achievement.
The El Diamante Boys Cross Country also received strong times with our fastest runner, William Green, getting a time of 16:23 as a 14-year-old Freshman. The team is proud of their times and placements for the race.
Freshman Matthew Bravo declared, “I was [just] happy to be there in the first place!
The El D cross country coaches were very satisfied with our team’s performance this year.
Coach Murrieta stated, “It was a pleasant surprise … there’s consistency, we’re finally becoming a true cross country family. Our program over 23 years has been developing the way it’s supposed to be.”
Coach Tucker added, “This is definitely one of the biggest highlights, it was a nationwide meet, so I’d say it’s one of my top five celebrations.”
The El Diamante Cross Country team continues to get faster and stronger each year and we are proud of our Miner runners.