Great Oak senior Kelli Gaffney was all smiles as she won the Division 1-2 Team Sweepstakes race on Day 2 at the Mt. SAC High School Cross Country Invitational. (Jeffrey Parenti photo)
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WALNUT - Rancho Cucamonga's girls are learning on the run -- literally -- what it's like to be the state's No. 2-ranked cross country team and the best in the Southern Section.
These are lofty times, for sure, especially for a school that has not only never been considered in the same breath with the likes of Temecula Great Oak (SS), Clovis Buchanan (CS) or Torrey Pines (SD).
Those other teams have proven themselves at the California State Championships over the years.
Rancho Cucamonga, coached by Lizette Carrell, has never run as a team in the State Championships. Ever. Nor have they won a Southern Section title. Ditto on ever.
But finishing ninth in the CIF-SS Division I Championships last year -- missing the State Meet by just two places -- gave the Cougars something to shoot for and with an all-underclass varsity, the tight-knit group relished the challenge.
The big challenge, not to mention an opportunity to prove themselves, would come in the 74th Mt. SAC Invitational Division 1-2 Team Sweepstakes on Saturday where the Cougars would face some of the state's best teams, like rapidly-improving Great Oak.
Consider the challenge met.
With junior Madilyn Siana (pictured) leading the way with her fourth-place finish at 17:54, the big cats finished 4th, 6th, 7th, 10th and 11th, for a scant 38 points, far outdistancing Great Oak (93) and Torrey Pines (110).
Great Oak senior Kelli Gaffney won the race in 17:33, with Long Beach Poly (SS) freshman Avery Peck second in 17:38 and Mira Costa (SS) senior Anna Chittenden third in 17:44, just ahead of Siana and the Rancho Cucamonga parade at the front.
The Cougars are a team that basically defines the word 'team' as just 29 seconds separated 1-5, which, compared to their previous meets, was a large margin.
They had a 23-second gap at Woodbridge, where U.S. No. 1 Clovis Buchanan ran away with the team title, a 20-second difference at the Nike Portland Cross Country 5,000, and an eye-popping 15 seconds between Siana (17:13.7) and No. 5 Malia Reinhold (17:28.4) at the Inland Empire Challenge where the Cougars scored just 32 points, placing all five runners in the Top 10.
But this was Mt. SAC where three monster hills have been known to humble highly-rated teams.
"We proved two things -- one, we could run as a pack even at Mt. SAC (where the Southern Section championships will be staged in November) and two, we could win," said Siana who, until a couple of weeks ago was No. 2 behind Nicole Alfred (pictured), who placed 6th on Saturday at 18:10.
"Our team really packed together. It wasn't perfect, but we are all trying to do our best, especially on this course leading up to CIF."
Siana said she was able to see how well the others were doing after running the valley loop early and then set her sights to finish as high as she could.
"I was focusing on who was in front of me but at the top of Poop-Out Hill, I could feel my lactic acid," she said. "I told myself, 'you got this,' and just tried to stay in control. Going down Reservoir was scary because I was worried my legs wouldn't be fast enough to keep up.
"I looked around after I finished and I was really proud of the team."
She saw the sophomore Alfred (6th in 18:10) and freshman Braelyn Combe (7th in 18:12; pictured) quickly finish behind her with junior Jaden Miura (10th in 18:23) and Reinhold, another 9th-grader in 11th also in 18:23, and closing fast.
After they caught their breath they all posed for pictures and answered questions, things other MileSplitCA Top 10 teams expect, but which is all new to this group.
They are not planning on looking ahead to next year any time soon, however, as there are still those goals to be met.
OK, they're aware, like everyone else, just how strong Buchanan is. They should be because at the Woodbridge Invitational, all but one of the Buchanan runners broke 17 minutes and all five scorers finished ahead of Alfred, the first Cougars runner at 55th place.
The state meet at Woodward Park, however, is not scorching fast nor does it have teams from all over the country like Woodbridge.
"We're just going to do our best," said Siana. "We really want to go as a team for the first time, that's so much fun and all five of us are super close friends. Buchanan is Buchanan but you never really know until you run.
"There isn't a thing I'd have changed at Mt. SAC. Our goal is to get closer and closer and then go have that state experience. It'll be all new."
Clovis West (CS) freshman Cameron Macias (pictured) ran the fastest time among all Division 1-2 combined races on Saturday morning, 17:31 in winning the large school individual sweepstakes race, crossing seven seconds in front of Poway (SD) junior Tessa Buswell. Another San Diego Section standout, BYU-bound senior McCall Dame of El Camino, was third in 17:48 with Redondo Union (SS) junior Lyla Fedio next in 17:53.
Steve Brand is a freelance writer and a regular contributor to MileSplit
Photos by Jeffrey Parenti