There are high hopes for this year's Steele Canyon boys cross country team.

Cougars put best foot forward

Steele Canyon looks to move up Grossmont South League standings

By Phillip Brents
Posted Sept. 17, 2004

A pair of narrow losses left both the Steele Canyon High School boys and girls cross country teams with 1-4 Grossmont South League dual meet records last year. But with continued hard work and a solid foundation now on which to build, the numbers in the win column appear likely to grow this season.

"We’re much stronger this year. We hope to go 3-2, possibly 4-1. We hope to at least finish above .500," Steele Canyon girls coach Pat Connolly said.

So far, the Cougars look like they have both the talent and motivation to produce what could be a very memorable season.

At right: Ali Mendoza, in the lead, and Bethany Rangel tread the course at the Mustang Invitational. 

Steele Canyon finished third in both the boys and girls small schools varsity divisions at the Mustang Invitational Sept. 10 at Rohr Park in Chula Vista. As a measure of progression, the Cougars boys team finished fourth last year while the girls team placed sixth.

Junior Ali Mendoza leads the returners on the girls team. Last year, she finished 42nd out of 88 runners at last year’s San Diego Section Division III championship meet (Steele Canyon finished ninth as a team). She started the 2004 season off on the right foot by placing 10th in her division at the West Hills Invitational on Sept. 3 and finishing as the Cougars’ top placer at the Mustang Invitational a week later, finishing fifth overall in her division.

Other returners include sophomores Allyson Timmerman (43rd at CIF) and Cecily Carrillo (44th at CIF), senior Amy Antoine and junior Shelly Normandie. The team looks to be impacted by senior transfer Tiffany Caddell, who ranked as the top runner at Bonita Vista last season (finishing first among 66 runners at the Metro Conference finals).

Newcomers include senior Kelsey Richardson, a standout in the 800- and 1,600-meters during the spring track season (and tennis player), freshman Bethany Rangel and sophomore Aubrey Sever.

Richardson strode to an impressive eighth-place finish at the Mustang Invitational while Rangel finished 10th to give the Cougars an impressive three top 10 placers (out of 76 finishers) in the race. Carrillo was 28th while Sever was 32nd as all five Steele Canyon runners placed among the top half/third of the field.

At the season opening Wolf Pack Invitational, Richardson was 15th in the girls senior race while classmate Antoine was 29th among 52 finishers. Normandie was 32nd among 65 finishers in the junior race. Carrillo was 27th among sophomores while Timmerman was 29th and Sever was 32nd among the 92 finishers. Rangel was third in the freshman race (66 finishers).

Richardson had the top time on the team at 10:06, followed by Mendoza (10:14) and Rangel (10:29).

Top returners on the boys team include seniors Ricardo Bernal, Coel Schumacher, Alberto Bernal and Nick Buckmaster and sophomore Kyle Fox. Junior Nolan Williams is a recruit from the spring track season while sophomore Anup Patel joins the varsity unit from last year’s junior varsity team.

Schumacher (32nd at CIF), Ricardo Bernal (42nd at CIF), Buckmaster (49th) and Fox (50th) were part of last year’s eighth-place team at the Division III finals and will all be looking to move up significantly in the standings this season.

Certainly, the Cougars’ performance at the Mustang Invitational was nothing short of showcasing the potential for such an upward climb. Ricardo Bernal placed fourth among the 87 individuals in his race while Williams was ninth. Fox just missed posting a top 20 finish at 21st while Schumacher was 26th and Alberto Bernal was 35th.

Ricardo Bernal was the team’s top finisher at the season opening West Hills Invitational, finishing 12th in the senior race in 11:44. Fox (12:01) was sixth in the 90-man sophomore race while Williams (11:57) was seventh in the 62-man junior race. Schumacher (12:06) was 20th in the 73-man senior race, followed by Buckmaster (30th) and Alberto Bernal (32nd).

Steele Canyon’s program looks to continue to build upward after the Cougars boys and girls junior varsity teams placed fifth and sixth, respectively, at the Mustang Invitational.