South Paadea Cross Country Team Rio Hondo League Champs 2013

WHERE:Rio Hondo League Championship – The weather was a nice 75 degrees with no wind at the picturesque Lacy Park in San Marino, CA. History: Before the race, let’s go to the start of the season. The legendary Sam Pons was not there, the gritty warriors, Alex Tranquada, Max White, and Paul Messena  were gone too. This year's team was ranked in the preseason polls and then disappeared from the CIF rankings. The varsity team was used to winning meets easily and had not face adversity until this year. The  2013 San Marino team had won both League meets and were poised to take the League Championship. They had seven hungry and grizzled warriors  who knew how to run in a pack and win as a team.  They were ranked in the top ten for CIF all year. So the stage is set…The Championship race is worth double the points, this was a big time race for all. Would San Marino finally taste victory? Is this the end of South Pasadena’s dominance over the Rio Hondo League? Well… the answer is no. The Boys  got together the night before and developed a game plan. The Seniors on the squad (5) spoke about how it was their turn to rise to the occasion and solidify a legacy. One runner cannot carry this team and everyone needed to commit to winning the crown. The Plan: Cullen Irvine, a Junior would go out hard for first two miles and stretch the lead. Team Captain, Josh Wilson and Tyler Gershman would stay with the pack holding the rest of the runners at bay. By the way, the key runner was Tyler Gershman, if he had a great race, they would win and boy did they win. Cullen Irvine did his job sacrificing his placement but still came in fifth. Josh Wilson sprinted the last mile for the win, Tyler Gershman ran like a man on fire for third an unknown runner named Yoon Lee came out of nowhere to place eighth and Victor Hildago placed tenth securing the win! The rest of the team, Thomas Steele and David Espinosa were not far behind. The band of brothers proved they wanted it more than San Marino securing their legacy. Next Chapter: CIF Prelims at MT SAC 11/16