Boys Cross Country starts season by filling in the gaps

Once again, we’ve reached the time of the year when Samo’s cross-country teams take to the track, and begin their training for the long season to come. Having already run four races, the Samo Boy’s team have already begun to set the usual high standard, and have placed themselves on a fast pace that they hope to maintain for the duration of the 2010 cross-country season.

As with the beginning of every season, a new cast of characters has made their way onto the varsity team. With the graduation of the class of 2010, many spots became available on the Varsity squad, and were subsequently filled with the best distance runners our school has to offer.

Senior Nick Salazar was named Team Captain for the 2010 season, which comes as no surprise considering his high level of dedication to the team, and his equal level of commitment to his training since his freshman year.

“I make sure I am there to help anyone on the team who seems to be having problems, or feels nervous before races,” said Salazar. “I have to make sure that I am consistent in my training, and set a good example for the rest of the team”

Junior Arash Assar, once a freshman at Samo who left our campus to join the ranks of Pacifica High sophomores, has returned once again to our campus for his third year in high school, and his third year running cross-country. He has already made a positive impact on the team, keeping pace with team captain and veteran Nick Salazar.

Ventura High School hosted the team’s first meet of the season, the Seaside Invitational on September 10th. Unfortunately, the results of this meet were not indicative of the Varsity teams potential, as the races were divided by grade level. The Samo Seniors placed 20th overall, with an average time of 18:22, spearheaded by Captain Nick Salazar. The Junior team managed to pull off 15th overall, with an average time of 18:13.

8 days later, the team found themselves at Woodbridge High School, and once again, found themselves divided by grade level. The Senior squad managed to pull off 14th out of 25 teams, and the Junior team ended up placing 11th overall out of 26 competing schools.

Finally on September 29th, the Varsity team was able to run as a pack at the South Bay Cup at Columbia Park in Torrance. Andrew Capron took 1st place for the team, running an impressive time of 15:50. He was followed by newcomer Arash Assar, running 15:59, who finished directly in front of captain Nick Salazar, running 16:01.

As anticipated, the Samo team crushed their first league meet, taking 1st place in every race with the exception of freshman boy’s team at the infamous Kenneth Hahn Park. Junior Andrew Capron placed first, conquering the hill with an impressive time of 17:29. Team Captain Nick Salazar, coming in at 17:37, took 2nd.

While it may seem like the boys have already run their fair share, the season is just underway. Many league meets and invitationals loom in their near future, but this prospect hasn’t seemed to dampen their spirits.

“We have won league 8 years in a row,” said coach Tania Fischer. “And were trying to maintain the tradition”

Danny Karel
Staff Writer