GOALS: Poly’s boys’ varsity cross country team aims to win first place in the Inland Valley League this season.
By Frank Racobs, Staff Writer
As the first league meet for the boys’ varsity cross country team gets closer and closer, the runners become more and more anxious. The team is entering their third season as a member of the Inland Valley League. The runners have not yet achieved a solo first place victory in this level of competition; in 2012 the boys’ team tied for first, and in 2013, they finished in third. This year, the team hopes for its first solo victory in the league.
The runners feel very confident in their abilities this year. “Everyone has been training hard and hitting the right times. It should make for a good season,” Captain Kyle MacKechnie (11) said. With a varsity team consisting of only returning juniors and seniors, the team’s goal is “to win league, hands down,” according to four-year varsity runner Preston Dodson (12).
This year, not only is the team looking to get a solo first place in the Inland Valley League, but they’re also hoping to achieve an overall “better performance” and “higher ranking” outside of the league, said another four-year varsity runner Christian Nunez (12).
The team’s veteran runners have more than one reason why they want to win the league title. The team’s head coach Alfonso Ibarra is starting the first of his final four years as the head coach, and he expects his team to win league. Now that a majority of the runners on the varsity team are seniors, they know that this is their last chance to make their high school coach proud of what they have accomplished as athletes.