Cross Country Season Preview: Warriors Will Put Up A Fight In 2014

San Jose, CA - Another season of Valley Christian Cross Country is underway with nearly 70 athletes committing to this year's efforts.  Both the boys and girls teams return key veteran runners looking to continue the success the the Warriors experienced last season.

The Varsity Girls return top talent in the duo of Kailey Eddy and Ashley Lara.   Eddy earned All-CCS and All-WCAL honors last fall setting the pace for the Warriors for the majority of the season, earning the team's runner of the Year honors. Lara has been a top cross country runner in the WCAL and CCS since her freshman year and has qualified for three consecutive state championships.  She is even more dominant on the track where she won the WCAL Championship at 800 meters last spring. 

Also returning from last year's varsity squad is junior Nicole Favre.  Throughout last season Favre was a pleasant surprise for the Warriors as she blossomed into one of the teams top runners.  She earned recognition on the team’s all-time list for her efforts at CCS and the State meet.  Favre set personal best marks of 20:22 at the CCS Championship and then again running 21:05 at the State Meet, both performances earning recognition on the team's all-time list and strong debuts for for a first year runner. She is expected to be a key member once again this season.  

Expected to once again contribute at the varsity level are juniors Vanessa Giacalone and Leia Wang.  Owning personal bests in the 21-minute range for both Crystal Springs and Toro Park, Giacalone will be looking to take the next step this fall to be a major contributor to the core of the cross country team. She also had some solid races on the track last spring, already owning a personal best of 5:59 in the 1600 she showed great range running 2:46 in the 800 and 12:55 in the 3200.  Leia Wang is also coming off an impressive campaign last season.  Running consistently in the 22 minute range she has put in the work and is looking to make a contribution this season.  In the spring she set personal bests in the 800 and 1600 meters running 2:40 and 6:07, respectably.

A strong contingent of upperclassman along with a strong support of younger runners, the boys look to set their mark on the Valley Christian record books.  Nathan Lynch has looked impressive in the early going and comes into the season having completed an impressive training regimen this summer that included a 33:32 clocking at the Warf to Wharf.  He will lead a team that returns their entire squad from last season.  Also looking to challenge on of the top position is Jason Li.  He qualified last season for CCS as an individual and is coming off an impressive track season that saw him named as the team’s track athlete of the year. Li ran personal bests at the WCAL Championship in the 1600, 800 and ran the fastest split on the 4x400 relay.

Also expecting to be major contributors are Jeremy Dong and Nedu Ndili.  Jeremy enters his junior year as a two time individual qualifier to CCS.  Running 4:55 for the mile as a freshman he has also looked impressive in the early going.  Also expected to challenge for the top spot for the Warriors this season is Ndili. Finishing his freshman track season with a personal best 4:43 in the 1600 and 10:29 in the 3200.  

The core of the boys team is stacked with talent.  Cameron Lockard, Justin Baraona, Yash Patel and Mathew Weeks led the team to an impressive second place finish in the freshman division in the WCAL standings and once again are expected to be outstanding.   Peter Enfantino, Dean DeMoss and Nathan Baldry lead a talented junior group while Tejas Reddy and Sam Han will push the pace as the veteran seniors.

The team will participate in the Watermelon Run, a team time trial, on August 30 and officially open their season September  6 at the Early Bird Invitational.