NAL Championships @ Woodson Bridge (Corning) Thursday November 3, 2005 2pm Cards lose the NAL, Eagles even score By PAUL GADBOIS-DN Sports Editor In what Corning cross country coach Andrew Farrell called a double-upset, the Northern Athletic League favorite Cardinals varsity cross country team was defeated by West Valley, a flip-flop from last week, while the Corning JV boys slipped past Las Plumas to win the NAL championships on Wednesday at the Cardinals' home course at Woodson Bridge Park. The breeze was slowed by the heavily-wooded course and the rains that peppered the north state stayed out of Corning long enough to create perfect running weather for the championships, Farrell said. The Cardinals varsity, who made a league rival out of West Valley last week with a gripping 27-29 win in Cottonwood to go unbeaten in NAL play, was shocked by the winning drive of the Eagles in a 31-35 loss. "They came for war," Farrell said. "There was a sense of urgency on their part." The top runners finished where they were expected to, Farrell said, and several of his other runners pushed themselves to a level beyond what anyone thought was possible but the Eagles were on top in the end. Cesar Silva defeated Brice Peters of West Valley by 15 seconds for the first-place title with a time of 15 minutes, 23 seconds on the 3.07-mile course. Matt Baker and Jon Hanna both finished a few seconds ahead of Corning's #2 runner, Cody Higginson and Daniel Collins placed sixth. The Eagles were happy to see Shane Reno back on the course, who returned from injury to take seventh, and Justin Barry was eighth and Ryan Fairley ninth. Yreka runner Zach Schlichting snuck into the top 10 in 10th place, and Leonel Pulido and Tom Provine both turned in their season-best course times to cross the line in 11th and 12th. Farrell said Pulido and Provine pushed their bodies to the absolute limit and exceeded all expectations. "I'm not at all disappointed with the efforts of our guys," Farrell said. "I was really satisfied with our performances." Sergio Zagal and Gerardo Solorio came in 15th and 16th as well for the Cardinals both beating every runner from leagues opponents Anderson, Las Plumas and Central Valley. West Valley moved all of its JV runners up to varsity again and now that both teams have defeated each other once the Eagles-hosted NSCIF championships will be a fierce battleground for round three. The section finals will take place in Cottonwood Thursday, starting at 2 p.m., where the Cardinals will also run versus the rest of Division II and the chance to advance to State. Junior Varsity Boys Miguel Avila and Chris Barajas finished third and fourth, respectively, in the JV boys race to lead the Cardinals to a narrow 40-47 victory over Las Plumas for the NAL title. Josh Wagner, Noel Graciano and Scott Easter crossed the line in succession to finish 10th, 11th and 12th for the Cardinals. LP's Brian Egge won the 2.49-mile loop in 13:40. Varsity Girls Yreka defeated West Valley, 24-38, for the title. The Lady Eagles' Michelle Johnson won the race, but Lady Miners took third and fifth through eighth. With the return of Amanda Thuemler from injury, the Lady Cards varsity were able to field a complete team, and finished in third place, ahead of Central Valley and Las Plumas. Junior Varsity Girls Only three schools had JV girls runners, and Yreka was the only complete squad. Stephanie Cox of LP covered the 2.49-mile course in 16:40 to win by over a minute. VARSITY BOYS - 3.07 miles 1. Cesar Silva Corning 15:23 2. Brice Peters Yreka 15:38 3. Matt Baker West Valley 15:44 4. Jon Hanna West Valley 15:48 5. Cody Higginson Corning 15:59 6. Daniel Collins Corning 16:21 7. Shane Reno West Valley 16:34 8. Justin Barry West Valley 16:44 9. Ryan Fairley West Valley 16:46 10. Zach Schlichting Yreka 16:50 11. Leonel Pulido Corning 16:56 12. Tom Provine Corning 16:58 13. Cameron Churchill Yreka 17:17 14. Solomon Fernandez Yreka 17:35 15. Sergio Zagal Corning 17:44 16. Heda Solorio Corning 17:50 17. Charles Haley West Valley 17:51 18. Jason Garland West Valley 17:58 19. John Creasey Yreka 18:00 20. Garrett Syvertson Central Valley 18:16 21. Will Brumbaugh West Valley 18:17 22. Lucas Larsen Las Plumas 18:26 23. Roger Perkins Central Valley 18:31 24. Joel Quinn Yreka 18:32 25. Oliver Patton Corning 18:38 26. Trevor Siperek Anderson 18:41 27. Nathan Connor Yreka 18:52 28. Aaron Jorgenson Yreka 18:53 29. John Cadigan Central Valley 19:09 30. Donovan St. Clair Las Plumas 19:24 31. Stuart Gorbet Las Plumas 19:29 32. Noah Farladnsky Las Plumas 19:59 33. Jerry Ward Corning 20:08 34. Jared Henry Corning 20:18 35. David Posner Las Plumas 20:33 36. David Tiedgen Central Valley 20:43 37. Derek Fridrich Las Plumas 20:57 38. Tone Rhett Anderson 21:27 39. Brad McCartney Las Plumas 21:46 40. Robert Davis Central Valley 22:28 Team Scores: WV (31), COR (35), YRE (58), CV (136), LP (139) Junior Varsity Boys (2.49-mi.) 1. Brian Egge Las Plumas 13:40 2. Pierce Jones Yreka 13:54 3. Miguel Avila Corning 13:57 4. Chris Barajas Corning 14:02 5. Curtis Walbridge Central Valley 14:10 6. Joey Knighten Central Valley 14:17 7. Masoud Chopan Las Plumas 14:24 8. Brandon Palmer Yreka 14:27 9. Sean Robertson Las Plumas 14:27 10. Josh Wagner Corning 14:37 11. Noel Graciano Corning 14:42 12. Scott Easter Corning 14:43 13. Mike Hartman Central Valley 14:46 14. Trevor Davis Las Plumas 15:00 15. Shawn Purkis Yreka 15:14 16. Travis Cooley Las Plumas 15:27 17. Michael Taylor Las Plumas 15:29 18. Marcus Bradford Las Plumas 15:32 19. Mitchell Griggs Central Valley 15:49 20. Lino Sanchez Corning 15:58 21. Jake Swenson Yreka 15:59 22. Adrian Graciano Corning 16:02 23. Ben Shelvock Yreka 16:26 24. Jake Slinkard Anderson 16:27 25. Jimmy Rubio Corning 16:42 26. Martin Pattison Yreka 17:03 27. Jimmy Galvan Central Valley 17:10 28. Ivan Durovchic Yreka 17:23 29. Cameron Purkis Yreka 17:42 1. Corning 40; 2. LP 47; 3. CV 68; 4. Yreka 69; West Valley inc. VARSITY GIRLS - 3.07 miles 1. Michelle Johnson West Valley 17:50 2. Shannon Robertson Las Plumas 19:23 3. Ami Martin Yreka 19:35 4. Brittany Williams West Valley 19:52 5. Gina Davis Yreka 19:53 6. Carrie Turner Yreka no time 7. Krista Yardley Yreka no time 8. Julie Weber Yreka no time 9. Nichole Barry West Valley no time 10. Franchesca Lacebal Las Plumas no time 11. Rachael Higginson Corning no time 12. Kelsey Robberson Yreka no time 13. Noel Endres Anderson no time 14. Cessna Johnston West Valley no time 15. Miriam Silva Corning no time 16. Nina Holweger Las Plumas no time 17. Chelsea Hamilton Yreka no time 18. Shannell Keck Corning no time 19. Lynnae McAndrews West Valley no time 20. Deanna Walton West Valley no time 21. Katie Gardner Central Valley no time 22. Rachel Farley Central Valley no time 23. Nmarelu Thuenelei Corning no time 24. Jeannette Barron Corning no time Team Scores: YRE (24), WV (38), COR (70) Junior Varsity Girls (2.49-mi.) 1. Stephanie Cox Las Plumas 16:40 2. Beth Dutra Yreka 18:11 3. Kristen Ellison Yreka 18:18 4. Angela White Yreka 18:47 5. Kaylah Dunivin Central Valley 18:56 6. Lauren Purkis Yreka 19:14 7. Stephanie Alward West Valley 19:59 8. Cindy Enriquez Yreka 20:06 9. Heidi Young Yreka 20:43 10. Gladys Guadiana Las Plumas 21:24 11. Krystal Swift Central Valley 21:29 12. Dakota Dunbar West Valley 23:30 13. Shannon Mallory Yreka 27:40 1. Yreka 15; 2. LP inc.; 3. West Valley inc; 4. Corning inc.; 4. CV inc.