BOYS' CROSS COUNTRY: NEW RALLYING CRY AT ROYAL HIGH: JUST DO IT STATE TITLE FAVORITES EYE NIKE NATIONALS.Byline: KEVIN CONNELLY Kevin Connelly was born in Middlesbrough, England. He is an impressionist comedian, and after dinner speaker and is probably most famous for his role on the popular BBC television programme 'Dead Ringers'. Special to the Daily News There are challenging racing conditions, and then there were last year's Nike Team Nationals NTN emblem Nike Team Nationals (NTN) is an invitational cross country meet that serves as the unofficial team national championship of United States high school cross country. It was designed to heighten competition between high school cross country teams nationwide. , which -- as the Royal High of Simi Valley's boys' cross country team described it -- were a cross between mud wrestling This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please help Wikipedia by adding references. See the for details. This article has been tagged since September 2007. and ``Chariots of Fire.'' As one of the most dominant cross country programs in state history, the Highlanders entered the one-of-a-kind, national-championship meet in Portland, Ore., as favorites. The two-time defending Div. I state champions quickly found out they were not in sunny Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, anymore. The Pacific Northwest greeted them instead with rain, a soggy course and a humbling experience that still stings. Royal's No. 1 runner Michael Cybulski uncharacteristically finished 41st and Jun Reichl, the team's fifth runner, was Royal's top finisher in the meet. The Highlanders placed a disappointing sixth in the field of 20 teams. ``We didn't know what to do in the mud,'' said Jason Pedersen, now at Northern Arizona Northern Arizona is dominated by the Colorado Plateau, the southern border of which in Arizona is called the Mogollon Rim. In the West lies the Grand Canyon, which was cut by the flow of the Colorado River while the land slowly rose around it. . ``You have to know there is mud in Portland, but knowing it and actually (reacting to it properly) are different things.'' ``I was getting mud thrown in my face left and right,'' said Dustin Patterson, who also has graduated. ``It was like the La Brea Tar Pits La Brea Tar Pits Fossil field in Hancock Park (formerly Rancho La Brea), Los Angeles, Calif., U.S. It is the site of “pitch springs” oozing crude oil, formerly used by local Indians for waterproofing, and was explored by Gaspar de Portolá's expedition in out there. Any time you picked up speed, you would hit another mud pile.'' It might sound preposterous to label a season in which the Highlanders breezed to the state title a disappointment, but that is a testament to Royal's talent. Many in the cross country community, including Royal senior Hudson Andrews, believe the Highlanders are better this year despite the departures of starters Pedersen, Patterson, and Kevin Sullivan Kevin Sullivan is a name shared by several people:
UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX ). ``Those three guys are irreplacable,'' said Andrews, one of the top 800-meter runners in the state. ``But me and Michael are back with another year of training under out belts, along with Danny (Benson) and Jun. We're a close-knit group of guys, and we push each other in ways I don't think many other teams can.'' Cybulski, the two-time defending state champion at 3,200 meters, might be the top distance runner distance runner n. A runner who competes in distance races. in the nation, and Andrews, Reichl and Benson are Division I-caliber runners. The question mark is junior Alex Routh, an occasional varsity runner last season who will be asked to fill the fifth and final starting spot for the Daily News' top-ranked team. Royal, far too talented to be seriously challenged by anybody in the area, is expected to match Hart of Newhall this season as the only boys' programs to win three consecutive Div. I state titles. Another state title would be nice, but a victory at the Nike Team Nationals in December is the Highlanders' primary aim. ``Last year we all felt that we let Calfornia down at (Nike Team Nationals),'' said coach Ryan Luce, who didn't make the trip to Portland. ``We got killed. It was as simple as that. ``We're not a cocky team at all, we just ran a bad race. This season one of our goals is to right what went wrong up there.'' CAPTION(S): 2 boxes Box: (1) DAILY NEWS TOP 10 (2) 10 RUNNERS TO WATCH |
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