BOYS' CROSS COUNTRY: WAITING IS OVER FOR STANDOUT ACOSTA ONE OF STATE'S TOP RUNNERS AS A JUNIOR.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 Jeremy Acosta stood at the finish line at the season-opening Seaside Invitational in·vi·ta·tion·al adj. Restricted to invited participants: an invitational golf tournament. n. An event, especially a sports tournament, restricted to invited participants. Adj. 1. in Ventura in early September, and waited. A distance standout from Highland High of Palmdale, Acosta clocked 15 minutes, 6 seconds on the flat 3-mile course, and waited 13 seconds for the event's second-place finisher to finally catch up. But then came a different waiting game of sorts. Acosta waited some more, and sometime between the bus ride home and a proud dinner conversation with his parents that night, reality sunk in. That was the night the relatively unknown transfer from Desert Christian of Lancaster discovered he was one of the top distance runners distance runner n. A runner who competes in distance races. in the state. ``I was a little surprised at the time,'' said Acosta, who will compete Saturday in the Southern Section Div. I finals at Mt. San Antonio College Mt. San Antonio College (commonly called Mt. SAC; pronounced as the word "sack") is a community college located in the Los Angeles suburb of Walnut, California, next to California State Polytechnic University, Pomona which is just over a hill. Mt. in Walnut. ``I noticed I had a really strong (finish) that day, when I broke away from some good runners that I have a lot of respect for. It was definitely a good feeling.'' It has been a whole lot of the same in subsequent races for Acosta, who defeated Crescenta Valley The Crescenta Valley is a small inland valley in Los Angeles County, California. Its name derives from its crescent-like shape, with the convex portion facing roughly northeast and the concave portion southwest. of La Crescenta standout Zach Torres by seven seconds late September at the Kenny Staub Invitational in La Crescenta. Acosta also won the Golden League title in October, while his 15:22 clocking last week in the Southern Section prelims at Mt. SAC matched Royal High of Simi Valley's Michael Cybulski -- the two-time defending state champion at 3,200 meters. Acosta will have another shot at Cybulski this Saturday. ``Cybulski is one of the runners I look up to,'' Acosta said. ``We were both trying to qualify for the finals on Saturday, so I just made sure I stayed right up front with him. ``I respect him, and will admit he's probably faster than me, but I'm still going out there to place as high as possible.'' Acosta likely won't challenge Cybulski for a Div A DIV Associate of Divinity . I title, but the junior would make a strong statement for next year with a top-10 finish. Boys' cross country is dominated by seniors arguably ar·gu·a·ble adj. 1. Open to argument: an arguable question, still unresolved. 2. That can be argued plausibly; defensible in argument: three arguable points of law. more than every prep sport but football, and Acosta is one of the few juniors within striking distance of the top runners. Acosta said his goal is to break the 15-minute mark, while Cybulski and Big Bear's Chad Hall are both projected to finish in 14:40 or better. The course record of 14:24 was set last year by West Covina's Diego Mercado. ``We tell Jeremy that racing at this elite level is all mental,'' Highland co-coach Vince Burton said. ``We know most of the best runners in the state will be there, but we don't want Jeremy to be in awe of any of these guys. He is a year younger than most of the other top runners, but we want him to do what he can with his talent right now.'' Acosta must place in the top six of individuals not competing with their teams, and within the top 20 overall, to qualify for the state finals Nov. 25 in Fresno. He insists he will settle for nothing less Saturday. ``I'm already pumped and it's (five) days away,'' Acosta said. ``Making it to Fresno as a junior would mean a lot to me.'' kevin.connelly@dailynews.com (818) 713-3611 ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Joe Wiggan, Burroughs, Sr. Football Wiggan had a season area-high 48 carries Friday in a 24-6 victory over crosstown cross·town or cross-town adj. Running, extending, or going across a city or town: a crosstown street; crosstown traffic. adv. rival Burbank to help clinch the Pacific League title for the Indians, their first since 1981. Wiggan finished with two touchdowns and 288 yards rushing to break the school record for rushing yards in a season. He has 1,841 yards rushing in 10 games. Ashley Litchfield, Quartz Hill, Sr. Girls' tennis Litchfield became the first girls' tennis player to win a Golden League singles title in four consecutive seasons. She also swept her singles sets Saturday in Quartz Hill's 9-9 (83-79) victory over St. Margaret's in the second round of the Southern Section Div. IV playoffs to improve to 63-0 this season. UP & COMER D.J. Morgan, Taft, Fr. Football Another budding talent in a long line of Taft of Woodland Hills football stars, Morgan rushed for 113 yards and two touchdowns Thursday in a 55-14 victory over Granada Hills. Morgan and Taft junior Jarrel Holland, the younger brother Wiki is aware of the following uses of "'Younger Brother":
TRIVIAL MATTERS Oaks Christian of Westlake Village's Jimmy Clausen James Richard "Jimmy" Clausen (born September 21, 1987, in Thousand Oaks, California[3]) is an American football player. He is a quarterback at the University of Notre Dame. , arguably the best high school quarterback from the area since Granada Hills graduate John Elway John Albert Elway, Jr. (born June 28, 1960) played American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Denver Broncos from 1983 through 1998. Elway holds many college and professional records and was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and is the only , passed for 375 yards and fourtouchdowns Thursday in a 56-0 win over Santa Paula Santa Paula (săn`tə pôl`ə), city (1990 pop. 25,062), Ventura co., S Calif., on the Santa Clara River in a fertile valley that yields citrus fruits, avocados, vegetables, flowers, nursery products, and walnuts; laid out 1875, inc. . Clausen, who will attend Notre Dame Notre Dame IPA: [nɔtʁ dam] is French for Our Lady, referring to the Virgin Mary. In the United States of America, Notre Dame next year, moved within two touchdowns of the state career record. The state's all-time passing touchdowns leader? Cathedral of Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. quarterback Robert DeLaCruz threw for 132 touchdowns from 1997-99. CAPTION(S): 3 photos, 7 boxes Photo: (1) Highland High cross country standout Jeremy Acosta will try to qualify for the state meet Saturday at the Southern Section Div. I finals. Acosta won the Golden League title. Alex Collins/Special to the Daily News (2) Joe Wiggan, Burroughs, Sr. (3) Ashley Litchfield, Quartz Hill, Sr. Box: (1) ATHLETE OF THE WEEK (see text) (2) OTHER TOP PERFORMERS (3) UP & COMER (see text) (4) TRIVIAL MATTERS (see text) (5) THEY SAID IT (6) DAILY NEWS RANKINGS (7) DAY PLANNER |
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