CROSS COUNTRY: ANOTHER SOLID YEAR FOR DESERT CHRISTIAN : EIGHT-TIME LEAGUE CHAMPS EYE STATE.Byline: Kirby Lee Special to the Daily News Somehow, someway some·way also some·ways adv. In some way or another; somehow. someway Adverb in some unspecified manner Adv. 1. , the Desert Christian High girls' cross country program makes its way to the Southern Section championships year after year. The Knights, who will be gunning for their seventh consecutive appearance next month, show no signs of a letdown letdown 1. the sudden flush of milk flow that occurs when the calf begins to suck or when milking commences in a properly prepared cow. Depends for its occurrence on the release of oxytocin from the pituitary gland in response to massage of the teats and udder. . Desert Christian is Christian I (krĭs`chən), 1426–81, king of Denmark (1448–81), Norway (1450–81), and Sweden (1457–64), count of Oldenburg, and founder of the Oldenburg dynasty of Danish kings. third in the State Division V rankings and on pace to qualify for the state meet for the fourth year in a row. The team will be heavily favored to win its ninth consecutive Desert Mountain League championship next Friday Next Friday is the 2000 sequel to Friday , which depicts the neighborhood of South Los Angeles in a comedic sense. The hero, Craig Jones (Ice Cube), leaves home and moves in with his lottery winning and sex-crazed Uncle Elroy (Don "D.C." Curry) in Rancho Cucamonga. . ``Getting to the CIF (1) (Common Intermediate Format) A standard video format used in videoconferencing. CIF formats are defined by their resolution, and standards both above and below the original resolution have been established. The original CIF is also known as Full CIF (FCIF). finals is always very special and outstanding, but we are trying to keep everybody focused,'' Dean Spoelstra said. ``Making it to the state meet is one of the new watermarks on how well we do.'' Even league titles seemed a distant vision to Spoelstra when he took over the girls' cross country program in 1988 with only three runners in the 390-student coed private school, which does not field a track team. Under Spoelstra, a former baseball player at Biola College, however, the program has steadily grown. There are 30 girls on this year's team. Desert Christian reached the Southern Section final for the first time in 1993 and has qualified every year since. In 1995, Desert Christian captured the Southern Section IV-A Division title. ``We have gotten more every year and inched it up year by year,'' said Spoelstra, who also serves as Desert Christian's baseball coach, vice-principal and athletic director Athletic director (commonly, "athletics director") is a position at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, which oversees the work of the coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic . ``We're limited in so many ways. We have to recruit and sell, but runners tell their friends and it feeds on itself.'' So has the team's success. Last season, Desert Christian finished second in the Southern Section Division V finals and third in the state championship. This year's team is even faster with the emergence of sophomore Jennifer Wright. Wright, the defending league champion, has led the Knights to team titles in the Bell-Jeff, Temecula Valley, Littlerock and Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, invitationals with individual victories. In the prestigious 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. 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. last Friday, Wright ran a school-record 19:52 over the benchmark 3-mile course to lead the Knights to a team time of 1:46:32, a whopping 1:25 faster than Desert Christian's best last season. Wright, along with senior Pam McClaren, juniors Deann Matteson and Bethany Spoelstra, the coach's niece, are mainstays from the 1998 team. Senior Tawny taw·ny n. A light brown to brownish orange. [Middle English, from Anglo-Norman taune, variant of Old French tane, from past participle of taner, to tan; see tan Burwell, sophomore Jessica Lembo and freshman Clay Tarazi have given the Knights' additional depth. ``We're definitely a lot stronger team,'' Wright said. ``When you are on an 80-minute run and have all these girls encouraging you every 30 seconds and shouting `Go Lady Knights,' it unites the team to strive to do well.'' Spoelstra, who runs with the team during workouts, also serves as an inspiration. ``It doesn't matter to him if you are running 19s like Jennifer or struggling to break 30 minutes,'' McClaren said. ``What is most important is giving your improvement and doing the best you can do.'' In fact, Spoelstra, who has tried to emphasize more than just running cross country, said his proudest achievement as coach was in the classroom when Desert Christian captured the State and Southern Section academic titles with a cumulative team grade point average of 3.92. Last year, the squad visited a convalescent con·va·les·cent adj. Relating to convalescence. n. A person who is recovering from an illness, an injury, or a surgical operation. convalescent 1. pertaining to or characterized by convalescence. 2. home with several athletes singing and playing the piano for the residents. In weekly team meetings, a senior shares an experience on how cross country has changed their relation with God. There are also occasional team dinners at the runners' homes. ``I don't consider myself a runner and very few of them consider themselves runners, but most of them would say I love cross country,'' Spoelstra said. ``I don't try to take running so seriously where they feel threatened. I am more concerned about development in their character and camaraderie ca·ma·ra·der·ie n. Goodwill and lighthearted rapport between or among friends; comradeship. [French, from camarade, comrade, from Old French, roommate; see comrade. .'' DESERT STORM A sampling of the Desert Christian girls' achievements over the past decade: 1999 State and Southern Section academic champions 1999 Southern Section Division V runner-up Third in 1999 State Division V final 1995 Southern Section Division IV-A title Six consecutive Southern Section final appearances Eight-time defending Desert Mountain League titles Three state meet appearances CAPTION(S): Photo, box PHOTO (color) Defending Desert Mountain League champion Jennifer Wright has won four invitationals this season and leads Knights' bid to return to section and state cross country finals. Box: Desert Storm (see text) Kirby Lee/Special to the Daily News |
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