Editor’s note: This story is part of a series of prep previews the Dispatch will be running leading up to the start of the season. We will focus on a different sport and team each week.
There are always several challenges surrounding a new coach.
She doesn’t know the athletes — their strengths, struggles or shortcomings. She doesn’t know much about how things were done before her. She doesn’t have that relationship with her team yet to know what they can or can’t do — but that’s what the summer is for.
Lori Romero is one half of Christopher’s new cross country coaches, the other being Mike Rose. But it’s been Romero who has trained with her new team all summer, getting to know them stride by stride.
“I run with them,” Romero said. “I really like being out there with them, not just standing there waiting for them to come back. I’m out there with them, I know how far they’re going. I know how hard it is.”
Joining Romero day after day were sophomore Natalie Filippi and junior Zander Miranda. Though they may not be the fastest runners in the bunch, the pair exemplify dedication.
“It’s so easy to just decide not to (run) and you can just walk,” Filippi said. “It’s (running) more mental. You have to keep thinking that if you keep going, it’ll get easier.”
Summer practices are 100 percent voluntary, but give the athletes a chance to work on improving themselves in the offseason. That chance to improve and better himself is what motivated Miranda to keep lacing up his running shoes day after day.
“One of the things that’s different this year is that I want to try harder and become better at my sport,” Miranda said. “Last year I was just sort of going through the motions. This year I really want to try to become a better runner.”
While cross country can be seen as an individual sport, Filippi and Miranda don’t see the ‘i’ in team. At meets, points are calculated based on where the runners finish — the higher the finish, the lower the points. To be successful as a team, all members have to pull their own weight to keep the score as low as possible.
It’s not just about points, however.
Miranda and Filippi believe strongly in team motivation — whether they are the motivators or the ones who need the motivation.
“Since I’m just a sophomore, I still have people to look up to — they can push me,” Filippi said. “There’s a lot of new people, so I can be an example for them. It’s a team sport because if you do better, it benefits your teammates, it makes them want to push harder.”
Filippi gets some of her motivation from classmate Jamie Boutte, a sophomore runner who competed in the state competition last season. It’s one of her goals this season to make the trip to the Central Coast Section meet with Boutte to represent Christopher High.
Romero has sent runners through the hills to build the leg strength needed to tackle the distances required by cross country.
Since Christopher is still a new school, cross country has set to earn a banner of achievement to display. But both Miranda and Filippi hope that changes this year.
“I feel like there’s a lot of potential this year,” Miranda said. “We’ve got a lot of great freshmen coming in. The fact that we have two new coaches that have plans for us that are going to go well beyond this year and tie into next year. I think these next two years are going to be really great for us.
“It would be nice to get that banner up there to show everyone that cross country is just as much a part of this school as football and lacrosse is.
Gilroy Mustangs
Top returners: Boys — Javier Alejo, sr.; Daniel Ordaz, jr.; Julian Florez, soph.; Michael Cross, soph.; Girls — Karla Cortez, sr.; Karla Lozano, soph.
Key newcomers: Boys — Eddie Varges, fresh., Eric Heizer fresh.; Girls — Monica Ruelas, fresh.
Last season: The Mustangs faced the tough task of replacing 18 runners. As a result, the team was young and inexperienced — the definition of a rebuilding program. This lack of experience led to the team finishing near the bottom of the league.
First meet of the season: Chieftain/Spirit Invitational — Sept. 14 at Toro Park in Salinas.
Coach Cathy Silva’s comments: “Cross country is a team sport. We need every single one of our runners to compete at their best so that we can get that low score.”
Analysis: The Mustangs are still in a rebuilding process, but have the potential to be much stronger this season. While the core of their team is still young, these runners now have a year’s experience at the varsity level and know what it takes to be successful. As a whole, the team is stronger and has a lot more miles under its belt than last year. As a result, Gilroy should be competitive within the league and be able to finish much higher than in its 2012 season.
