Patch Blog: Alverno Cross Country Competes in Don Bosco Invitational, Blakely Medals

Alverno Cross Country Competes in 12th Annual Don Bosco Invitational

The 2012 Alverno cross country team debuted at the 12th Annual Don Bosco Tech Cross Country Invitational held at Santa Fe Dam, Irwindale on Saturday September 8, 2012.  The Varsity Team, the 2011 Horizon League Champions, did not field their entire team.  Senior varsity runners Eryn Blakely, Adrianna Martinez, and newcomers Madi Mennie and Vanessa Serrano along with juniors Victoria Pintado, Brett Richey and Francesca Rueda competed in the Small Schools Juniors-Seniors race.

This season’s Jaguar team has four returning seniors and two rookie seniors; four juniors; two returning and two coming back from knee issues that forced them to miss all of part of last season; a returning sophomore and three freshmen with some running experience.  Alverno competed in the Small Schools Division fielding seven runners in the Junior-Senior race and four runners, sophomore Rose Boubion and freshmen Kimberly Ganivet and Natalie Valencia in the Soph-Frosh race. 

High School Cross Country Season Premiers

The Don Bosco Invitational marks the start of the fall high school cross country season and gives teams the opportunity to test themselves and compare themselves against their Horizon League opponents.  Alverno runners improved their times over their 2011 performances on the 3-mile course that has a variety of terrain which includes sand, bike trails, asphalt, dirt, rocks and grass.  This year’s race was made a bit harder by slightly altering the terrain, removing about a mile of dirt trail and replacing it with small rocks.

Blakely Earns Medal for 6th Place Finish

Alverno’s top finisher at this year’s Don Bosco Tech XC Invitational was senior Eryn Blakely.  Blakely earned a medal by placing 6th from 166 runners in the Small Schools Junior-Senior race with a time of 19:18.  This marks the 4th consecutive medal (2009 – 2012) earned by Blakely at this Invitational meet.  After a slow first 2 miles and behind her 2011 pace, Blakely quickly picked up her pace (6:00 3rd mile) and finished in 6th place.  “My friend said that at the mile mark, there were at least 50 runners ahead of me.  I spent the rest of the race going faster and passing runners”, Blakely said after the race.

2012 Alverno Cross Country Team

This season’s team consists of returning Seniors Eryn Blakely, Ashley Haylett, Katherine Haysbert, Adrianna Martinez and new to the team, Madi Mennie and Vanessa Serrano; Juniors Jessica Lopez, Victoria Pintado, Brett Richey, Francesca Rueda (returning after a year’s absence due to knee injury); returning Sophomore Rose Boubion and Frosh runners Kimberly Ganivet, Adriana Nava and Natalie Valencia.  Head Coach Ken Berry and Assistant Coach Alex Fanara train the cross country team.

Bell-Jeff Invitational Next Up on Sat. Sept. 22 @ Griffith Park

The next test for the Alverno runners will be at the Bellarmine/Griffith Park (Bell-Jeff) Cross Country Invitational on Saturday, September 22nd.   At this Invitational, Alverno expects to see runners from their Horizon League teams compete and others that they will see at the October 19th Mt. Sac Invitationals.

Horizon League competition gets under way on Wednesday, September 26th at 4:00 PM at Griffith Park, hosted by Bishop Conaty.  Member schools of the Horizon League are Alverno High School, Bishop Conaty-Our Lady of Loretto, Holy Family, Sacred Heart of Jesus and San Gabriel Mission.