Coast Championship Preview
The 2023 cross country season officially enters championship season.
De Anza College runners will return to Palo Corona Regional Park in Monterey County for the Coast Conference championship on Wednesday morning.
Head coach Nick Mattis said the tough, competitive field means it will be difficult to predict any results.
"Just nervous and waiting to see how we do," Mattis said.
"There is a lot of parity in the north. The good news for us, is that we have a lot of runners still improving."
The Mountain Lions posted impressive times at Palo Corona Regional Park back on Sept. 16 during the Monterey Peninsula Invitational, which also served as the Coast finals preview.
The De Anza College men – currently ranked No. 2 in the North – won the team event, with sophomore Antoine Moret capturing the 4-mile individual title with a time of 20:14.4.
Six other teammates placed in the top 15: Kia Winebarger (8th), James Estrella (11), Diego Ochoa-Mendez (12), Koyo Kai (13), Jack Park (14), and Angel Arciniega (15).
Moret said he tries to not look too far ahead, but has been preparing for this part of the schedule the last six months.
"I trust myself and the process," Moret said.
"I am super excited to get the opportunity to run! Running the course in September will most likely be instrumental, since we have a good idea of what the course looks like. From the hills, the rough patches, as well as the parts of the course that we should avoid. This specific course has really rough terrain right at the start, but afterwards evens out. The hills will definitely be a major factor as they are evenly spread throughout the race, and add another level of tactics. Four-mile races are that awkward distance where it is slightly too long to be racing hard during the entirety of the race, but too short to cruise at an easier pace."
Moret hopes the team can rank among the best in school history.
"The men's team is the quickest it has ever been," he said.
"We are currently ranked second in Northern California, and could be making school history by being only the second men's team to win Coast Conference (2019). The highest we have ever placed in NorCal was third, and the highest in the state was tenth. We have real potential to beat both of those!"
The De Anza College women – ranked No. 8 in the North – will compete with the likes of No. 2 Hartnell and No. 3 Monterey Peninsula.
Sophomore Jacklyn Velasquez finished third in the MPC Invitational, with a 20:56.8 in the 5K.
Teammate Joselin Joya Camacho (22:32.2) placed eighth. Pauline Nguyen (25:01.2) and Priscilla Boo (28:50.3) finished among the Top 30.
The Lions (53 points) finished behind the host Lobos (38) and the Panthers (39) during the preview.
Velasquez has been setting personal records consistently throughout the season.
"I'm both excited and nervous about the Coast championship," she said.
"I am grateful for the team we have and confident in my training – in hopes I can place top five and make it to NorCal as a team. Early in the season when I ran at the Coast preview meet, I didn't know what the course was like and what to expect."
"So, having to run this course again, I have a sense what to mentally prepare for and how to strategize my race so that I can have a good race. Our training has been leading up to this part in the season so that we can all have a great race – both individually and as a team, and I'm looking forward to seeing how we all do at the Coast championship."