Boys cross country:

Joseph Boo

COSTA MESA - In Eric Davies’ second year with Costa Mesa High’s

boys cross country team, he finds the cupboard not quite so bare.

Last season, he basically put together a team from scratch. This year,

some newcomers will bolster a team with four returners, and Mesa hopes to

improve on last year’s fifth-place finish in the Pacific Coast League.

“If we have more kids, we’re going to have more fun,” Davies said.

Among the top newcomers is junior Irwin Salas, who emerged as one of

Mesa’s top distance runners for the track and field team as a sophomore.

“Salas is looking really, really strong,” Davies said. “He’s had a

great track season and we’re just grooming him for the cross country

distances. We’ll just have to wait to see how his times pan out, but he’s

got a lot of raw talent.”

A healthy senior Mike Williams will help the Mustangs. Last year,

Williams was significantly hampered during the cross country and track

seasons by a severe ankle injury. Davies hopes for a big comeback from a

healthy Williams.

Junior Rene Ortiz and sophomores Zach Powell and Thomas Payne are the

three remaining returners and having a year under their belt should help.

Senior Bogdan Iliescu is another returner, although he last ran a cross

country race two years ago. He skipped cross country last season.

Rene’s brother, junior Javier Ortiz, will see a place in Mesa’s

lineup. Two freshmen, Jorge Raya and Timothy Tran, round out the team.

Raya has impressed Davies so far, and he could be in a position to help

his team quickly.

“He’s looking very promising,” Davies said. “He’ll be hanging out

there with the best soon with more experience.”

And that’s the key to Mesa’s team. Except for Williams, the most

experienced Mustangs ran for a year. Former Mesa cross country star David

Tran has been coming by to help advise the team.

“The kids are able to pick his brain and he’s able to share all that

experience,” Davies said. “He’s giving them the ins and outs from two

years ago. He ran most of the courses. The only thing they’re needing to

pick up right now is learning how to run on hard surfaces and different

terrain. We have a lot of speed. We’ll just wait after the first race and

see where we’re lacking.”

Costa Mesa boys cross country

Coach: Eric Davies

Bogdan Iliescu Sr.

Javier Ortiz Jr.

Rene Ortiz Jr.

Thomas Payne So.

Zach Powell So.

Jorge Raya Fr.

Irwin Salas Jr.

Timothy Tran Fr.

Mike Williams Sr.