On the run

Mike Sciacca

Entering the 2003 boys’ and girls’ cross country season, Laguna Beach

High coaches Earl Towner and Dave Brobeck set a lofty goal for their

respective teams.

Actually, it was one goal that included both teams and something

that has never been recorded in school history.

Towner, who coaches the girls’ team, said he and Brobeck, who

heads the boys’ program, set an objective of getting each team

qualified in the same year for the State meet.

The State finals meet will be held in Fresno in November.

The cross country teams have done it independently: Laguna’s boys’

made their first and only trip there in 1989 and with Brobeck on

board as a member of that team, won the State crown.

It’s the only state title in any sport in school history.

The girls’ team first qualified for State under Towner in 1992 and

reached the podium with a third-place finish.

They made it back again in ’95 and finished in 10th-place.

“We’d like nothing better than to get our teams to State in the

same year,” Towner said. “That’s a big goal of ours this year.”

If the season run thus far is any indication, Laguna just might

attain that goal.

Entering the week, both teams were ranked No. 3 in the latest

CIF-Southern Section Division IV poll.

Still, though, league finals and CIF prelims and finals await the

Breakers before they can set their sights on State.

Earl’s girls are coming off an overall sixth-place finish in the

Small Schools Division at the Clovis Invitational at Woodward Park in

Fresno -- the same site that will host the upcoming State meet.

Among Division IV teams competing in the Small Schools Division,

Laguna was third among Division IV competition.

Brobeck’s boys were fourth, overall, in a Small Schools Division

that saw Division IV schools take the top four spots.

The boys also ran past third-ranked Morro Boy en route to their

fourth-place standing.

The success of the Laguna girls comes from a solid nucleus of

three juniors plus the influx of three freshmen and a foreign

exchange student.

In fact, junior Catherine “Cat” Gordon is listed as the Breakers’

No. 1 runner, but the rest of Laguna’s lineup has won various races

throughout the season.

“In my opinion, this is the best girls’ team I’ve had here,” said

Towner, now in his 12th year of coaching the girls’ program. “They’re

all darn good runners and this past summer, we had more freshmen

girls come out for the team than at any time before. There’s great

interest in the program.”

Juniors Emma Proctor and Carly Lojacono are three-year varsity

runners. The trio of freshmen making an impact are Alex Crawley,

Breanna Duplisea and Stephanie Pearson, and the foreign exchange

student running on a high school team for the first time is senior

Lin Louage.

Louage, who is from Antwerp, Belgium, is in her first year at the

school.

Cross country is only a club sport in Belgium, she said.

“I like the competition in high school cross country,” said

Louage, 18. “I like the atmosphere around the races and I think we

have a very, very good team.

“We really want to make it to State. That is our goal.”

At the Clovis Invitational, Proctor finished first among Laguna

runners. Two days prior, Gordon set her personal record of 19:13 in a

Pacific Coast League meet against University. Crawley ran a 19:37 at

the Woodbridge Invitational on Sept. 20.

The pecking order of the team, Towner said, depends on the course

run.

“Kat has separated herself from the group but the rest of our

runners are really close,” he said. “It a tight group and all are

within 45 to 55 seconds of each other. That’s really good for a team

when it comes to scoring in cross country.”

On Saturday, Laguna will run the Orange County Invitational. That

is followed the next week by the Mt. SAC Invitational, the largest

one-day cross country event.

The Breakers face PCL rival Northwood on Oct. 30 before league

finals on Nov. 7. Then it’s the CIF prelims on Nov. 15, followed by

the CIF finals on Nov. 22.

All, though, lead up to the coveted State meet on Nov. 29.

The top seven Division IV teams at CIF advance to State.

“ I really believe the girls have a great shot of making State,”

Towner said. “The boys have a realistic shot, too. It’s just a matter

of both teams running hard to the end. They can do it.”