Bound for state

Mike Sciacca

“It was a wonderful day for Laguna,” declared Earl Towner.

Towner was right, as he watched Saturday with pride as his girls’

cross country team finished third overall in Division IV at the CIF

Southern Section Finals at Mount San Antonio College in Walnut, a

finish that earned the Breakers a spot in Saturday’s CIF State

Championships.

Also on Saturday, Dave Brobeck’s boys’ team placed sixth, overall,

in Division IV and also qualified for Saturday’s State meet, which

will be held at Woodward Park in Fresno.

It is the first time since the 1995 season that Laguna’s girls

have advanced to State, and the first time since 1989 that the boys’

program qualified for the State meet -- a meet where the boys’ would

capture the only state championship in school history.

Saturday’s dual triumph also marks the first time in school

history that the boys’ and girls’ teams have qualified for the State

meet in the same year, Brobeck said.

Towners’ squad entered the race ranked No. 3 in Division IV and

placed exactly where it was expected.

“The girls’ ran an exceptional race and they followed our plan of

attack to nearly a T,” said Towner, who also coached Laguna’s two

previous State-qualifying teams, in 1995, when the team finished 10th

and 1992, when the team reached the podium following a third-place

finish.

“One gratifying thing is that we finished closer to second-place

than in fourth-place. We have three freshmen on this team but this

group runs like a bunch of veterans.”

Kat Gordon was the top finisher among Laguna’s girls in the

Division IV race. She medaled at the No. 15 spot.

Sophomore Jamie Hancock ran as an alternate for Laguna.

Like Gordon, Max Mullender medaled after finishing at No. 15 in

the boys’ Division IV race with a time of 16:35.

Ryan Hedden was the next top Laguna finisher at 16:58.

“Advancing my team to the California State race has become an

intoxicating endeavor for me over the past five years,” Brobeck said.

“Fortunately, the albatross came off my back this year with a young

group of gutsy and determined guys.

“Interestingly enough, with only one senior among our top seven

runners, this was supposed to be a rebuilding year.”

Brobeck was a member of Laguna’s State championship team in 1989.

“Although the boys’ team has not been there since 1989, I believe

that this is where Laguna belongs every year,” he said. “Success

breeds success and Earl and I plan on establishing this program as

first-rate in the state, year in and year out.”

Below are the team and overall finishes, and times, for Laguna’s

girls’ team at Saturday’s CIF Finals meet:

1. Kat Gordon, Jr., 19:36 (15th, overall); 2. Alex Crawley, Fr.,

19:45 (19th, overall); 3. Emma Proctor, Jr., 20:25 (26th, overall);

4. Stephanie Pearson, Fr., 20:27 (28th, overall); 5. Carly Lojacono,

Jr., 20:42 (34th, overall); 6. Breanna Duplisea, Fr., 21:09, (49th,

overall); 7. Jamie Hancock, Soph., 23:31 (87th, overall).