A new Day begins

Jasmin Day has nothing to prove in her high school career. Even

still, the Costa Mesa High senior has one more year to break records,

win championships and grab state accolades.

Her senior quest begins this fall, as the top runner on the

Mustang girls cross country team.

If she has anything left to prove, she has a full year to do it.

“[Day], as of now, is an unbelievable athlete,” first-year coach

Daniel Gonzalez said. “She’s very capable of [reaching] state and I

think she can make the all-state team in [CIF Division III]. She will

easily win league.”

The state runner-up in the high jump last spring, Day highlights a

group of distance runners set to showcase their abilities this fall.

Day will team with senior Kyla Flores to form a potent one-two

punch, while junior Emily Cotton is projected to be the third runner,

Gonzalez said. The three athletes led the team to the Golden West

League championship last year.

“We’re pretty strong, especially the top three,” Gonzalez said.

“We just have to get the rest in, which will play itself out during

the season. When we have two returning runners who made state, we

have a pretty good chance.”

Both Day and Flores reached the CIF State cross country meet last

fall at Woodward Park in Fresno. Day finished 19th in 19 minutes, 3

seconds, while Flores was 43rd in 19:36, both in the Division III

race.

Day had reached state with a fifth-place showing in the CIF

Southern Section Division III final, while Flores placed ninth in the

same race at Mt. San Antonio College in November.

But the wet, sloppy and muddy conditions, along with the abundance

of talent from around the state, proved a bit much for the two local

runners in Fresno.

Still, just to reach the state meet is a huge accomplishment,

Gonzalez said.

“We have a lot of talent on our team,” he said.

Filling in the last two spots could be any combination of senior

sisters Elizabeth and Aracelia Mendoza, or freshman Amanda Ring,

Gonzalez said.

But what remains intact from last year could provide the necessary

manpower for a second consecutive league championship.

Day, Flores and Cotton finished second, fifth and 11th,

respectively, at the league finals in early November, clinching the

league championship for the Mustangs.

Gonzalez said one of his main goals in his first year is to win

another league title.

The new Costa Mesa head man was named the girls and boys coach in

May, taking over a vacancy left behind by Joe Busi.

Gonzalez was formerly an assistant cross country coach at Mater

Dei, where he graduated from in 1995. He led the Monarchs to the

Orange County championship his senior year and helped the team reach

state meet for the first time in school history.

Gonzalez later ran at Santa Ana College and St. Mary’s, where he

graduated from with bachelor’s degrees in Religion and Philosophy.