Numbers comfort Mustangs

Just last year, Costa Mesa High was competing with the minimum of five runners in boys’ cross country and finishing sixth at Golden West League meet.

This year, it cannot happen, partly because the Mustangs are now in the four-team Orange Coast League that also includes Estancia, Calvary Chapel and Laguna Beach. And first-year co-coaches Mike Sciacca and Sarah Nguyen have a group of eight strong runners competing for seven spots, which has the team anticipating a run at the league title.

“Our guys’ team will do better than it has done the past few years and that will be exciting,” Sciacca said.

Senior Mitch Friedmann returns for his fourth varsity season and senior John Zapata is another varsity returner.

“[Mitch] is definitely our workhorse,” Sciacca said. “He’s a silent leader. He leads by example. We expect him to be the No. 1 [runner]. It’s good to have returning seniors. He’s a very consistent runner and he is starting to show that killer instinct.”

Sciacca said Zapata is coming back stronger, after running the 800 and 3,200 meters in track and field.

“He keeps improving and dropping times quite a bit,” Sciacca said.

Sophomores John Sudbeck, Drake Burnette and Jason Rosello, all in their first year, round out the top five and give the Mustangs prospects for a bright future.

“This year, we should have a great year and something to build on,” Sciacca said

Both Sciacca and Nguyen were assistants with the Mustangs last season. Nguyen graduated from Costa Mesa in 2000 and she was part of the Mustangs’ state championship team in 1997.

“She always envisioned herself coaching cross country at Costa Mesa,” Sciacca said. “That level of expectation from winning, she can touch on it. She understands things coaches who haven’t run in a while don’t. She can touch on the mental aspect.”

With one season of working with the leaders of the team under their belts, Sciacca and Nguyen have been able to build strength away from the running course. The Mustangs just finished a five-day training stint near Lake Arrowhead. The team camped out and bonded, Sciacca said.

“This year we’re a much more tight-knit group,” Sciacca said.

Sophomore Rumman Razzak brings experience from running track and could round out the top seven.

Juniors Emilio Lopez and Ricky Olquin, who competed for the junior varsity last season, as well as senior Arthur Gomez, will compete for a spot on the team.

The standard for making the team will not merely times.

“We don’t just look at the stopwatch,” Sciacca said. “You see the drive in the athlete; who is most likely to improve or has that drive to give that extra kick at the end.”

With a team that is evenly skilled, the focus will be on running together.

“It’s intimidating for other teams to see a bunch of green shirts running at them in a group,” Sciacca said.

Sciacca added that with the new league, following opponents’ times once the season starts will be extra important.

“To succeed it’s going to take dedication,” Sciacca said.

Costa Mesa begins its season at the Laguna Hills Invitational on Sept. 9.

MUSTANGS ROSTER

Mitch Friedmann Sr.

John Zapata Sr.

John Sudbeck So.

Drake Burnette So.

Jason Rosello So.

Rumman Razzak So.

Emilio Lopez Jr.

Ricky Olquin Jr.

Arthur Gomez Sr.

Co-Coaches: Sarah Nguyen, Mike Sciacca (first year)