The Coronado High School cross country team got back into action on Aug. 24 at the Bronco Invitational. Head Coach George Green said that the Islanders cross country program is sitting at 30 runners, with around half of them newcomers, so it is still early to tell how they may fare this season.
“There are a handful of freshman girls on the team who could fill-in the remaining two spots for a seven-girl team, but it’s too early to know which ones will step up,” he said about the girls varsity squad.
Although Green said last year’s boys team wasn’t strong, the additions the team has made should provide them with much more depth this year.
“There are three transfers who could join the varsity squad — junior Vincent Russo from Maryland, Andrew Buck from Canyon Hills, and Nicholas Wosje from Lisbon, Portugal,” Green said.
Green said that for both the girls and boys teams, seven runners can enter the CIF finals. So the final varsity team will be determined at the end of the season. He also said that a few others will get a varsity letter based on their performances throughout the year.
Top returners for the team this year include Nathan Ayan, Jack Letcher, Xavier Marsh and Tyler Horton for the boys, while junior Morgan Maske, sophomores Maeson Everitt, Gwynne Letcher and Nadia Roos, and senior Jaya Jost are the top returning girls.
Green said Ayan and Letcher produced the top two boys performances in the two-mile varsity race on Aug. 24, placing 14th with a time of 10:56 and 24th with a time of 11:17, respectively. On the girls side, Maske and Letcher each placed in the top eight in the girls two-mile varsity race. Maske finished 6th with a 12:51, and Letcher finished 7th with a 13:06.
The Islanders traveled to Canyon Hills High School on Aug. 31 for the Raven Invitational. Green says the goal for the year is to finish as highly ranked as possible with many runners going to state.
