Cross country: BRING IT ON!

Tony Altobelli

COSTA MESA - Despite a ton of losses from last year’s state

champions, the Orange Coast College men’s and women’s cross country teams

come into the 2000 season with a tremendous amount of talent, which will

be needed with everyone gunning for them.

“We’ve got titles to defend,” Coach John Goldman said with a laugh.

“It’s interesting because a bunch of our star runners from last year are

gone. But, we did a great job of recruiting. I think it’s the best

recruiting class we’ve ever had since I’ve been here.”

The men’s squad has the most returners with five, including co-captain

Sean Abeyta.

“Sean has really improved during the off-season,” Goldman said. “We’re

looking for him to make a huge impact, not just on our team, but

throughout the area.”

Manuel Orozco, 41st at the State Championships a year ago, and Tony

Magana, along with Steve Milchiker and Jesus Gonzalez round out the

returners.

“They’re all coming into this season in great shape,” Goldman said.

“Strong track and field training, combined with the summer workouts have

really bolstered this group.”

As for the newcomers, freshmen Allen Childress, Victor Lopez, Juan

Carrillo and Alex Boon give the Pirates not only a strong squad for this

year, but a powerful nucleus for next year.

“We really worked hard at trying to bring in the right athletes to

suit our program,” Goldman said. “I believe we were very successful in

doing so.”

On the women’s side, it’s freshmen galore for the Pirates.

With Zoila Gomez and Bernice Carbajal gone, it’s up to lone sophomore

Heather Shortleff. She took fifth at last year’s State Meet with a time

of 19:03.5 and was second in the 3000-meter run in track.

“She’s one of the top returners in the state, as far as I’m

concerned,” Goldman said. “Heather is going to do some good things for

the team and she’s a great example for the freshmen to follow.”

That’s good because Shortleff is the only sophomore on the women’s

side.

Among the Pirates new cast of runners include 30-year-old freshman

Christiane Reimer. “She’s a marathoner who has never competed

collegiately before,” Goldman said. “She’s run a 3-hour, 11-minute

marathon before and with her intensity and leadership capabilities, she’s

one of our co-captains.”

Lindsay Allen, Laura Weaver, Melissa Anderson, Ann Garton and Vanessa

Gaxiola are other top freshmen on Goldman’s squad who look to make an

immediate impact on the Pirates.

“Overall, I’m pretty excited,” Goldman said. “I think we have the

ability to compete with anyone, despite being so young. We have a lot of

depth on the men’s and women’s teams. The key is staying healthy. If one

key runner goes down, it can have a drastic effect on how the team

finishes.”

ORANGE COAST MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

Sean Abeyta So.

Stephan Appell Fr.

Alex Boon Fr.

Juan Carrillo Fr.

Allen Childress Fr.

Kevin Cook Fr.

Jesus Gonzalez So.

Victor Lopez Fr.

Tony Magana So.

Peter Munguia Fr.

Daniel Orduna Fr.

Ryan Piszyk Fr.

Dan Vargas Fr.

Mark Cipolla Fr.

Oscar Lemus-Lopez Fr.

Steven Milchiker So.

Manuel Orozco So.

Coach: John Goldman

ORANGE COAST COLLEGE WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

Heather Shortleff So.

Jennifer Urbietta Fr.

Laura Weaver Fr.

Melissa Anderson Fr.

Rory Castanon Fr.

Cali Vincelet Fr.

Lindsay Allen Fr.

Nadine Engel Fr.

Carrie Foss Fr.

Ann Garton Fr.

Vanessa Gaxiola Fr.

Patricia Gutierrez Fr.

Ginger Liechty Fr.

Christiane Reimer Fr.

Carrie Royed Fr.

Coach: John Goldman