New Zealand trip kicks off what Laguna hopes is memorable year for cross-country program

In the past decade, the cross-country programs at Laguna Beach High and Auckland Grammar School have developed a close but long-distance kinship.

The history, Laguna boys’ Coach Scott Wittkop said, dates back about eight years, when the Laguna program hosted athletes from the all-male, Auckland, New Zealand school (grades 9-12). It was then that the Breakers first played host to the Kiwis, who later returned the favor.

Next week, 20 Laguna boys’ cross-country athletes, will make a return visit to New Zealand.

The Breakers played host to Auckland Grammar School in April.

“Their coach (Rodney Gordon) contacted me at the beginning of the year, and wanted to do it again,” Wittkop said. “They came here in April and their athletes stayed with our host families for four days, and their families will host us for the first four days of our trip. We will also train with them and attend part of their school day.”

The Breakers will be in New Zealand for 16 days. They depart Monday and return Aug. 17. While there, Wittkop said the Breakers also will travel around the country’s North Island, one of New Zealand’s two main islands.

To make the trip a reality, the Breakers held banner sales, a car wash and raised funds online, Wittkop said.

“This trip will be a great bonding experience for the team and we will have the opportunity to train with some of the best runners from another country,” he said. “We will travel around the whole Northern Island, we will go skiing, go to cultural events, zip-line and of course, train at every stop. “They trained with us (in April) and spent a lot of time at the beach and also went to Knott’s Berry Farm.”

The Breakers opened their summer training session July 11, training in the hills behind El Morro Elementary School. The New Zealand trip precedes future road competitions during the 2016 season to Morro Bay (Sept. 10), Stanford (Sept. 24) and Clovis (Oct. 14).

Wittkop said 45 athletes signed up for the Laguna summer program, which will train until the opening day of the 2016-17 school year.

“We have a very young team with a huge upside,” he said. “We should be very competitive this year and hope to make a run at the (CIF) state meet. The majority of our varsity squad will be sophomores and juniors.”

In the past four years, the Laguna program has trained in Hawaii, Utah, Solvang, Big Bear, Minnesota, Mammoth, Santa Barbara, Palo Alto and Fresno.

2016 Laguna Beach Boys’ Cross-Country Schedule

Sept. 3:

Great Cow Run (Cerritos Regional Park, TBA)

Sept. 10:

at Morro Bay Invite (TBA)

Sept. 16:

vs. Woodbridge (Irvine Great Park, TBA)

Sept. 24:

at Stanford Invitational (TBA)

Sept. 28:

League Cluster (Irvine Regional Park, TBA)

Oct. 14:

at Rough Rider Invite (Clovis, TBA)

Nov. 2:

League finals (Irvine Regional Park, TBA)

Nov. 12:

CIF Prelims (Riverside, TBA)

Nov. 19:

CIF Finals (Mount San Antonio College, TBA)

Nov. 26:

CIF State Meet (Fresno, TBA)