Glendale Community College cross-country tries to avoid overconfidence
When referencing his thought process heading into Friday’s California Community College Athletic Assn. Championships, Glendale Community College cross-country Coach Eddie Lopez brought up his program’s history.
And why not?
The Vaquero women won a triple crown last season by claiming the Western State Conference, Southern California Regional and state championships. They’ve followed that up by clinching the first two legs of this year’s triple crown.
On the men’s side, the squad is enjoying its best season in years, having won the conference crown and having turned in a stunning second-place effort at the SoCal Regionals on Nov. 4 in Irvine.
Yet, with both of his teams peaking, Lopez is quick to bring up 2014.
“Two years ago we went in over confident in the state finals and we blew it,” Lopez said. “From that moment on, we’ve never taken anything for granted.”
In 2014, the Vaqueros women’s team was top-ranked in state after winning conference and SoCal titles. Yet, expectations and reality did not sync as a squad that boasted two All-Americans finished third at the state finals behind Mt. San Antonio College and College of the Canyons.
Though the gaffe was rectified last season, Lopez is on guard for Saturday’s meet at Woodward Park. The women will compete first at 10 a.m., while the men follow at 11.
In one sense, the routine is familiar, as the squad will head up Friday at 9 a.m., enjoy a walk though at Woodward Park and then have a pasta dinner together later that evening.
In another way, however, Lopez changed his training regiment by pulling off throttle the last few weeks as the team has been practicing less and emphasizing fresh legs and fresh minds.
“It’s never relaxation and there’s always work,” Lopez said, “but the rule is it’s better to under train than over train. We’ve been cutting back on some of the training and really have been talking about quality over quantity.
“Honestly, as this point in the season, you’ve done all the work you need to do. It’s just a matter of going out there and vindicating your work and training.”
The Glendale women are truly enjoying a wonderful season, even by their lofty standards.
The Vaqueros are top-ranked in California and have won eight of nine meets this season, including a 45-128 victory over Riverside at the SoCal Finals in Irvine.
Glendale has a dynamic one-two sophomore punch in Loyola Marymount-bound Giselle Masedo and Glendale High and Clark Magnate product Leana Setian.
Masedo finished second at the SoCal Regionals in 18 minutes, 32.9 seconds, while Setian was third in 18:47.3.
“We have a great group of sophomores mixed in with some talented freshmen,” Lopez said. “Although they’ve done well this year, they can still do better. My expectation for them is to close the gap between first and fifth by 30 seconds.”
Though all but one of the state’s top 10 squads resides in Southern California, perhaps Glendale’s biggest challenge will come from second-ranked College of the Sequoias, which romped to a 30-107 victory over De Anza for the Northern California crown.
On the men’s side, fifth-ranked Glendale upset three squads en route to finishing second at the SoCal Finals to San Bernardino Valley, 62-85.
The Vaqueros have won four meets this year with the last victory coming at the conference championships on Oct. 21.
Like the women, the Glendale men also have a strong leader up front in Burroughs High alumnus Shane Thompson.
The sophomore took third at the SoCal Regionals in a time of 20:35.7.
“He’s learned a lot from [former teammate] Vahagn Isayan and his teammates have a lot of respect for him,” Lopez said. “He’s the perfect captain and I think he’s going to do well. I think we’re all going to do really well on Saturday.”
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Andrew J. Campa, andrew.campa@latimes.com
Twitter: @campadresports
