Coronado Tries to State Case

Can a mild-mannered runner who has placed no higher than fourth in a race this season contend for the men’s individual title in the state junior college cross-country championships at Woodward Park in Fresno today?

He can if you ask Rey Coronado of Moorpark or Raider Coach Doni Green.

Coronado, a sophomore from Camarillo High, has been a consistent No. 2 runner for Moorpark this season. But he’s been telling Green since the first day of practice his goal is to win the state title.

“I believe that if I can put together a complete race, I have a good shot at winning,” Coronado said. “I can’t guarantee anything, but I think I have a good chance.”

Those might sound like idle words coming from someone who placed 18th in the first Western State Conference meet Sept. 18 and sixth in the WSC final on Oct. 29, but Green gives them credence.

He says a sore right knee limited Coronado’s training from mid-September to early October and Coronado is a firm believer in the Moorpark philosophy of saving your best for the Southern California and state championships.

Other programs strive to do that, but none has done it as well as Moorpark the last three seasons.

The Raiders upset Pasadena, 73-109, to win the 1996 state title after finishing 29 points behind the Lancers in the Southern California championships.

They won the Southern California and state titles last year after finishing second to Glendale in the WSC final.

Moorpark was third to Glendale and Bakersfield in the WSC final last month, but won the Southern California championship at Mt. San Antonio College with a 99-117 victory over Bakersfield two weeks ago. Glendale was fifth with 181 points.

Coronado placed fifth in the Southern California final, 17 seconds behind victorious teammate Todd Disney, but figures he has a chance to win today.

“My goal is to win state as a team and as an individual,” said Coronado, runner-up in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in the state track and field championships in May.

Green would love to see Disney and Coronado battle for the state title, but he warns Coronado can’t let the leaders get too far ahead during the first half of the four-mile race.

He doesn’t want a replay of the state track championships when Coronado came from far back on the last lap of the steeplechase to finish a tenth of a second behind winner Julio Serratos of Glendale.

“I told him the other day, ‘Reymond, you’ve got to go out fast enough that you don’t lose contact with the leaders,’ ” Green said. “ ‘Let’s not come up short like you did in track.’ ”

Orange Coast is expected to romp to its second consecutive title in the women’s race with Glendale and Valley contending.

Glendale beat Valley, 52-103, in the WSC final but Valley was without sophomore Marisol Barajas.

Barajas, 1996 state champion, hasn’t raced since dropping out of the Santa Barbara Invitational on Oct. 17 due to a strained hamstring, but she is expected to run today.

Her presence, even if she isn’t in top condition, could give Valley a quality 1-2-3 punch because sophomore Patricia Loera placed second in the Southern California championships and sophomore Yadi Estrada was sixth.

Sophomore Julie Harris, the WSC champion, is expected to lead Glendale.