Ramirez Wants to Make a Full Run

She closed her sophomore cross-country season with a rush.

She struggled to the finish last year.

Now, senior Cassie Ramirez of Palmdale Highland High wants to have a complete season.

One that starts well and finishes strong.

Ramirez won the Golden League title and placed 14th in the Southern Section Division I final in her first season of cross-country as a sophomore, but after getting sick she was seventh in the league meet last year and failed to advance to the Division I final.

That was followed by an illness-hampered track season that ended with a dismal 22nd-place finish in the 3,200 meters in a heat of the section preliminaries.

“I believe everything happens for a reason,” Ramirez said after winning the senior race in the Seaside Invitational in Ventura on Sept. 7. “What happened last year has only made me more determined to come back strong this season.”

Ramirez ran well for most of her junior season, but got sick before the league meet and finished a minute and a half behind winner Amanda O’Neal of Quartz Hill.

Then came the section preliminaries at Mt. San Antonio College, where Ramirez finished a non-qualifying 12th in her heat after stopping during the race to tie one of her shoes.

Ramirez opened this season by winning the senior race of the Seaside meet by 24 seconds and had a 59-second margin of victory Saturday in the High Desert Invitational at Pelona Vista Park in Palmdale.

She made a disappointing return to Pelona Vista on Wednesday, when she placed third in the first league meet of the season, but her goals remain the same.

“I want to get a full scholarship to a four-year school,” Ramirez said. “But mainly I want to stay consistent and race at the highest level I can the whole season.”

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Name game: Thank goodness for nicknames and last names. Otherwise, four heads would turn every time “Ashley” was called out at a Chino Hills Ayala practice.

Ashley Curtis, Ashley Winkler and Ashleigh Hoagland are juniors and Ashley Duran is a sophomore on a Bulldog team ranked fifth in The Times’ regional poll.

In order to avoid confusion, Ayala’s coaches address Winkler as Ashley, Hoagland as Hoagie Yogi, and Curtis and Duran by their last names.

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THE TIMES’ RANKINGS

1. Yucaipa (SS-San Andreas)

Thunderbirds will host their own invitational on Sept. 29.

2. Dana Point Dana Hills (SS-South Coast)

Dolphins will meet Murrieta Valley in their own invitational on Saturday.

3. Murrieta Valley (SS-Southwestern)

Nighthawks coming off big victory in Division I race at Woodbridge Invitational.

4. Irvine Woodbridge (SS-Sea View)

Warriors edged Marina for Division II title at own invitational.

5. Chino Hills Ayala (SS-Sierra)

Bulldogs placed second in Division I race at Woodbridge.

6. Huntington Beach Marina (SS-Sunset)

Vikings don’t have a senior among their top six runners.

7. Canyon Country Canyon (SS-Foothill)

Cowboys placed fourth in tough Division I race at Woodbridge.

8. Hesperia Sultana (SS-Mojave River)

Sultans will run first invitational of season at Dana Hills.

9. Anaheim Esperanza (SS-Sunset)

Aztecs placed third behind nationally-ranked teams in Great Race of Great Bay on Sept. 8.

10. Palos Verdes Peninsula (SS-Bay)

Panthers will meet Sultana in Division II race at Dana Hills.