State of euphoria

Mike Sciacca

Literally, it was an improbable run.

The hands-down “favorite” to win the boys’ CIF State Cross Country

Division IV Championship meet in Fresno last weekend was defending

champion Carmel High.

But a smart-running and gritty group of runners from Laguna Beach

High paid no-such attention to the pre-meet labels and won the boys’

Division IV event on a rainy day at Woodward Park to bring home the

coveted state title.

Laguna won a state championship in the sport for just the second

time.

The school’s only other state crown came in 1989 -- current head

coach Dave Brobeck was a member of that team.

“This is not how I expected it to go,” Brobeck said. “Never did I

even entertain the idea of winning the state championship this year.

I have been at this long enough to know how precious and magical

winning state is.

“I built it up in my mind in such a way that I would have to chip

my way up the ladder through the great programs in state, eventually

reaching the top. Last year we were 14th. I figured this year we

would make a big leap to maybe fifth. I imagined myself one day

winning as an old, graying coach, a frustrated fixture in Laguna

coaching, someone perennially tormented by close-calls and

disappointing finishes. This has been my experience with CIF the past

six years.”

But there was no such disappointment last weekend.

In addition to Laguna’s surprising ascend to the top, the school’s

girls’ squad also came up big and finished in seventh-place in the

Division IV race for the second straight year.

“I’m thrilled for the girls and how well they have run the past

few weeks,” said Laguna girls’ coach Earl Towner, whose team finished

second two weeks ago in the Division IV race at CIF Finals.

That CIF finished matched the second-place standing Laguna

achieved in 1992.

The seventh-place finish at state the past two years was the best

finish by a Laguna team since that ’92 squad finished third.

The current Breakers recorded the fastest team time at a state

meet in school history, Towner said.

Sophomore Alex Crawley, who finished second, overall, in the CIF

Division IV finals meet on Nov. 27, placed 10th, overall, in the

State Division IV run.

Crawley’s finish earned her a trip to the awards podium -- a first

in school history for a Laguna female runner, Towner said.

Senior Kat Gordon (19:57) finished 43rd, sophomore Stephanie

Pearson (20:46) was 77th; senior Alex Bernard (20:52) was 84th and

sophomore Kady Tucker (20:59) was 89th and rounded out Laguna’s top

five.

Sophomore Avery Zoellner (21:34, 123rd-place) and senior Emma

Proctor (22:22, 150th-place) also ran for Laguna.

“It was just a great State meet for these girls,” Towner said.

“I’m really proud of them.”

What made Laguna’s first-place finish even more incredible was

that the Breakers were able to win the boys’ Division IV title

without the services of standout runner, senior Sean Fuszard, who has

been unable to run the past few weeks due to injury.

Fuszard didn’t even run at CIF Finals where Laguna, like its

female counterpart, finished second to Orange Lutheran in the

Division IV race.

“With the depth I had on this team, I knew that we could still

make a run for third-place,” Brobeck said. “But nothing was certain.

The guys felt great through league finals and the first two rounds of

CIF. There were signs for a big peak at state, all around. Role

players became stronger and started filling in the gaps left by Sean.

Still, first-place was never a consideration. Carmel was just too

dominant. And, I didn’t want to get inside the kid’s heads and mess

up our momentum with talk of championships.

“Our big team goal since July was to get to the podium. Carmel,

the defending state champion from 2003, was everyone’s sure-fire pick

to repeat as champions. We were ranked fifth in the state for most of

the year and the experts predicted that Carmel’s run to the

championship would be by the widest margin of any division. I bought

into these predictions entirely -- especially after losing my best

runner, Sean Fuszard.”

Junior Max Mullender more than made up for Fuszard’s absence by

finishing as Laguna’s top runner in ninth-place, overall, with a time

of 16:13.

Sophomore Jeremy Eaton just missed a top 10 finish and ran a

16:20, good for 11th-place.

Senior Ryan Hedden (22nd, 16:36), junior Aman Bhatia (34th, 16:48)

and senior captain Shane Riehl (63rd, 17:16) also scored points for

the Breakers.

Sophomore Corey Hedden (123rd, 17:54) and senior captain Shawn

Pfendler (148th, 18:37) also ran for Laguna.

“We’ve been running rally good races as a team, in general, but

winning the state title is totally unexpected,” said Riehl, who was

the last runner to score points for Laguna.

“I’m proud of this team,” he said. “There’s a camaraderie here

that is like no other on any other team I’ve been on here at Laguna.

We’re a hang out with each other not only at practice and meets but

at school, too.

“Winning this thing is an incredible feeling and beyond what we

thought was possible.”

Brobeck agreed.

“I still am in shock,” he said. “It was too good for even the

movies. My only real goal as a coach at this school is now complete.

In 1989 my coach abandoned the team after winning state. I have no

intention of doing this. I think getting another (state title) will

be much more difficult, and I look forward to the next challenge.”