Will Bonita’s Talented Runners Be Able to Overcome the Rain?

From left, Lexi Jackson, Marissa Scott, Diana Garcia, Marilyn Meza, Kailyn Scott, Sydney Russell and MacKenzie Landa have their sights on helping Bonita win another league title and earn a berth in the state championships.

Excuse cross country coach Lonny Carr for hoping he never sees rain again. Last year the wet stuff derailed his top girls’ team from making it to the state championships.

“We were prepared to run the hills, and we ran a flat rain course,” Carr said. “But I’m not going to blame it on the rain, I’m going to blame it on us.”

Still, to the team’s credit, it helped Carr win his seventh league title in the last nine years, and his boys’ and girls’ team figure to do well again this year.

“We come back with the entire girls’ team and the bulk of the boys’ team,” Carr said.

One of Carr’s headliners is junior Marissa Scott, the school’s record holder who should continue to shave seconds off her personal best. Pushing her all season will be teammates Lexi Jackson, a junior; Diana Garcia, a sophomore; Mackenzie Landa, a sophomore; and Marissa’s little sister, Kailyn, a freshman who ran second to her at the Woodbridge meet.

From left, Shane Harrison, Daniel Guasso, Troy Miller, Dillon Nobbs, Grant Garcia and Hector Paddilla will bring talent and experience into every race.

On the boys’ side, sophomore Dillon Nobbs, who missed State by a whisker, has come back a monster. Carr said every time Nobbs ran last year he set a new school freshman record. Last weekend he ran 15:41 at Woodbridge, shaving 32 seconds off his 2010 performance at the same course.

“That was a flat course,” Carr said, “and he’s better on hills. He just loves hills. He’s just animal, he loves hard work. So we’re looking for some big things from Dillon this year.”

Senior runners Daniel Guaso and Hector Padilla look to join Dillon at the front of the pack.

Perhaps, the best thing Bonita has in its favor again this year is Carr himself. The veteran coach knows when to push and went to back off, so that his runners are always at their peak on race day.

He puts the 63-member squad though a steady regimen of distance, interval training and numerous stretching exercises to get them to reach their best. For now, he’s backed off on the longer 10-mile runs to Horse Thief Canyon in San Dimas to try to keep his runners’ legs fresh.

With two meets a week, conditioning is not really an issue at this point in the season.

“The races will hold their stamina,” Carr said.

Records are meant to be broken, and Carr thinks he’s got the runners to make history at Bonita. It should be a great season for the Bonita harriers provided it doesn’t rain too much.