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mcfarland at the kern invite champs
Making strides
Following former coach's philosophy, McFarland takes aim at 10th state title
BY JEFF EVANS, Californian staff writer
e-mail: jevans@bakersfield.com | Wednesday, Oct 31 2007 6:55 PM
Last Updated: Wednesday, Oct 31 2007 7:01 PM
At McFarland High School this fall, the magic number is "10."
The Cougars are trying for their 10th boys cross country state championship, and coach Amador Ayon thinks this is the team that could get it.
McFarland began its boys cross country program in 1981 and won nine state championships through 2001.
"We're proud to be on this team," said Jesus Gomez, the team's only senior. "We all train hard, with a lot of pride."
Team members run about 50 miles a week. On Tuesday, Ayon and his assistant coaches took the boys and girls teams 10 miles out of McFarland so the team could train on hilly terrain.
"I bet I've been out here hundreds of times," Ayon said as his eyes scanned the foothills surrounding orange groves.
McFarland will host the East Sierra League meet at 3:30 p.m. today. Then comes the biggest meets of the season, which are all scheduled for Woodward Park in Fresno: The Nov. 8 Central Section Championships, the Nov. 15 Masters race and the Nov. 24 state championships.
McFarland started the season ranked No. 2 in the state in Division IV, behind defending state champion Big Bear.
McFarland assumed the No. 1 spot for Division IV after beating Big Bear by more than 40 points at the Woodbridge Invitational in Irvine on Sept. 15, Ayon said.
"That was probably our weakest race of the year," Ayon said of the event that included many large schools. "We were 17th out of 20 teams and we were disappointed," he said. "I thought we'd be a top-5 or top-7 team that day.
"We weren't there yet, but I said that day we'd be there in a couple of months."
The hard work, the daily grind and the countless miles have helped McFarland improve dramatically.
Last Saturday at the Kern County Invitational at Hart Park, McFarland had six runners place in the top nine and eight in the top 22.
The gap between those eight runners was 48 seconds. The top six runners were only 18 seconds apart.
That's what makes this McFarland team favored to win a state title. Teams normally don't have that many runners bunched so closely together.
"None of our other teams has ever done that," said Ayon, 38, himself a former McFarland cross country runner from the class of 1987. "Against good schools, if you bunch a lot of people together like that, you're tough to beat."
The key to success: hard work.
"My kids are not big, nor imposing," Ayon said. "We have small kids, but they have big hearts -- guts galore.
"This is what we told them: We're going to work hard; we'll outwork people and that's why we'll be better than people."
"We're getting better every race," said junior Alfonso Cisneros, who finished second at Saturday's Kern Invitational with a time of 15 minutes, 39 seconds over the 3-mile course.
The program gained state and national fame under Jim White's direction. White was the head coach for the nine state championship squads.
"I talk to Mr. White almost weekly," Ayon said. "I take his advice. He's still a big part of our program. He follows the program. His shadow is still cast in a positive way."
White retired four seasons ago. Ayon was an assistant coach for 11 years before taking over as White's replacement.
"He put in a lot of things. He made a lot of sacrifices," Ayon said. "He spent time away from his family to be with these kids -- countless hours working with them.
"Those kids idolized him and most kids wanted to grow up and run for him. And he had that demeanor, a happy approach: a kidder, a jokester.
"I'm not like him, but I have fun with the kids. I like to loosen up the tension. Our workouts are hard and intense. We talk with them on the bus, then an hour before the meet we start to focus. It's all in the attitude. It's a model we've had here the last 25 years or so."
McFarland placed fourth in the state last year and fifth the year before. Three seasons ago, Ayon's first as the head coach, the team was ninth.
"The irony of that: those teams that were ninth and fifth were the most physically gifted teams we've had in the program," Ayon said. "They just did not jell as a team and did not sacrifice the blood and sweat they needed to in order to win a state."
This year's team has the hard work ethic, he said.
"Now they race, and an hour later, they want to run in another race," Ayon said. "They want to make themselves better."
"You know you're good," junior Eddie Garcia said. "We're from such a small town. Some of us are from not-so-good areas. But here we're good at something. That makes you feel good."
mcfarland at the kern invite champs
Making strides
Following former coach's philosophy, McFarland takes aim at 10th state title
BY JEFF EVANS, Californian staff writer
e-mail: jevans@bakersfield.com | Wednesday, Oct 31 2007 6:55 PM
Last Updated: Wednesday, Oct 31 2007 7:01 PM
At McFarland High School this fall, the magic number is "10."
The Cougars are trying for their 10th boys cross country state championship, and coach Amador Ayon thinks this is the team that could get it.
McFarland began its boys cross country program in 1981 and won nine state championships through 2001.
"We're proud to be on this team," said Jesus Gomez, the team's only senior. "We all train hard, with a lot of pride."
Team members run about 50 miles a week. On Tuesday, Ayon and his assistant coaches took the boys and girls teams 10 miles out of McFarland so the team could train on hilly terrain.
"I bet I've been out here hundreds of times," Ayon said as his eyes scanned the foothills surrounding orange groves.
McFarland will host the East Sierra League meet at 3:30 p.m. today. Then comes the biggest meets of the season, which are all scheduled for Woodward Park in Fresno: The Nov. 8 Central Section Championships, the Nov. 15 Masters race and the Nov. 24 state championships.
McFarland started the season ranked No. 2 in the state in Division IV, behind defending state champion Big Bear.
McFarland assumed the No. 1 spot for Division IV after beating Big Bear by more than 40 points at the Woodbridge Invitational in Irvine on Sept. 15, Ayon said.
"That was probably our weakest race of the year," Ayon said of the event that included many large schools. "We were 17th out of 20 teams and we were disappointed," he said. "I thought we'd be a top-5 or top-7 team that day.
"We weren't there yet, but I said that day we'd be there in a couple of months."
The hard work, the daily grind and the countless miles have helped McFarland improve dramatically.
Last Saturday at the Kern County Invitational at Hart Park, McFarland had six runners place in the top nine and eight in the top 22.
The gap between those eight runners was 48 seconds. The top six runners were only 18 seconds apart.
That's what makes this McFarland team favored to win a state title. Teams normally don't have that many runners bunched so closely together.
"None of our other teams has ever done that," said Ayon, 38, himself a former McFarland cross country runner from the class of 1987. "Against good schools, if you bunch a lot of people together like that, you're tough to beat."
The key to success: hard work.
"My kids are not big, nor imposing," Ayon said. "We have small kids, but they have big hearts -- guts galore.
"This is what we told them: We're going to work hard; we'll outwork people and that's why we'll be better than people."
"We're getting better every race," said junior Alfonso Cisneros, who finished second at Saturday's Kern Invitational with a time of 15 minutes, 39 seconds over the 3-mile course.
The program gained state and national fame under Jim White's direction. White was the head coach for the nine state championship squads.
"I talk to Mr. White almost weekly," Ayon said. "I take his advice. He's still a big part of our program. He follows the program. His shadow is still cast in a positive way."
White retired four seasons ago. Ayon was an assistant coach for 11 years before taking over as White's replacement.
"He put in a lot of things. He made a lot of sacrifices," Ayon said. "He spent time away from his family to be with these kids -- countless hours working with them.
"Those kids idolized him and most kids wanted to grow up and run for him. And he had that demeanor, a happy approach: a kidder, a jokester.
"I'm not like him, but I have fun with the kids. I like to loosen up the tension. Our workouts are hard and intense. We talk with them on the bus, then an hour before the meet we start to focus. It's all in the attitude. It's a model we've had here the last 25 years or so."
McFarland placed fourth in the state last year and fifth the year before. Three seasons ago, Ayon's first as the head coach, the team was ninth.
"The irony of that: those teams that were ninth and fifth were the most physically gifted teams we've had in the program," Ayon said. "They just did not jell as a team and did not sacrifice the blood and sweat they needed to in order to win a state."
This year's team has the hard work ethic, he said.
"Now they race, and an hour later, they want to run in another race," Ayon said. "They want to make themselves better."
"You know you're good," junior Eddie Garcia said. "We're from such a small town. Some of us are from not-so-good areas. But here we're good at something. That makes you feel good."