Rams runners set records at Moore League meet
LONG BEACH ❯❯ Millikan senior distance runner Jason Parra is one race closer to achieving his goal of winning his fourth straight Moore League cross country title.
“I feel like a lot of people have expectations on me but it's not as big as the expectations I will ever have on myself,” Parra said. “So I feel like I'm out here trying to prove to myself that I can get better than previous years and I'm a better version of myself.”
Parra had a time of 14 minutes, 10 seconds over the flat 3-mile course at El Dorado Park in Long Beach on Tuesday to win the first Moore League cross country meet of the season. His time was a course record, seven seconds faster than what he ran on the same course last year.
Parra won by more than 70 seconds Tuesday, and Millikan's runners occupied four of the top five places.
Afterward, he publicly announced his commitment to run Division I cross country and track at the University of Notre Dame, which he chose over Oregon, Oklahoma State, UCLA, Wake Forest, North Carolina and Duke.
“(Notre Dame) fit well with me. I think that the people there, their goals align with mine,” said Parra, who sees himself as a future 8K/10K runner. “They're trying to get a really good team and get some really good individuals and I've always wanted to challenge myself academically as well . ... I really bonded well with the team and I'm super proud to be able to go there.”
Millikan boys cross country coach Pedro Ramirez said Parra's growth is apparent.
“(Parra has) taken on more of a leadership position,” Ramirez said. “He's been taking care of some of the younger guys, I've noticed, teaching them little things here and there, almost like an assistant coach, and that in a way has kind of relaxed him a little bit. He's still very driven, very driven. He's hungry. He wants the state title but he's a little more relaxed than last year.”
Millikan won the team race with 19 points. In addition to Parra's first-place result, Millikan's Maximiliano Ramirez finished second in 15:22 and Millikan's Jack Brown was third in 15:36. Lakewood's Gabriel Rojas finished fourth in 15:44. Millikan's Eric Plascencia was fifth in 15:51.
The Rams have not won a Moore League championship since 1992, according to Ramirez.
“I'm very happy we won the first meet but, of course, we have to do it two more times,” Ramirez said.
The second Moore League cross country meet will be held at Discovery Wells Park in Signal Hill on Oct. 10. The Moore League Cross Country Finals will be held at Heartwell Park on Nov. 1.
Wilson finished second with 57 points. It was the first time the Bruins finished ahead of Poly since 2005, according to Wilson coach C.J. Brewer. Poly, the defending league champions, finished third with 81 points, slightly ahead of Lakewood, which finished fourth with 87 points. Cabrillo was fifth. Jordan was sixth.
“I was a little concerned with how many Wilson guys were right there so we definitely have to keep up our A-game,” Parra said.
Girls
Millikan sophomore Nadia Mejia finished with a time of 17:26 in the 3-mile race Tuesday at El Dorado Park to win her first Moore League cross country meet.
Mejia, who ran in freshman/sophomore races last season, set a varsity course record. Her winning time was a personal best and a school record.
She said she has all of the tools to run even faster.
“I want to break 17 (minutes), going into 16, that's my new challenge,” said Mejia. “I think I would have to be more consistent in my practices since I like to have fun and talk to others. I really do have to push myself more for practices if I want to continue getting better for races.”
The Poly girls won the meet with the lowest score of 24 points.
“The girls have been super consistent,” said Poly coach Mandy Wainfan. “Through the whole summer, they've been super strong and that kind of team cohesion really brought it out of them (Tuesday). We saw that whole team move up throughout the entire race.”
The Jackrabbits were led by Alexa Hernandez Lujan's second-place finish in 17:59, a new personal best.
(Alexa's) had a huge jump this season,” Wainfan said. “Some might be surprised, but we've been seeing how she was training and at the tail end of last track season, she just made this huge stride forward and she's kept that momentum the whole time. It's been great to see. She has a great mindset about it. She walks to the line and says `let's do it' and each time I think she surprises herself a little bit.”
Poly's Avery Peck, the defending Moore League champion, was third in 18:21. Her teammate, Evelyn Hernandez Lujan, was fourth in 18:45. Wilson's Natalie Maahs was fifth in 19:19.
Millikan finished second with 46 points, Wilson was third (65 points) and Lakewood was fourth (107 points).