DUO FORMING A DREAM TEAM

Despite different backgrounds, Avina and Lieberman are helping Murrieta Valley chase a state championship

There is plenty that sets them apart from one another. Different athletic strengths, gaps in age, experience and ties to their school.

But Arielle Avina and Sofia Lieberman are interlocking puzzle pieces for the Murrieta Valley cross country team. They are hoping that finished puzzle features scenes from Fresno, site of the CIF State Cross

Country championships next month.

Avina, a sophomore, is two years behind Lieberman, but has more experience competing at high levels. She has run competitively since she was 7, and earned Allamerica honors in youth competition.

She also has become part of the Avina family tradition running for the Nighthawks. Her mother, Angela, competed for the Murrieta Valley squads that won a state title in 2002 and finished second the following year. Now Angela is coaching the

Nighthawks in their drive to return.

Lieberman is a newcomer to the area, transferring from Washington as a junior. She also is a newcomer to cross country, saying she didn’t know what it was until high school, having moved to the Northwest from Barcelona.

“My mom signed me up,” Lieberman said. “She thought it would make it easier for me to build friendships.”

One stop later, the friendship and training partnership between Lieberman and

Avina has spurred each to new levels. They each broke the school’s three-mile record, Lieberman currently holding it at 16:33, two seconds better than Avina’s best.

It is, according to Angela Avina, a perfect partnership.

“They are very, very different runners,” Angela said. “Sofi is definitely more speedbased, and Ari is definitely more endurance-based. They help each other with what they’re each not as good at. I call

ANJALI SHARIF-PAUL — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Murrieta Valley’s Sofia Lieberman, left, and Arielle Avina are two of the top girls cross country runners in the Inland area. They have been dubbed The Dream Team.