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SIERRA VISTA — Full of returning runners, the Buena girls cross country team should be a force to be reckoned with.
No fewer than eight of Buena’s girls have experience at the varsity level over the past two or three years, and newly appointed coaches Desmond Hollopeter and Shuryl Magargee have to feel good about the Lady Colts chances in the upcoming season.
“We didn’t lose a lot,” Magargee said of the girls team. “We have some new young runners who could break into the varsity top seven, and I look for the girls to be very competitive.”
The boys, on the other hand, are looking at a rebuilding year with only a few returnees with varsity experience.
 Buena cross country standouts Jodine Steemers and C.J. Metcalf look forward to the season opening meet Wednesday. (Mark Levy-Herald/Review) |
“We lost a lot of seniors,” Magargee said. “It looks like a rebuilding year with a couple of freshmen who could make varsity and push the upperclassmen.”
Hollopeter echoed Magargee’s feeling about the boys.
“We are very young,” Hollopeter said. “Of the 15 runners we have out, nine are freshmen and sophomores. We just want our runners to do well in the first meet and the Sue Fletcher on Saturday. It’s our home course and this is where we train and do our workouts.”
Two Buena returnees, juniors Jodine Steemers for the girls and C.J. Metcalf for the boys, have high hopes for this year, both as individuals and for their teams.
Steemers has been running cross country for five years and this is her second year as a varsity runner.“Right now I am the number one runner,” Steemers said. “My closest competitor on our team is Bora Leonard.”
Steemers thinks the girls team should do well this season.
“We have lots of returnees and most of us have been together for two or three years,” Steemers said.
Metcalf has been running a little longer than Steemers, starting in the seventh grade in Kentucky.
“This is my second year running varsity cross country at Buena,” Metcalf said.
Like Steemers, Metcalf is the number one runner on the boys team heading into the season opener.
“Luis Gonzales is right behind me,” Metcalf said.
But the season opener will not be an easy one.
Sabino has both a very strong boys and girls team, having defeated Salpointe Catholic in their season opener last week 20-35 in the girls meet and 25-31 in the boys meet.
The Buena girls enter the season ranked 14th in the state, while the Colt boys are 15th.
Xavier is the top-ranked girls’ team followed by Mountain Ridge, Mesa Mountain View, Sandra Day O’Connor and Mountain Point. Other Southern Region girls teams ranked in the top 25 include: No. 6 Marana Mountain View, No. 7 Ironwood Ridge and No. 10 Salpointe Catholic.
Steemers, who was second at regionals last season and 30th at state, is looking forward to this season.
“I just want to do better than I did last year,” Steemers said. “Although I am only a junior, I am looking for a scholarship after my senior year. I hope to stay in Arizona and would like to run at the University of Arizona.”
Steemers is currently a straight “A” student.
Mingus tops the boys rankings with Alhambra second, Desert Vista third, Tuba City fourth and Sabino fifth.
Other regional boys teams ranked include: No. 12 Marana Mountain View, no. 13 Salpointe Catholic and No. 22 Ironwood Ridge.
Metcalf has his sights set on being a top runner in the region.
“I’m hoping to be second or third at regionals and maybe the top 10 or 12 in state,” Metcalf said. “Last year I was 13th in the regional meet.”
Metcalf knows this is going to be a rebuilding year for the boys and hopes to help the young runners as much as he can.
“My goal is get to be ranked in the top 25 in the state,” Metcalf said. “That will get us into the Doug Conley Invitational, which is a very prestigious meet because it takes the top 25 teams in the state regardless of class.”
Like Steemers, Metcalf has his sights set on running cross country and track at the college level.
Buena cross country teams have consistently been a force to be reckoned with.
Last season the Buena girls won the 5A Division I Southern Region Championship Meet, having to go to their sixth-place runner to break a 35-35 tie with Salpointe Catholic. The Lady Colts went on to finish ninth in the 26-team field at the Class 5A-I State Championships.
The Buena boys were second in last year’s Division I Regional meet, losing to Salpointe Catholic, and went on to place seventh in the state meet.
“One of our goals is to get our boys ranked in the top 25 so that we can get invited to the Doug Conley Invitational,” Hollopeter said.
azdave wrote on Sep 9, 2008 10:45 PM: