Wise Words

On Friday, October 24, 2008 members of the St. Genevieve Cross Country Team drove out to Mt. San Antonio College to compete in the largest Cross Country Invitational in the world. Mt. Sac is a tough 3 mile course that is known for its huge hills, one creatively known as “poop out” hill and in the course of 2 days over 20,000 runners will come to compete here. Race 26 was our Boys’ Varsity race and as a school we came in 11th out of the 37 teams we raced against. Mario Lopez finished the race 19th out of 208 runners and received a medal for his 17:24 time. Mario has ran this course every year since his freshman year and sets a goal to try to beat his time every year. Its intimidating to watch the start of each race where they are lined up and wait patiently for the gun, knowing that they will have 3 miles to go. Charles Meighan finished 71st, James Jarquin finished 79th, Byron Espinoza finished 82nd, Marco Roman finished 89th, Kevin Wolfe finished 99th, and Moises Garcia finished 138th. Our Boys’ Freshmen and Girls’ Varsity also participated in Mt. Sac and worked hard to finish the challenging run in the 90 degree heat. Congratulations Valiants, you made us proud!

The Valiants continued their road trip, traveling to Long Beach to play the St. Anthony Saints. The playoff atmosphere was set, but the Saints had their homecoming spoiled as the Valiants pulled away with a victory, 44-36. It was a struggle in the first quarter, but offenses pulled together for a shootout as both teams combined for a total of 80 points in the game.

The momentum quickly swung to St. Genevieve as the Saints fumbled on the opening kickoff. Senior captain Eric Leroy was the one who punched the ball out, and Senior William Briones jumped on the live ball to give the Valiant offense great field position. It would only take the Valiants 3 plays to punch the ball in the endzone. Junior fullback Jose Guadarrama pushed a pile of purple jerseys into the endzone from 5 yards out for six points. The Valiant defense would then hold the Saints to a field goal ending the first quarter with a score of 7-3.

Ricardo Marmolejo resumed his All-League form with 2 rushing touchdowns in the second quarter. Coach Eric Harris put the ball in Rico’s hand’s on fourth down and Rico would end his scoring drought from 11-yards out. St. Antony would run the ball from 35-yards out into the e...

The Valiants cross country team got the 2008 season off to a blistering start anchored by the first place finish of senior Mario Lopez. The Hollydale course was a bit challenging for the Valiants since it was the first time running the 3 mile trail. Despite the unusual twists and turns of the course, the Valiants placed all seven runners in the top 25. St. Genevieve is not only a strong contender for the league title this year but also several runners are showing promise to compete in November in the CIF state meet.

On the girls side, returnee Miranda Aswad and Freshman Montserrat Holguin finished in the top 10 in the Santa Cruz league opener. Head Coach Roxanne Brush is excited about the large number of girls running this season and she is expecting great results for the lady Valiants. The next meet takes place this Saturday September 27 at the Bell-Jeff Invitational.

The Lady Valiants volleyball team came out swinging in the pre-season winning their first two games over San Gabriel Mission and Yeshiva High Schools. Under the direction of first year Head Coach Brock Agarpo, the Valiant team is playing inspired volleyball. The spikes, digs and hustle plays are evident of a changed and confident team this 2008 season.

Santa Cruz League play starts next week with the Valiants on the road facing the Saints from St. Anthony. The girls are poised and ready to compete for a playoff spot and league title. With the experience of returning players, Nora Iserhien, Casandra Amara, Miranda Aswad and sophomore Diana Torres, the Lady Valiants look forward to making a run in league play.

The St. Genevieve Valiants traveled to Calabasas to defeat the Viewpoint Patriots 55-0. All-League RB Ricardo Marmolejo and LB Josue Argueta played despite being a bit under the weather. Despite a cold, Marmolejo ran for 227 yards with only seven carries. Marmolejo weaved his way, and ran past the Patriot defense for 3 touchdowns all touchdown runs were over 50 yards.

Junior runningback Steven Alo also had a strong performance with 84 yards and a touchdown. Another Junior, fullback Jose Guadarrama ran over Patriot defenders, Guadarrama had two touchdowns in the game. Junior QB Christopher Navarro side-stepped and spun his way into the endzone for another Valiant touchdown. The quarterback had no interceptions and another touchdown through the air.

The Valiants dominated all throughout the game; offense, defense, and special teams. The Valiant defense held the Patriots to zero points. The Valiant offense had another strong game on offense with 420 total yards of offense. Special teams recorded a blocked punt, which set up a Valiant touchdown.

The Valiants are now undefeated with 3 straight wins. Come support the Valiants this Saturday, Sept. 27 at 7:00 at Poly High School. ...