2011 Preview
By Dave Loveton, sports information
Thursday, Sept. 15, 2011
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Fickerson optimistic about young squad
There's a lot of new faces on the SBCC cross country team and it's hard to predict where they'll finish in the 2011 campaign.
"We've had five good weeks of training and everyone is working hard and beginning to show early signs of fitness," said coach
Scott Fickerson. "With such a young untapped group, it is difficult to say where we will end up as a team. I'm optimistic
about our chances and very pleased with the work ethic I've seen so far.
"That hard work will pay off in the end."
The Vaquero men and women open the season on Friday at the Cuesta Invitational. They'll host the WSC Preview and SBCC Invitational
on Oct. 7 and 14.
Luis "Chino" Garnica is the lone returner for the men, who finished 12th in the WSC Finals last year without a full-scoring
team. Matthew Bailey, a state qualifier in the 1500m for this year's track squad, is also on the 10-man team. He's a freshman
from Dos Pueblos High.
The SBCC women have no returners from last year's sixth-place team. Cecilia Instebo competed in track and was the runner-up
in the Easter Relays steeplechase before suffering a season-ending injury.
"The men's success lies in their ability to work together as a team," Fickerson explained. "I think our best chance to place
high is by keeping our 1-to-5 spread as small as possible. We need to get that pack as far forward as possible and hopefully
someone like Matthew or Chino can go off the front of our group and place high in the race."
He said the women's strategy will be a little different.
"We are spread out a bit more and I expect Cecilia will be fairly high up in the standings, so the other girls will need
to try to work together to close the gap on her as the season progresses," said the fourth-year coach. "It will be important
for them to learn from their experiences and improve over the course of the season."
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