Sports
Amador Valley Cross Country Preview: Dons Committed to Success
Girls running for top NCS finish; boys looking for leaders in 2010.
School: Amador Valley
Sport: Cross Country
Coach: Peter Scarpelli, seventh season
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2009 Team results: Boys — third at EBAL, fourth at NCS Meet. Girls‚ fourth at EBAL, fifth at NCS
2009 Top individual results: Boys — Kellen Coe (8th at EBAL, 7th at NCS, CIF State Meet qualifier), Taylor Peissner (12th at EBAL, 19th at NCS). Girls – Jena Pianin (10th at EBAL, 11th at NCS), Jessica Infald (11th at EBAL, 18th at NCS), Paige Lommerin (29th at EBAL, 28th at NCS)
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Key losses: Boys – Kellen Coe (graduation). Girls – Jessica Infald (graduation), Melinda Huerta (left team)
Top returners: Boys – Taylor Peissner (senior), Sam Aceret (senior), Joe Aceret (senior), Connor McCarthy (sophomore). Girls – Paige Lommerin (junior), Jena Pianin (sophomore),
Team website: Click here
Quote: "My dad loves to run and I picked it up from him, but I still cant figure out why I like it." – Paige Lommerin
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It's 110 degrees on an August afternoon. Anyone care for a run?
"The last few days have been incredibly hot so encouragement between our runners is key," said Amador Valley cross country coach Peter Scarpelli.
"We make jokes mostly," junior runner Paige Lommerin explained. "Anything to keep our minds off the 110 degrees."
Scarpelli, in his seventh season as head coach for the Amador cross country program, motivates his runners by wearing a Nike t-shirt that reads, "There is no offseason."
"Very few athletes can really train on their own at any level, so we coordinate runs throughout the summer in Pleasanton," Scarpelli said. "It builds camaraderie and we all suffer together."
Scarpelli's committed year-round approach has helped grow the Amador boys and girls into a consistent competitor atop the East Bay Athletic League and North Coast Section.
And 2010 is already shaping up to be a year of 'girl power.'
Despite the loss of key contributors, Jessica Infald to graduation and Melinda Huerta, who decided not to return to the team, the 2010 Amador girls look poised to compete for a top-tier NCS finish.
"This team is in the mix for a top-three NCS finish," Scarpelli said. "They're working together and carrying momentum from a great track season last spring."
One word describes this season's girls squad: young. Scarpelli welcomes back Jessica Pianin, his top NCS finisher (11th) from 2009, who's entering just her sophomore season.
Lommerin is also prepared for a personal best season in 2010. She spent the summer preparing her mind and body.
"I've been doing a lot more miles this summer, I'm taking all the right vitamins and I'm eating healthy," said Lommerin.
"She's mentally and physically into it," Scarpelli said. "She's a tough competitor and a great kid to coach."
But despite her standing as a team leader, Lommerin is still not sure why she's even running cross country.
"My dad loves to run and I picked it up from him, but I still cant figure out why I like it," Lommerin laughed.
Following their impressive fourth place finish at the 2009 NCS meet, the Amador boys will endure some growing pains this season.
Gone is a talented group of seniors, including team captain Kellen Coe, a seventh place finisher at NCS and a CIF State Meet qualifier.
Look to fill their running shoes is an ambitious group of seniors, all of whom finished in the top-30 at NCS in 2009. Taylor Peissner is the top returning finisher. He's joined by the Aceret twins, Sam and Joe, who found running through anger.
"Joe and I were cut from baseball tryouts, so we took our anger out on the track," Sam said. "We took that rage and used it for track season and then later, found our way to cross country."
Despite an abundance of determination between the Aceret twins, the Amador boys squad appears to be a team in transition this season.
But Scarpelli says this team could be a sleeper pick.
"It may really surprise some people, but I believe these boys are in the mix to really surprise some teams on top of the NCS."
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