Boys Capture First Ever CIF Crown

Last Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, four Laguna seniors and a junior authored a new chapter in the storied history of their school’s cross-country program, leaving their mark on the CIF record books and defeating their long-time nemesis Big Bear by a mind-boggling 68 points, 27 to 95. “I didn’t think we would win by that much,” said senior Tommy Newton- Neal. “We dominated that race.”

The Breakers captured their school’s first CIF title by running the fastest division IV team time in finals history. Coach Dave Brobeck wasn’t surprised that his top-ranked team won the race. They were, after all, favored to do so. But he was surprised by his team’s dominance. “To run 1:19:14 was much better than I imagined,” he said, referring to the cumulative time of the team’s top five finishers.

Brobeck has an office full of CIF runner-up plaques, having been a bridesmaid to Big Bear on two occasions. It seemed like every year sickness or injury would derail the Breakers CIF run. “It was just a big feeling of relief,” he said of his team finally making it to the top.

Through the years, Laguna teams have been blessed with a number of top runners, beginning with the late Eric Hulst, who won CIF individual titles in ’73 and ’75. The tradition continued with all-state honorees David Crain (’89), Max Mullender (’04) and Jeremy Eaton (’06). But never has Laguna had so many exceptional runners on one squad.

The Breakers’ scoring five of seniors Blake Hofmeister, junior Matt Neev, and seniors Newton- Neal, Andrew Shapero and Sean Pigden averaged 15:51 each. To put that in perspective, only 11 of the 116 competitors in the division IV race broke the 16-minute mark, and four of them were wearing the home town maroon and white.

“All five of the scorers ran that race perfectly,” said Brobeck.

To get the most out of his talented, senior-laden team this season, Brobeck decided to tinker with his proven approach to training, one that garnered a string of successes for his teams, including a first, second, third and fourth at state over the past five seasons.

One thing he changed was the timing of his pre-race pep talks. At the beginning of the season, Hofmeister asked Brobeck if he would consider giving “the big talk” a day or two before the race instead of on race day, which often made Hofmeister nervous. “That was a big clue to me early on that maybe I’m just causing a lot of anxiety and stress by really over-talking these races,” said Brobeck.

He also realized that a onesize fits-all approach doesn’t always work, so he began to adjust his training schedules to meet the individual needs of each runner. “This year it paid big dividends to have an open mind and trust the kids a bit more,” Brobeck said.

Even with the changes, Brobeck still followed his basic training regimen which is designed to bring each runner to the top of his game by state finals. “We always focus on having that big peak on Thanksgiving weekend in Fresno,” he said.

Although his team won CIF in record-breaking fashion, Brobeck doesn’t think the peak has arrived yet. “I think it’s still coming actually,” he said.

“His peaking is historical,” said Newton-Neal. “I have a feeling we’re all going to have a really good race at state.”

At CIF, Hofmeister finished first for the Breakers and second overall in 15:23, the fastest time in school history on the threemile Mt. SAC course. Neev finished fourth overall. His time of 15:47 is tied for third fastest by a Laguna runner at Mt SAC. Newton-Neal finished fifth overall. His time of 15:51 is fifth fastest in school history at Mt. SAC. Shapero, who finished sixth overall in 15:52, recorded Laguna’s sixth fastest time at Mt SAC. Each earned first team all- CIF honors.

Hofmeister narrowly missed joining Hulst on Laguna’s short list of individual CIF champs. With approximately 50 feet to go and Hofmeister in front, James Shipe of Morro Bay put on a final burst of speed and went by him on the right. “He passed me at the absolute last second,” said Hofmeister. “At that point you don’t have time to respond.”

“He’ll get him at state,” said Newton-Neal, confident that Hofmeister will bounce back on Nov. 28 at Woodward Park in Fresno and beat Shipe to become Laguna’s first individual state champion.

Last season, a side ache hampered Hofmeister at CIF finals. He finished that race in 17:13. The side ache, which turned into appendicitis, finished his season the following week when he underwent an emergency appendectomy on the eve of state finals.

The next day, the Breakers fell five points short of third place and a spot on the awards podium. There is no doubt that the presence of a healthy Hofmeister would have made the difference. “This year I think it’s time for us to do well after all that disappointment,” said Shapero.

To do its best, a team needs a solid number five runner. Coming into the season, it was unclear who would step up and fill that void. Brobeck thought that either Richard Mattingley or Jake Johnson, two seniors who finished sixth and seventh at CIF finals, would take the job. But it was Pigden who would emerge from the varsity fringes early in the season at the Woodbridge Invitational and fight a late season bout with Swine Flu to solidify his number five position. Pigden said there was a time when he didn’t like cross country that much and lacked motivation, but “over the year I’ve gained a lot more heart.”

That extra heart and a little push from Brobeck helped Pigden pass what assistant Coach Jacob Griswold said were 30 runners to finish fifteenth and capture the final all-CIF position.

“Sean was a distant fifth runner at the two mile mark,” said Brobeck. “I kind of got in his ear right there and told him he had to focus and go, and he responded obviously.”

Pigden has two runners from Big Bear to thank for his all-CIF honor. Just before he reached the finish line, those two runners started to move past him. Assuming they were Big Bear’s four and five runners, Pigden turned

the speed, figuring that, if he didn’t finish ahead of them, he might cost his team the title. He managed to hold them off. As it turned out, they were Big Bear’s number two and three runners.

Brobeck has had some great teams throughout his career, but this team is more cohesive,” he said. “They all have a common vision. I think ultimately they want team success over individual success. That is very rare for high school 17-year-olds, wanting team success over their own glory.”

“I think we all believe that we can win [state],” said Brobeck.

Barring the unexpected and if these kids run with composure and are in control of themselves emotionally, I think that we should win.”