(l-r) Paola Estrada, Ayden Marquez and Niza Lauerano who were named All American Athletes at the USATF Jr. Olympic Cross Country National Championships. Photo Courtesy Erika Arana.

Submitted by Erika Arana

The Fillmore Condors Cross Country team concluded their 2017 season by participating in the USA Track and Field Junior Olympics National Cross Country Championships on Saturday, December 9th. Fillmore Condors Cross Country is a non-profit organization under Heritage Valley Blazers Inc. Twelve local athletes from Fillmore and Santa Paula ranging in ages 7-14 traveled across the country to the rare cold winter 40 degree temperatures of Tallahassee, Florida to compete at the 100+ acres known as the premiere cross country facility at Apalachee Regional Park. This multi-use park includes one of the nation’s few sites designed specifically for cross country running. The pristine trail features numerous course/distance options through the rolling hills, lowlands and pine forests. The trail was designed to give runners the opportunity to run on several types of surfaces.

The athletes qualified for the event by finishing in the top eight of the Valley Youth Conference and finishing in the top 30 individually or being a member of the top three teams of the USATF Jr. Olympics Region 15 Championship race, that was held on November 19th in Central Park, Santa Clarita. The Condors joined other area runners to form Valley United Striders. Condor representatives were Genevieve Abbitt, Abel Arana, Emily Arriaga, Leah Barragan, Paola Estrada, Santiago Felix, Carolina Garcia, Niza Laureano, Ayden Marquez, Lindsey Ramirez, Diego Rodriguez and Jordyn Walla.

The team’s highest honors this season were won by Paola Estrada, who earned a second place 7:49.7 finish and title of “USATF Jr. Olympic All American” in the National Championship which included 198 runners in her division. She was Valley Youth Conference Champion and Valley United Striders number one runner for her team and earned a 1st place team championship along with her teammates Genevieve Abbitt and Emily Arriaga. The girls 8 & under divisions ran 1.24 mile (2,000 meter) race.

First time runner, Ayden Marquez was Valley United Striders number 2 runner to cross the finish line with a 7:57.5, 23rd place finish and title of “USATF Jr. Olympic All American in the National Championship which included 239 runners in his division. Together with his teammates, Abel Arana and Santiago Felix, they earned a 3rd place team finish, only one point short of 2nd place. The boys 8 & under division ran 1.24 mile (2,000 meter) race.

Niza Laureano who was the girls 9 & 10 years old Valley Youth Conference Champion, crossed the finish line in 10th place with a time of 11:17.6. She earned a 1st place team championship and the title of “USATF Jr. Olympic All American” in the National Championship. Leah Barragan also helped her “B” team snag a 10th place team finish with 302 runners in their 1.86 mile (3,000 meter) race.

In the girls 11 & 12 year old division, both Lindsey Ramirez and Carolina Garcia helped their teammates earn 3rd place team medal in their race of 369 runners. Diego Rodriguez’s boys 11 & 12 year old division race, consisted of 218 runners. All three athletes ran 1.86 mile (3,000 meter) races.

373 runners were in the girls 13 & 14 year old division with Condor alumni, Jordyn Walla. It was the second largest group competing that day, she and her teammates earned 7th place and ran 2.48 mile (4,000 meter) race.

The Condors are coached by Temo Laureano, Philip Ramirez, Israel Estrada, Victor Rodriguez and Jared Perez, who stated, “Every year, we know our athletes will go far. They push themselves daily with one goal in mind and that’s December. We are proud of every single one of them!” The Condors Team President Erika Arana would like to thank the parents for helping daily throughout the season and the following for sponsoring the Condors and making the team’s dreams become reality: Fro-Yo, East County Carnales, El Hair Studio, El Pescador in Fillmore and Heritage Valley Blazers Track & Field.

Fillmore Condor Cross Country Team pictured at the USATF Jr. Olympic Cross Country National Championships Saturday, December 9th left to right top row: Lindsey Ramirez, Diego Rodriguez, Leah Barragan, Niza Laureano, Jordyn Walla Bottom row: Ayden Marquez, Santiago Felix, Genevieve Abbitt, Paola Estrada, Emily Arriaga, Carolina Garcia and Abel Arana. Photo Courtesy Erika Arana, see full story on page 3.