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Look for strong cross country season, says coach

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Most of the Bulldog athletes on Ramona High School’s cross country teams spent much of the summer running to get themselves in shape for the season that begins Saturday with the Vaquero Stampede at Lindo Lake Park in Lakeside.

“We’ve been practicing all summer,” said Sherri Edwards, head coach for the boys and girls teams. “We’ve had a pretty good training summer.”

Last year, Bulldog boys won the Valley League and the CIF San Diego Section Division III championships and Ramona’s Gabe Plendcio was the league champion. Plendcio, who is a senior this year, is one of three runners from Ramona’s top five who are back this year.

“Gabe’s looking pretty strong,” Edwards said.

Joey Jauregui and Colin McNulty, who are also seniors, were the others in Ramona’s top five and joined Plendcio among the top 10 finishers at the Valley League meet.

“I’m excited to have those three,” Edwards said.

Cross country team scores are derived by adding the positions of a team’s first five finishers. A school’s sixth and seventh finishers are not scored but can add points to opposing team’s scores.

Ramona’s top seven boys runners from 2014 include sophomore Brandan Ruland. The 2014 Bulldog seniors were Isaiah Spieker, Max Edwards and James Meskell.

“I think I have an idea who my top seven are going to be,” Edwards said.

She expects junior Danny Edwards and senior Jackson Sutter to be among the primary seven runners this season. Ben Stein, a senior who was on the team in 2013 but not in 2014, will compete for the seventh spot with freshmen Jack Clough, Colin Duffy, Billy Miller and Mitchell Sutter.

“Those guys are ready to move up into that spot,” Edwards said of her top four freshmen.

Ramona’s premier girl runner in 2014 was then-senior Anna Sundrud, and the Bulldogs’ top three girls also included current junior Gwen Gibson and senior Perla Cruz.

“They’re pretty much head-to-head with each other,” Edwards said of both runners’ pre-season performances.

Edwards expects the remainder of the girls top seven to be seniors Marissa Talle, Robyn Turner, Brittany Davidson and Chloe Knowd and sophomore Madison Huckey.

“I have a couple of more girls that are coming out that I’m really excited about,” Edwards said.

Those cross country newcomers include junior Tuesday Christopher, who has proven herself as a sprinter on Ramona’s track and field team and who played non-varsity volleyball as a freshman and sophomore.

Two other track and field veterans will make their cross country debuts: junior Sierra Crenshaw will balance club soccer and cross country, and sophomore Ally Luna will make the transition from middle-distance flat tracks to multi-mile terrain courses.

The newcomers with no competitive running experience include freshman Cameron Ocampo and sophomore Sarah Guthrie.

Formal practice began Aug. 10.

“I’m pretty excited about our chances this year,” Edwards said.

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