In the News Catagories

NEW for 2011
Stanford Invitational - Dyestat ESPS High School
DIVISION III BOYS: Battle between two state ranked teams sees #3 Campolindo down #8 Piner, but by closer-than-expected 58-70 tally. Piner senior Luis Luna receives a stoic challenge, but eventually wins over surprise senior Alex Conner of Sonoma Valley, 15:08 to 15:22.

Varsity team does well at the Lagoon Valley Classic
http://rise.espn.go.com/track-and-xc/california/2011-xc/Results/September/Week-2/03-Lagoon-Valley.aspx

2010
· Luis Luna is named All Empire 2010 Cross Country Runner of the Year!

· All Empire Team Named
Myra, Jaime, Jason and Dylan are awarded All Empire.

· Luis Luna finishes 6th at State Meet

· Cross Country Team doing very well. Varsity Boys are undefeated in League so far. First time in NBL history!

· Luis Luna ranked #1 in the Division 3

· Interview with Luis Luna
Interview with Luis on Cross Country Express by Albert Caruana

· Scott Bauhs Invitational
Luis Luna destroys course and meet record - running a time of 14:50.
Jaime Silva wins Sophomore race and Sophomore Boys place 2nd.

· Viking Opener Invitational
Luis Luna wins the Junior Boys race with a time of 9:58, the fastest time of the course for the day.
Junior Boys - Luis Luna, Jason Saler and Epi Nunez win their race at the Viking Opener.
Jaime Silva wins Frosh/Sohp race with a time of 10:30.

· Lagoon Valley Classic
Luis Luna sets meet record.
Boys win Varsity Race.


2009
· 2009 Coach Rosales is award All Empire Coach of the Year. Luis, Jason, Zak and Epi are awarded All Empire.
· 2009 Luis Luna goes to State Meet - Luis Luna competes in State Meet for second year in a row. See the video here.
· 2009 NBL Finals Prep Notebook: Piner’s Top Six Runners Post Personal Bests - November 11th, 2009
· Luis Luna is named Press Democrat Runner of the Week - October 14th, 2009
· Varsity Boys win 35th Annual Crystal Springs Invitational - October 10th, 2009

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2010 Articles

All Empire Athletes Named

Girls
Second Team All Empire goes to Myra VIlla.

Boys
What an honor, Luis Luna was All Empire Runner of the Year.
Second Team All Empire goes to Jaime Silva and Jason Saler. Honorable Mention goes to Dylan Ferrell.

Congratulations on a job well done!

See the Girls and Boys Press Democrat posting here.

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Cross Country doing very well. Varsity Boys are undefeated so far. First time in NBL history!

Team League Standings for 2010

Varsity Boys	7-0
Vasity GIrls	4-3
JV Boys	5-2
JV GIrls	6-1

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CIF Rankings Luis Luna is ranked #1 in Division 3 for the State of California

10/21/10
CIF-State Boys Individual Rankings
CIF-STATE CROSS-COUNTRY RANKINGS
BOYS INDIVIDUALS, BY DIVISION
By Rich Gonzalez -- Editor, ESPN RISE/DyeStatCal
Through results submitted by Sunday, October 17th

DIVISION 3
1. Luis Luna, Jr., Piner, Santa Rosa—NC
2. Domenic D'Acquisto, Sr., Enterprise, Redding—NS
3. Brandon Pugh, Jr., San Juan Hills, San Juan Capistrano—SS
4. Kristian Martinez, Jr., Golden Valley, Santa Clarita—SS
5. Andrew Daedler, Sr., Brea Olinda, Brea—SS
6. Forrest Shaffer, Sr., Petaluma—NC
7. Dylan Laucher, Sr., Campolindo, Moraga—NC
8. Mueen Ghoury, Sr., Rubidoux, Riverside—SS
9. Thomas Joyce, Jr., Campolindo, Moraga—NC
10. Danny Martinez Jr., Jr., St John Bosco, Bellflower—SS
Comments—Luna is the best runner in Northern California and will give the Southland runners all they can handle -- and then some -- in postseason. D'Acquisto has been tough up north and also ran magnificently at Woodbridge. Pugh had a very nice personal breakthrough at last week's Orange County Championships.

See link to CIF with all division rankings.

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Scott Bauhs Invitational Luis Luna destoys course record - running a time of 14:50 Jaime Silva wins the Sophomore race with a time of 15:37 Sophomore boys place 2nd!

10/02/10
Scott Bauhs Invitational (NCS)
Shadow Cliffs Regional Park
Pleasanton, California
Scott Bauhs was on hand handing out prizes, signing autographs, taking pictures with the athletes all day long. And some good racing…Piner’s Luis Luna destroyed the course record of 15:08 held by Paul summers of Gunn HS and ran 14:50! -- Tim Hunter, San Ramon Valley XC

Luis Luna crushed the Junior record, was the fastest runner on the course for the day and broken the all time course record ever run at Shadow Cliffs. He now holds the records in the freshman, sophomore and junior divisions.

Jaime Silva won the Sophomore race with a time of 15:37 and had the third fasted time on the course for the day.
Sophomore boys placed second out of 16 teams. Team members included Jaime Silva, Matt Mulligan, Bryan LoCoco, Ian Carpenter, Luis Mendoza, Will Tran, Joe Ruiz and Eric Roman.

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Viking Opener Invitational

9/18/10
Luis Luna wins Junior Boys race with a time of 9:58, the fastest time on the course for the day.
Junior boys - Luis Luna, Jason Saler and Epi Nunez win their race at the Viking Opener.

Jaime Silva wins Frosh/Sohp race with a time of 10:30.

Piner boys are now the 4th fastest team to run this Viking Opener course with at time of 53:19.

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Lagoon Valley Classic

9/4/10
Luis Luna wins the Varsity Boys race and sets a record with a time of 15:32.
Sophomore Jaime Silva places 3rd in the Varsity Boys race.
Varsity Boys finish first. Other team members include Jason Saler, Dylan Ferrell and Alex Mendoza.

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2009 Articles

All Empire Coach of the Year and All Empire Athletes

What an honor, Coach Luis Rosales was named All Empire Coach of the Year for 2009. Luis Luna was named First Team All Empire and Honorable Mention goes to Jason Saler, Zekaryas Mebrahtu and Epi Nunez. Congratulations on a job well done!

See the Press Democrat posting here.

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Luis Luna goes to State Meet

For the second year in a row, Luis Luna competes at the State Meet at Woodard Park in Fresno. With a time of 15:38 Luis places 11th in Division 3. See the video of his race here.

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Prep Notebook: Piner's Top Six Runners Post Personal Bests Published 11.11.09

by ERIC BRANCH
The Press Democrat

There’s no such thing as a moral victory? Second place is just the first loser?

Please. Don’t tell it to the Piner boys’ cross country team, a group that lost despite performing its very best last week at the North Bay League Championships at Spring Lake.

With their top six runners posting personal-best times, the Prospectors tied league champion Maria Carrillo with 56 points, but lost because the Pumas’ No.6 runner had a faster time. Piner’s second-place finish was its best since moving to the NBL in 1986.

“Obviously if we didn’t run well and lost we would be upset,” Piner coach Luis Rosales said. “But our top six guys did great — they ran faster than they ever had. To lose on a tiebreaker on the sixth guy? What are you going to do? You can’t be upset.”

Rosales, 47, is the dean of boys at Cardinal Newman and a former infantry sergeant in the Marines. And he’s whipped Piner’s program into shape in just his third year. The Prospectors went 1-7 in league in 2007 and Rosales, who ran track at Healdsburg High, could tell plenty of work lay ahead.

“When I first got here, I could run with all these guys and I’m not an elite runner by any stretch,” Rosales said. “Now I can hardly keep up with the girls.”

The Prospectors’ turnaround has been headlined by sophomore Luis Luna, who is ranked fifth in the North Coast Section. Luna’s time of 15 minutes, 20 seconds at the NBL Championship set a sophomore record at Spring Lake and ranks ninth all-time. Fellow sophomore Jason Saler finished seventh with the 15th-fastest time for a sophomore at Spring Lake. Sophomores Zekaryas Mebrahtu and Epi Nunez finished ninth and 12th, respectively, and junior Dylan Ferrell placed 25th.

The quintet’s performance spoiled the anticipated showdown between defending champion Santa Rosa and Maria Carrillo, which won its sixth league title in the past seven years.

The Pumas were led by seniors Gus Greenstein (5th) and James Ramirez (8th). And given the makeup of Piner’s up-and-coming team — four sophomores and a junior among its top five — Maria Carrillo coach Greg Fogg plans to savor this latest NBL title. He knows Piner won’t be surprising anyone in 2010.

“Everyone knows its their pennant to lose next year,” Fogg said.

(See this same article online at the Press Democrat.)

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Press Democrat Runner of the Week - Luis Luna Published 10.14.2009

BOY ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Luis Luna: Piner, Sophomore, Cross Country

By MIKE COIT
PRESS DEMOCRAT

WHAT HE DID
In winning the Crystal Springs Invitational boys’ varsity race Saturday, Luna topped a field of 207 runners and led Piner to the team title. “That surprised me. There were a bunch of good runners. It was a hard course,” Luna said. The race on the rugged San Francisco Peninsula course came just three days after Luna recorded the ninth fastest time ever — and best by a sophomore — at Spring Lake Park, in Santa Rosa, during a North Bay League meet. He expects to improve on last year’s fifth place finish in the league finals. Luna followed up in track with the fifth fastest 3,200 meter time ever in the Redwood Empire.“He’s in pretty elite company,” said Piner head coach Luis Rosales. “He’s physically getting stronger. Mentally he’s tough. He’s a competitor. But there’s no arrogance about him, no bragging.”

LEADING BY EXAMPLE
While clearly a talented runner, Luna also works hard to improve. Training began during a July week in Mendocino County where the Piner team runs daily and camps outdoors. Slight and shy, Luna is a quiet leader in Rosales’ rebuilding effort. “He does everything I want as far as his commitment level. The younger guys see that and it makes my life easier,” Rosales said.

GETTING BETTER
Luna decided to concentrate on running and gave up competitive soccer entering high school. “I love the races. It’s just so much fun,” he said. He attributes this season’s improved times to a simple approach: “I’m running more and eating healthier.” A 3.0 student, Luna’s favorite subjects are history and English. That he likes English reflects Luna’s effort to learn the language after moving to Santa Rosa from the state of Guanajuato, in central Mexico three years ago. “He works hard, and he’s such a humble kid,” Rosales said.

(See this same article online at the Press Democrat.)

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Varsity Boys win Crystal Springs Invitational 10.10.09

Varsity boys won the 35 year old Crystal Springs Invitational today beating out 25 teams for the Championship.
Congratulations team on a great race!

Luis Luna won the race with a time of 15:12.1
Jason Saler - 16:17.9
Zekaryus Mebrahtu - 16:52.0
Epi Nunez - 17:04.1
Brian Goodman - 17:30.5

See all race results here.