Boys Cross Country All-Area: Damien's Tom Ebiner keeping with the family tradition

In the moments after his big finish in Fresno, Ebiner reflected on how his teammates picked him up after his disappointing CIF-SS finals race.

Ebiner only qualified for the state finals because his team finished sixth at the CIF-SS Division 3 finals to qualify as a team.

"With my performance (in the CIF finals), if I was an individual, I wouldn't have been going on (to state)," Ebiner said. "I have to thank my team. It was a great way to end my cross country career."

That Spartans' team performance at the CIF-SS finals is also why Damien coach Dr.Mike Williams has been selected the boys cross country Coach of the Year.

Damien's team won the Bosco Tech Invitational, finished fifth at the prestigious Irvine Sweepstakes and took second at the Sierra League finals.

But it was the Spartans' postseason effort, which included stellar performances from top to bottom to carry the Spartans to the state finals after not qualifying a year ago, that gave Williams the nod.

"Throughout the season I always thought we were among the top six to eight teams in the state," Williams said. "At the end of the season, everything came together."

Williams also spoke glowingly of Ebiner, who hails from a strong family background of runners.

Tom's father Mike Ebiner was a key runner on Bishop Amat's CIF-SS championship cross country team in the 1970s. Mike Ebiner's five brothers and four sisters were all cross country runners in the 1970s and 80s, and Tom Ebiner carried that family legacy with him.

"His dad (Mike) did a great job of providing that mental focus for Tom," Williams said. "He was able to draw on the legacy of his family in terms of how he approached running and how he trained. For him in particular, that always was a motivating factor."

Joining Ebiner on the Tribune's first team is his Spartans teammate, junior Doug Negrete.

Negrete finished second to Ebiner at the Sierra League finals in 15:30 and was Damien's top runner at the CIF-SS Division 3 finals, finishing 19th in 15:42 at the Mt. San Antonio College course.

Rowland High School senior Nick Rivera is on the Tribune first team after winning the Hacienda League title in an impressive 15:44 at Mt. SAC, and following it up at the Division 2 finals with another impressive finish, running a season-best 15:26 to finish 14th overall.

Glendora sophomore Mike Duke showed he has a big future ahead of him.

Glendora qualified for the Division 2 state finals in Fresno and Duke helped the team finish 11th overall with his performance. Duke finished in 16:18 at the state finals which was good enough for 58th overall.

In the CIF-SS Division 2 finals a week earlier, Duke was Glendora's top qualifier, running the Mt. SAC course in 15:42 - 26th overall.

Los Altos senior Jair Juarez earned first-team honors after helping his team win the Hacienda League title. Juarez finished third at the Hacienda League finals in 15:57.

In the CIF-SS Division 3 finals, Juarez's time of 15:48 was the 23rd-best overall.

A pair of Ayala seniors, Christian Eagon and Kenny Tanner round out the Tribune first team. Eagon and Tanner led Ayala to the Sierra League team title in a narrow victory over Damien.

At the Sierra League finals, Tanner was third overall in 15:39 and Eagon was fifth in 15:53.

At the CIF-SS Division 2 finals, Eagon finished one second behind Rowland's Rivera in 15:27 to finish 15th, with Tanner finishing 32nd overall in 15:47.