All Erik Starkey can tell people is that both of his Covina High School cross country teams are in Saturday’s CIF-Southern Section finals.
How they got there?
“It’s hard to explain,” the longtime Colts coach said. “I do not have an explanation for what the kids are doing. Maybe they could explain it. They are highly motivated and I try to not screw it up by watching from the sidelines and pointing them to make the right decisions.”
The girls team is racing in the finals for the first time. The boys team is back in the finals for the first time since 1993.
“They have been highly motivated,” Starkey said. “It’s just been great all year and they have trained really well.”
Saturday’s meet at Mt. SAC starts at 7:45. Seventeen San Gabriel Valley area teams and 12 area individuals are vying for CIF-SS titles in five divisions and berths in next weekend’s CIF State meet at Fresno’s Woodward Park.
Both Covina teams have their work cut for them in trying to win a CIF-SS Division 4 title and earn a berth in the CIF State Division IV meet, which has never happened for either. Bishop Amat is the clear favorite to win both races. The Lancers are the top-ranked team in the state.
“For the boys we’ve been getting closer and closer every year and I felt this year we’d finally gotten there,” Starkey said. “For the girls, this is historic. They have never really been close.”