Los Angeles Valley College - Crown Yearbook (Valley Glen, CA)

Page 105 text:

The anguish ofa four-mile race is expressed ' by freshman Hon Adams as he finishes in the hoping that Thomas Rodriquez would not want to push too hard at the first half of the race. Knowing that my strongest part of the race was still to come, I felt that I would be able to push my body a lot harder. Through this action I was able to hold off Rodriguez and win easily. The state meet was a different story. Placing seventh enabled me to compete at State. I went up to San Mateo with a mixed feeling of depression and joy. I placed second to Terry Cotton, which gave me great satisfaction, knowing that I was the second best in the state. Yet, Morden was not the only standout on the Valley team. Under the guidance of Coach George Ker and Coach Lazlo Tabori and with a team made up of five freshmen and six sophomores, the Mon- archs compiled a Metro League record of 4-1. The Monarchs only finished as low as fourth place in the six invitational meets they entered, and stayed among the top five of the top 20 Cross Country teams in California. The Harriers began the season with a third-place finish in the Long Beach and Moorpark Invitational. Then Valley took Excuse me please. Among the many hazards of a runner is the obstacle of a horse or two. Cliff Morden Ueftl and Jeff Alexander irightl kept their pace just the same. Ill , on arch rival Pierce College and shut them out 15-48. CLower score wins.J In the weeks that followed, Valley remained undefeated with victories over Pasadena, Bakersfield, and Long Beach. Morden, jerry Alexander, Scott Schweitzer, Ron Adams, and Dennis Vitarelli physically prepared themselves to meet El Camino in the league final. Even with the talent of these men, the absence of injured members Steve Acuff and Craig Clemmer was felt. Valley lost to EI Camino by a score of 26-30. The turning point of our season was the MSAC race, said Coach Ker. The entire team ran as one and seemed to impress everyone who was there. Valley won the large school division, the novice division, and the sweepstakes award. There are those who feel that if the Monarchs had gone past Southern Cals they would have been State champions as a team. Yet, as a team this year they went on to win just about as much as you can. 101

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, ,, .. 4 -. . . . . . D 4 r .-.. ar' ,V -. X, f .L. p-no Valley trio of Cliff Morden lleftl, Scott Schweitzen lcenterl, and Jerry Alexander lrightj lead Valley to a win at Metro. Finals. Down the Road Dennis Viteralli does not lose his stride and is oblivious of the area surrounding the track. to iotory 100 I I I I By Derek Lawson Illustrated by Robert Lachman and Steve Fischer Winning! ls it a physical strain or an emotional joy? Can the idea of winning be stressed to a team or to just one person? Many questions of this type had to be answered before the cross country season began for Valley. The dream of a State bid for the Monarchs was evident in the talent of the coaches and the runners. Yet the hours of running and practice paid off mostly for only one runner, Freshman Cliff Morden. When I get ready for a race, I feel that my head should be prepared as well as my body, said Morden. There have been times when I thought that I could have gone out in a race and burned up a fast pace, yet my body did not react. The two races where everything went right were Metro Conference finals and the State meet. ln the conference meet the whole team was up because we had to prove something to EI Camino. I went out hard,

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Thank SBVBH for Pxer ce The pogo stick kid, Rick Garcia, gets ready to rack up another two points for Valley, while Rori Davis, 22, guards him from the opposing feam. By Derek Lawson Illustrated by Robert Lachman Players must have the feeling that they can beat good teams, said Coach Gaston Green. Without the idea of positive thinking one cannot win in this game of basketball. The Monarchs, who improved their league record from last year by three games, added more points per game than in the year before and improved in their overall team play. Rick Garcia, Allen Green, and Rori Davis were constantly in double figures this year. Garcia had the highest point production in one game, with 34, and played a major part in the league victories over Pierce and El Camino. ValIey's first league victory came against Pierce after being defeated in 14 consecu- tive games. That ballgame featured Rodol- pho Arthur who sparked the Monarchs with eight points in the overtime segment. Davis and Green were also instrumental in that victory, which had Pierce tie the game seven times in the last five minutes. The second Pierce meeting saw Mark Holman, Dave Small, and Mark Edwards control the tempo of the game. Valley controlled the ball and the backboards at both ends of the court, giving Green, Garcia, and Doug Andersen plenty of time to shoot. We must improve quite a bit on our defense and our rebounding for next year, said Coach Green, if we hope to knock off Long Beach, Bakersfield, Pasa- dena and extend our winning streak against Pierce and El Camino. Airbom, Valley Monarch's Rori Davis, 22, and Alan Green lrightj, lend their fellow team- mate, Rick Garcia, a hand.