The Cuesta Harriers begin their 2021 campaign at home this Friday with the Tour de Cuesta. The race will be held at Cuesta's Fairbanks Cross Country Course with the women kicking off the race season at 1 PM and the men's race is scheduled to begin at 2 PM. It should be a good day for racing with good air quality, temperatures in the mid-80's and a moderate breeze off the coast. Six colleges shall join the Cuesta for this Friday's race. The Cougars will face off against Western State Conference foes Allan Hancock and Santa Barbara, CCCAA Southern Regional foes Saddleback and Santiago Canyon and the CCCAA North Region's Hartnell, as well as NAIA member Sierra Nevada University.
Both Cuesta teams are young, with only a single sophomore on each roster, however each team also returns a pair of freshmen who ran during the program's lone race during the abbreviated spring season.
Coach Brian Locher is excited about the prospects of the women's team. The Cougars return three harriers from last year's one meet season and all of them earned all-conference honors during track. 2019 All-WSC Harrier Shannon Ferrall (Arroyo Grande HS) helped lead the Cougars to an 18th place team finish at the 2019 CCCAA State Championship and is the Cougars' lone sophomore on the women's team. She also earned all-WSC honors last season in the 10,000m during track and Coach Brian Locher says, "She is really putting in the miles and they should pay off." Ferrall is returning this season along with freshmen Julia Voss (SLO HS) and Emily Mathein (Paso Robles HS) to help her lead the Cuesta pack. This trio of harriers dominated their only outing of 2020-21 by winning the Sequoias Tri-Meet on March 12, 2021. Voss claimed the title after covering the 5-kilometer course in a dirt-churning 20:16.97, while Mathein and Ferrall landed in 3rd and 4th, respectively. After only one race, all three made the transition to the track and continued to dominate. They all earned all-Western State Conference honors (Top 5) in the 10,000-meter run, where they were joined by Dulce Esquivel (SLO HS). After a star turn on the track last, Esquivel is set to transition to cross country this season and is expected to excel away from the oval. She earned all-WSC honors in four track events last spring, including a WSC title in the 1,500m. Coach Locher says, "She has a lot of potential." The Cougars shall also add a solid freshman group to push their talented returnees.
Newcomers Chloe Denham (Moorpark HS) and Adrienne Frere (Morro Bay HS) should immediately vie for spot in the scoring group. Denham was a multi-sport star at Moorpark High and named the Musketeers' 2021 Female Athlete of the Year, while Frere earned all-League honors for the nearby Pirates. Locher is enthusiastic about both of his rookie harriers, he says, "Chloe could be really good. I expect her to be in the scoring group," and, "Adrienne has a lot of talent and potential."
Legacies Madelyn Gonzalez (McFarland HS), the sister of 2020 Cuesta Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year Melecio Gonzalez, and Sierra Dismuke (Visalia), the sister of former Cuesta Star Kylee Dismuke-Rodriguez, join fellow Freshman Amelia Schell (Paso Robles HS) to round out the Cuesta pack. Locher says, "Madelyn adds a lot to our culture, but is returning from injury. She should do some damage by the end of the year." He is equally enthusiastic about Dismuke, whom he calls a "hill dog", and praises her hard work on the course. The prospects offered by Schell, Locher says, after noting she has already surpassed her high school times, "She will be a vital piece of the team."
The men's team returns three of the team's four members from 2020-21. Sophomore Brendan Niller (Templeton HS) joins returning Freshmen Luis Cervantes (Santa Maria: Righetti HS) and Jordan Reilly (St Helena HS) to anchor the six-man team. Niller established himself in 2019 as a member of Cuesta's CCCAA Regional Championship Qualifying squad, but he became a team leader at last spring's Sequoias Tri-Meet. In his sole race of the campaign, he knocked more than a minute off his top career mark. Locher noted that Niller, "Has come a long way" and after his big drop on the course, he turned to the track and the 800 and 1,500-meters races. He reached the Western State Conference Finals in both events and earned all-Western State Conference honors (Top 5) in the mile. Cervantes finished 4th (21:42.50) in the team's only meet last spring, however he might be the team's best prepared returner and is noted for his "racing instincts". He concentrated on the long-distance events during track season and finished 2nd in the conference in the 10,000-meters (34:42.73) and 3rd in the 5,000 (16:51.41). Reilly, a former CIF Qualifier, finished directly behind Niller in the Sequoias' meet. He also earned all-WSC accolades in both the 800 and 1,500-meter runs during track, and, after a strong off-season, he should build on those accomplishments this year. The veteran trio should receive plenty of help this year with rookies Xander Mahan (Nipomo HS), Nicolas Moore (San Andreas), and Joel Kreiser (Folsom) joining the pack. Locher notes of Mahan, "He could blossom, we are asking him to do a lot." Moore is the Cougars' harrier to watch, Locher says," He is talented and is going to be a good racer. We have to get the guys to State."
