2004 BRAVES OF THE WEEK::

INFORMATION::

Past Braves of the week can viewed in the history section of our site.

Week One:: DON BOSCO TECH INVITATIONAL

Nick Rojes::
Improved upon last year's time by a gigantic 4 minutes 28 seconds. Proved he will be a vital part of this year's Frosh/Soph team. If training improves watch out!

Victor Bonilla::
Showed he can step up and contribute the the varsity team as he improved his 2003 time from 19:20 to 16:59 this year after racing in the last race of the day in very hot conditions.

Timothy Barreto::
Ran a come from behind race to finish with a solid place and time. Will be a strong part of the Frosh/Soph team and may work his way up to alternate status come preseason meets. Improved from 19:29 last year to 17:22 this year.

Justin Martinez::
Ran in his first cross-country race of his high school career after having a solid 2004 track season. Ran 17:22 to make a case for #1 man Frosh/Soph and inched closer to the varsity spot he so highly covets.

Week Two:: SUNNY HILLS INVITATIONAL

Kevin Urak:: (Press-Telegram Athlete of the Week)
Ran as the Braves #1 man for the second week in a row. Kevin was the only athlete in the entire meet to break the 16:00 barrier on the challenging 3.0 mile course as he crossed the line in 15:50 to record the fastest time of the day. Improved 47 seconds over last year.

Russell Gonzalez::
Ran an inspired race to finish with a sub 17:00 minute clocking as he completed the course in 16:40. Showed that he will be a solid 5th man in the absence of an injured team mate. Recorded a huge personal best as he improved 1:33 down from 18:13.

David Boese::
Overcame first race jitters from the week prior to set a huge personal best while running up to his potential. Placed in the top 10 overall in the freshman race to record a time of 17:54, the second best freshman time by a Bosco 9th grader at Craig Park.

Week Three:: SERRA LEAGUE CLUSTER MEET - ROADRUNNER CLASSIC

Kevin Urak::
Improved 40 seconds over last year's league meet to lead his team to victory by splitting up a strong 1-2 Servite punch. His time of 15:50 was only 10 seconds off the school record on an altered course that is agreed to be relevantly slower then the one used in years prior.

Victor Bonilla::
Ran a 19:04 to place as the frosh/soph's #4 man a year ago. Stepped up this year as part of the varsity team to be the team's #5 scorer while displacing opponents teams runners. His time of 16:38 places him 6th on the all time school sophomore list behind some highly talented Braves of the past.

Timothy Barreto::
Scored his 2nd "Brave of the Week" of the season when he captured the top spot in the frosh/soph division at the Serra League meet. Ran a 17:39 to improve down from 19:23 at least year's Serra League finals.

Luis Perez::
Raced to a personal best time of 15:46 at the Roadrunner Classic to finish in the runner-up spot and pace his squad to the team title. Finished as the varsity's #1 man for the first time in his career while also managing to place himself among the top 10 on the all time school senior list at La Mirada Park.

Bradley Bonilla::
Improved from 18:37 in the 2003 Roadrunner Classic down to 17:08 at this year's meet while running as #7 man on the varsity level. Has improved his time by at least a minute or more in each of his 4 races so far this season.

Week Four:: WARREN-STAUFFER INVITATIONAL

Isidro Najera::
His hard work during practice paid off big as he cracked the 19 minute barrier for the first time to set a personal record of 18:59. His time in 2004 was 1 minute 7 seconds faster then this time in 2003. His hard work is an inspiration to all as he hopes to help lead the Junior Varsity team to success in league.

Michael Brown::
This first year runner came back strong after a few down races. Cracked the 20 minute barrier for the first time en-route to a 19:34 personal record. His determination in practice is evident as it's only a matter of time before his times drop even further.

Week Five:: CLOVIS INVITATIONAL

Randy Skillens::
Took back the #1 man spot after a shaky first four weeks of his senior season. Looked poised and in control for 90% of his race facing some of the top runners in the state. Admittedly said he still needs work on the last part of his race, but feels confident he is back on the right track to once again lead the team on to bigger and better challenges. Finished 5th overall in the championship race.

Victor Bonilla::
Finished a mere 5 seconds behind the team's #4 man in the championship race to set a 3 mile and 5K personal best (16:29 - 16:58). Grows more confident with each race as he gains the experience necessary to help his team come time for the "big races." Finished as one of the top sophomores in all races combined for the day.

Timothy Barreto::
Finished in the top 10 in his race to pace his team to a 5th place finish in the large school frosh-soph race. His attitude toward training and desire to improve has helped him come through in the bigger races. His time placed him as the #6 runner overall on the Braves squad. Could be making important varsity appearances soon.

Week Six:: BELL GARDENS INVITATIONAL

Daniel Bacerra::
A lack of track and field and summer training had prohibited Daniel from matching some of the times posted by his sophomore counter parts that he had previously beaten during their freshman year. He finally caught up, while narrowing the gap on his peers after breaking the 18:00 barrier for the first time. He now realizes that he can be as strong a runner as they are and has committed to improving and training hard enough to be with the group just ahead of him.

Brett McCoy::
Had only broke the 19:00 barrier once before a three week long illness hit him. Still he didn't miss a race but was consistently about 50 seconds behind the lead freshman on the team. Finally racing healthy he was able to close that gap by a large margin as he finished only 6 seconds behind his freshman peer, while smashing the 19:00 barrier en-route to a 18:14 finish.

Geoff Garces::
Had only raced a couple of races due to various reasons up to this point in the season. Each of those races were in the 21-minute range. Stepped up huge on this day to not only break 21:00 but crack the 19:00 barrier to finish in a huge personal beset time of 18:36!

Casey O'Neill::
A four year runner Casey has had numerous set back through out his career. He has been healthy over the last two seasons, but this year he has been committed to his work obligations. Finally having a Saturday off he was able to focus on his race and ran strong enough to finish with a 41 second personal record as he crossed the finish line in 19:01 - a significant improvement over his days of struggling to crack 30-minutes!

Week Seven:: MT. SAC INVITATIONAL

Randy Skillens::
Ran as the Varsity #1 man for the second high profile race in a row. Seems to be fully "back" after a slowish start to his season. His race at Mt. SAC was the personification of patience and perfection as he powered through after the first mile. His time was only 3 seconds away from the school record - but he has two more times at a chance for it.

Victor Bonilla::
The best breakout performance of the meet came from this sophomore. After an average freshman year has stepped up huge to be a very important part of the varsity squad. Stepped up even more to place as the team's #4 man as he set a huge personal best to finish in 16:26. Will race the course again two more times come championship season in hopes of dropping his time even more.

Mike Alvarez::
Ran a solid race to finish second. His always solid training is finally paying off in races where he has struggled at times. Always displays a positive attitude and hard work - attributes that will pay off for him as he comes into his own as a top runner in 2005. Ran 17:34 at Mt. SAC in his first attempt on the course.