A coming-of-age-story for Bishop Amat's Ally Palomino

By Erik Boal, DyeStatCAL Editor

Ally Palomino took a step up in class Saturday at the Laguna Hills Invitational.

Now, the Bishop Amat sophomore will have the opportunity to raise her level again this Saturday night in the Bob Day sweepstakes race at the 34th Woodbridge Classic at Great Park in Irvine.

Palomino (pictured right) made impressive strides at Laguna Hills by not only winning her race against a field of talented seniors, but posting the fastest time of the day by covering the 3-mile course in 18 minutes, 19 seconds.

"I wanted to challenge myself more, so I asked my coach if he could put me in the senior race instead," Palomino said. "I was nervous, but I was so happy that I had a chance to prove myself. It was an amazing feeling being able to run with them. I ran as hard as I could until the 2-mile mark, then I gave it whatever I had left after that and fortunately it worked out OK for me."

Palomino's performance was even more significant for Bishop Amat, considering senior Emily Hubert -- an all-state honoree in Division III last year -- has yet to run this season. Hubert is expected to make her season debut Sept. 27 at the Stanford Invitational.

Despite Hubert's absence, the Lancers -- competing in Division IV this season -- posted the second-fastest team time of the day of 97:22 at Laguna Hills, trailing only Division II power Capistrano Valley (95:51).

"It was a very big confidence booster, not only for me, but for the entire team," Palomino said. "There were so many teams there that were so strong, but we've been working so hard and it was nice to see that we can run with them."

Palomino finished 33rd at the Division III state final last year as a freshman to help Bishop Amat place fourth. With the move to Division IV, combined with Hubert as an established frontrunner and Palomino's rapid improvement, Bishop Amat is emerging as a leading contender for Southern Section and state championships in November.

"To find out that we're doing this well at the beginning, I can't even explain it," Palomino said. "It absolutely shows us how good we can be and by the end of the season, I know we'll figure it out."

Valle values victory at Rosemead

Azusa's Roxanne Valle not only produced one of the thrilling come-from-behind victories across the state Saturday, but her senior race win at the Rosemead Invitational has also made her one of the great comeback stories during the first few weeks of the season.

Valle was sidelined for the majority of her junior cross country season with IT band issues, along with Achilles' tendinitis. The injuries continued to slow her progress during track in the spring.

But Valle demonstrated her strength and determination in the final 100 meters of the race by surging past Marlborough's Katharine MacCary to prevail 17:29.43 to 17:30.14.

"It does so much (for my confidence). Last year, I was out for so many months during cross country and track due to injuries, so being able to win my first invitational is really exciting. It's really helpful for me," Valle said. "It's really exciting. Last year, I wasn't able to achieve any of my goals due to my injuries, so this year, I'm hoping I'll actually be able to accomplish them."

Valle, whose time was second overall at Rosemead behind Marlborough junior Bianca Alonzo (17:18.02), is scheduled to race again Sept. 27 at the Stanford Invitational.

Gonzales makes important statement

The success for San Gabriel Valley standouts wasn't reserved for just the female runners Saturday, with Walnut's Dominic Gonzales winning the junior race at Rosemead in 14:44.40.

"I felt pretty proud of myself. But I know I can I improve and get better," Gonzales said. "I feel pretty good. My goal is to go to state, so I feel like I'm pretty confident right now, I just need to keep moving on."

Gonzales increased his mileage during the summer and made two trips to Mammoth to train in an attempt to prepare for the season.

"I put in a lot more hard conditioning," Gonzales said. "Before I didn't do any camps, so this year I wanted to step it up because I knew if I wanted to go to state, I had to do my best."

Gonzales had the ninth-fastest time overall at Rosemead, with El Rancho's Donald Brown seventh at 14:42.08, Bosco Tech's Michael Gonzales eighth in 14:42.30 and Covina's Kevin Herrera 11th with a mark of 14:46.52 among the San Gabriel Valley's elite performers.