Corina James, finishing ahead of teammmate Tandisha Nious-Flores will lead the Madera girls team to a possible top ten finish at the California State Meet.

Photo by: Wendy Alexander

There is no more identity crisis among the Madera girls cross country team.

Despite the boys team receiving all the notoriety given their success the past two seasons, the girls team ran in relative obscurity-until now.

Although the girls were picked to finish sixth in the Valley at the beginning of the season, when Madera nearly defeated Buchanan and placed second in the Valley, they had earned a berth at the State Meet and caused the running pundits to stand up and take notice.

Given the fact that Buchanan is the number six ranked team in the state, the Madera girls team is finally on the precipice of receiving the recognition that they have worked so hard for.

"I always knew the talent that these girls possessed," said coach Rich Parris. "It came down to how committed the girls were to paying the price for success."

Although the team is led by junior Corina James who is a two time All-Valley selection, the girls team real success lies in the fact that are very balanced.

Even though James was the top finisher for Madera at the Valley meet in sixth place, she was followed very closely by freshman Tandisha Nious-Flores in seventh place and senior Monica Felix in ninth place as both received All-Valley honors as well.

"I expect Corina and Tandisha to really run well," said Parris. "And Monica has run her best time of the season two weeks in a row and she is such a competitor that I think she will run the best race of her life in her last high school race."

Junior Vanessa Rodriguez, while taking 12th place at Valley, has been nursing a hip injury all season and when healthy has all the ability to challenge James for the top spot.

Madera rounds out the squad with freshmen Muriel Lopez, Daisy Uribe and Kendra Daniels.

Given the fact that the girls all seem to be running their fastest times of the season, if Rodriguez is healthy enough to run like she is capable of, the Madera girls have a legitimate shot to storm the course and finish in the top ten at the State Meet.

"Vanessa is a real key for the team," said Parris. "She has been going to physical therapy and if she can run the way I know she can, our girls are going to make some noise."

Paul Stanford Paul Stanford is the sports editor for the Madera Tribune. You can contact Paul at 674.8134 ext. 225 or e-mail at pstanford (at) maderatribune.net The Madera Tribune online subscription To subscribe or log on, CLICK HERE. For more information first, CLICK HERE.