Young looks to become first male athlete to repeat since 2007-08, in addition to he and Panthers challenging 3-mile course records at SilverLakes Sports Complex in first showdown with four-time sweepstakes champion Great Oak

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

This isn’t just a Nico Young story and his quest for greatness.

It’s a narrative about Newbury Park and the Panthers’ pursuit of history Saturday in the Doug Speck boys sweepstakes race at the 39th Woodbridge Cross Country Classic.

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Young is the reigning sweepstakes champion, running 14 minutes, 1.1 seconds last season on the 3-mile course at the SilverLakes Sports Complex in Norco, Calif.

BROSNAN | YOUNG | ASCHBRENNER | GOLDSTEIN | SAHLMAN

But with Jace Aschbrenner sidelined with a hip injury during last year’s race, Newbury Park placed a distant second behind four-time Woodbridge sweepstakes winner Great Oak.

Even with Aschbrenner back in the lineup in October at the ASICS Clovis Invitational and again in December at Nike Cross Nationals, Newbury Park still remained more than 100 points behind Great Oak in both races.

But with Young and Aschbrenner both healthy and leading the reigning Division 2 state champions, the Panthers aren’t hiding their aspirations in the first of three potential showdowns this season with defending Division 1 state champion Great Oak.

“It’s really amazing because we have Jace back for Woodbridge this year and our whole entire team is better than it was before,” said Young, who opened his season with a 14:08.9 effort at the first Marmonte League race Sept. 12 on Newbury Park’s home 3-mile course at Pepper Tree Playfields.

“We’re just going to do some amazing things (this) Saturday.”

Great Oak set the all-time meet record last season by running 72:36 as a team at SilverLakes, eclipsing the mark of 72:46 by Arcadia in 2013 at Estancia High.

Even without Aschbrenner in the lineup, Newbury Park still had five athletes under 15:10 last season and elevated to No. 4 in meet history at 73:24. Junior Nick Goldstein and sophomore Colin Sahlman both return for the Panthers, who also have junior Thomas McDonnell, sophomore Daniel Appleford and freshmen twins Lex Young and Leo Young – Nico’s younger brothers – among their supporting cast.

“Our team has been known to say, ‘You’ve got to choose your battles wisely,’ and Woodbridge, we go after. There’s no secret. We’re not hiding it. We’re going there and we want to win and we want to break the record and we want to do beyond that with what some of these guys want to run,” Newbury Park coach Sean Brosnan said. “If it happens, awesome. I’m not guaranteeing it’s going to happen, but when we show up, we show up. We don’t hold back, we don’t pull back. Just like we can do a hard workout, we can show up on a hard week of training and still race hard.”

The first piece to that potential record-breaking puzzle is Young, who is not only trying to become the sixth athlete in meet history to run under 14 minutes, but also challenge the 2013 meet record of 13:55 by former Bakersfield Stockdale standout Blake Haney at Estancia High. The fastest time ever run at SilverLakes is 13:58 by Armijo graduate Luis Grijalva in 2016.

Young is also attempting to become the first male athlete to repeat as sweepstakes champion since University City graduate Mac Fleet in 2007-08. In addition, he is looking to extend California’s reign of individual boys winners to 17 years in a row since the sweepstakes races were added to the schedule in 2003.

“I’m definitely in a better mental state for running because last year I had no idea what I was going to run that season,” said Young, who has aspirations of covering the first 2 miles on the flat course in the range of 9 minutes to 9:05.

“I think I’m definitely in a better spot where I know what I’m capable of and I know what I can do. My workouts are better at this point than they were last year and I think that I’m definitely mentally ready.”

With Aschbrenner finishing only 11 seconds behind Young in their season opener, Newbury Park is looking to become the first boys team since Madera South in 2015 to place a pair of athletes in the top five of the sweepstakes race. Arcadia also achieved the feat in 2012.

West Covina twins Diego Mercado and Danny Mercado are the only teammates in meet history to take the top two spots in the sweepstakes in 2005.

“I want to be at, or better, where Nico was last year as a junior, and to have two guys up like that is going to be something really special because most of these teams just have that one guy,” Aschbrenner said. “I think we have something really special here and I think the other guys are rising up to the challenge and I think we’ll have a solid six or seven guys who are willing to commit to that.

“Based on what I saw from our Nos. 3 through 7 guys (at the league meet), they’re ready to go sub-14:50 at Woodbridge, maybe sub-14:40, and maybe even for Colin and Nick, sub-14:30. It will be really great to see how they perform.”

But the challenge for Newbury Park isn’t just about running the fastest time in meet history, but finding a way to knock off the most decorated program ever to race at Woodbridge.

Great Oak has won four of the past five sweepstakes titles, with the only setback a third-place finish in 2016 to Colorado programs Mountain Vista and Palmer Ridge. The Wolfpack hasn’t lost to a California rival at Woodbridge since placing third behind Arcadia and Palos Verdes in 2013.

“I don’t know what other programs are doing because I’m not there every day,” Brosnan said. “I’m kind of curious, but at the end of the day, I know what we’re doing and I know the elite level and I know the college level and it’s kind of scary to me what these guys are doing.”

Great Oak delivered another impressive showcase of depth Sept. 6 by winning the Cool Breeze Invitational, placing four individuals in the top nine, despite both the Wolfpack and Newbury Park resting several top athletes.

The state and national championship contenders are only scheduled to square off at full strength Saturday and again Oct. 12 at Clovis on the same Woodward Park course used for the Nov. 30 state finals, before a potential return Dec. 7 to Nike Cross Nationals in Oregon.

“We definitely want to make it count. We definitely want to show our best and work our way up there,” Goldstein said. “This year, obviously I feel like our team is stronger. Even though we lost two guys, I think it’s pretty special to still have such a strong team.”

Sahlman knows the leadership and front-running presence of Young and Aschbrenner gives Newbury Park the potential to compete against any program in the nation, providing the rest of the lineup continues its growth and development as the season progresses.

“Having Nico and Jace up front is huge for us. They’re great leaders and they really push us, so it’s great to be around them,” Sahlman said. “They push you to be the best you can be and I just have a lot of respect for them.”

In order for Newbury Park to validate its preseason respect as one of the elite programs in the country Saturday, the Panthers will not only have to excel against Great Oak, but talented Texas challengers Southlake Carroll and El Paso Eastwood.

After having 11 athletes spend a month together during the summer training at 7,000 feet elevation in Big Bear, Newbury Park knows the bigger the challenge this season, the greater the potential reward.

“What I try to do with my guys is I really don’t tell someone they can do something unless I really believe they can. I think it’s a disservice to tell a kid you can run 14:50 if he’s not there yet,” Brosnan said. “My goal is to keep them all in range and make sure they’re doing the right things and make sure we’re not overdoing it. But at the same point, we’re not afraid to run hard. I think it could be scary where we’re at if everything goes as planned.”