History

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Don Lugo History

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1999 - 2000: The Dominance Begins


-CIF and State XC Div. 1 Champions
-800m State Champ
Mike Serratos 1:51.75
- Steeplechase 2000m National Runner-up
Mike Serratos 6:00.18
-4x800 National Champions(CA All-time best) 7:38.31
Mike Serratos 1:55.2 Art Garcia 1:54.5
Raphael Asafp Agyei 1:54.9 Nick Branen 1:53.7
-DMR 5th in Nation 10:19.49


Alumnis:
Nick Branen- Abilene Christian University
Mike Serratos
Josh Gonzales- University of California, Riverside
Israel Gonzales- University of California, Riverside

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2000 - 2001: Superman's Reign


Raphael Asafo Agyei wins 800m at Arcadia Invite.


-XC State Qualifiers
-800m Arcadia Invite Champ
Raphael Asafo Agyei 1:51.76
-800m State Runner-up
Raphael Asafo Agyei 1:53.87


Alumnis:
Arturo Garcia- Cal State Long Beach
Arnold Cardenas- Mt. SAC
Fili Michel
Ricky Rodriguez- Mt. SAC

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2001 - 2002: Year of the Mighty Mouse


Erick Maldonado's state div. 1 win.


-XC Division 1 Individual State Champion
Erick Maldonado 15:38


Alumnis:
Rafael Asafo Agyei- University of Southern California
Anuk Perera
Justin Freyermuth- Cal State Stanislaus
Eugene Okoreeh- Cal Poly Pomona

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2002 - 2003: Enter the Frosh


Nathan Wolack, Alex Benavidez, Erick Maldonado, and Ruben Ramirez at NSIC in New York.


-XC State Div. 1 Runner-up
Team Time 79:39 (15:56 average)
-4xmile NSIC and Arcadia runner-up 17:40
NSIC splits Ruben Ramirez 4:23 Nathan Wolack 4:27
Alex Benavidez 4:29 Erick Maldonado 4:19
-DMR NSIC 3rd Place 10:23.20


Alumnis:
Erick Maldonado- Notre Dame de Namur University
Alex Benavidez
Ricardo Munoz

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2003 - 2004: Conquistadors Conquers the Nation


The "Dream Team" 2003 state champions.


-CIF and State XC Div. 1 Champions
Ranked 9th in nation in XC
-4xmile Arcadia winners 17:23.67
Ruben Ramirez 4:21 Mark Moreno 4:19.5
Alfred Gonzales 4:22.1 Nathan Wolack 4:21.1
-DMR Arcadia winners 10:16.94


Alumnis:
Ruben Ramirez- Mt. SAC
Nathan Wolack- University of California, Riverside
Mark Moreno

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2004 - 2005: A Time to Rebuild


Fitsum Tesfa wins at Stanford.


- Stanford 5k winner
Fitsum Tesfa 15:10
- CIF Southern Section Champion
Fitsum Tesfa 14:40(Mt. SAC)


Alumnis:
Fitsum Tesfa- Cal State Long Beach
Alfred Hernandez- Cal Poly Pomona
Brian Roser
James Thieme
Scott Sanchez

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Top 10 runners to graduate from Don Lugo


10. "Got a strong second man? No problem."


Alex Benavidez
Graduation year: 2003
Accomplishments: 15:17 Mt. SAC, 15:37 State, 8:45 3000m
Bio: Back in 2002, Don Lugo was known to have one of the best 1-2 punch in the state with Alex and Erick Maldonado. While Erick was injured during their senior year, Alex lead the team in several impressive races that put Lugo under the radar. Alex was no doubt a very impressive cross country runner, but unfortuately his track times weren't as fast. He also has a vast knowledge of the sport, perhaps more than any of the other alumnis.




9. "Five bucks says Sunshine can outkick that guy."



Nathan "Sunshine" Wolack
Graduation year: 2004
Accomplishments: Ninth overall Div. 1 state, 1:55 800m, 4:17 1600m
Bio: Nathan, better known as Sunshine, probably had one of the best kicks ever in Don Lugo. Sunshine joined the team as a freshman after hearing many stories about the 1999 state champion team. He will forever be known to me as the only runner in history to not make the top 10 for league, but does for state. Everyone else will remember him for his "kick from hell" at Arcadia Invite 2004 DMR, when he came from 50 meters behind( in 3rd place) to winning the race at the last 100m.




8. "Can Superman outrun The Flash?"


Rafael Asafo-Agyei
Graduation year: 2002
Accomplishments: 1:51 800m, Arcadia 800m winner, 800m state runner up(Junior year).
Bio: Raf, Ralph, or whatever you want to call him was on of the fastest sprinter-middle distance runners ever at Lugo. As a sophmore he was part of the national 4x800m champion team, running 1:54 for his leg. As a junior he went to become one of the most dominating 800m runners in California. Rafael also ran cross country, despite not having the "build" to run it. He had an amazing PR in the low 16s at Mt. SAC. Rafael went on to earn a scholarship to USC, where he ran an amazing time of 1:49 as a freshman.
Raf, if you're reading this, I still remember you pissing off Ms. Hunt in Art History when you painted the Superman sign on Michaelangelo's Sistine Chapel. It should have stayed on dammit, you painted it. :)




7. "No pain, no fear."


Mark Moreno
Graduation year: 2004
Accomplishments: 1:55 800m, 4:19 1600m, 15:35 Mt. SAC, 15:57 State --All PRs with shin splits--
Bio: Wow, what could be said about Mark. He was one tough son-of-a-gun. He quit the team back as a freshman only to come back his junior year. In the beginning of track season he had a stress fracture, only to come back for league prelims and run 4:40 for the 1600m with no practice.
After resting the entire summer for his senior year Mark came back for xc season, going from 7th man to sometimes 4th on the nationally ranked team. He had shin splits the entire season, but he refused to sit out a race. He couldn't practice half the season, and sometimes even had to be carried off after races. Despite all this, he was still faster than 99% of all high school runners in California. The pain never went away even in track season but he continued running, helping the 4x1600m team run the national leading time of 17:23.
It was unbelievable how fast Mark ran with an injury. It boggles the mind how fast he could have been if he ran all four years healthy. He might have been number one on this list...



6. "Running fast and looking good."


Ruben Ramirez
Graduation year: 2004
Accomplishments: 1:57 800m, 4:14 1600m, 9:15 3200m, 15:22 Mt. SAC, 15:45 State
Bio: Ruben came to Don Lugo as a junior and quickly made a name for himself. After coming off from an injury he ran 16:00 at Mt. SAC and finished 29th overall in division one at state. His senior year was amazing, running fast times noted above. He was perhaps one of the best balanced runners in his class.
In my opinion, Ruben was the face of Don Lugo in 2003-04. Everytime Lugo was running, he would be the front runner leading a pack of others behind. Spectators knew Lugo was in a race when they see him leading in the front. He was the ambassador talking with other teams, setting friendships with other schools. Ruben was a leader, but not because he was the fastest or made speeches. It is because he was a leader by example.



5. "Twin kamikazes on the track."


Tie: Josh and Israel Gonzales
Graduation year: 2000
Bio: Before Alex and Cesar, there were Josh and Israel. Stomp's other brothers were part of the 1999 team that won state. I'll be honest and say I've never seen them race but the stories I've heard about them were amazing. You rarely see runners that really give it their all to a point where they collapse. They gave more than 100% in all their races. To quote a former teamate of theirs, "they were some of the best teamates you can ever have. You can't trust anyone more than the twins. When you go out there with them, you know you will be pushed like you've never before."



4. "The craziest talent ever."


Mike Serratos
Graduation year: 2000
Bio: Mike had only been on the team for two years(barely). Like his former teamates said, he was as Mexican as a Mexican can get. Mike was sneaky, but one hell of a talent. Who else can miss a warm-up and still run 1:51 for the 800m to win state? Who else can enter in the 2000m steeplechase at Nationals and finish 2nd? If you want to hear some great stories, just ask Coach Salyers about Mike. He has enough to write a book.



3. "Lugo's Pioneer Leaders."


Tie: Nick Branen and Arturo Garcia
Graduation year: 2000, 2001
Bio: The legendary leaders of the early days, they gave it all for the team. They were the true definition of the word leader. Both Art and Nick were very selfless in helping their teamates suceed.
They've had some fast times too, with Nick holding the 1600m and 3200m records at Lugo until they were recently broken in 2004 and Art in the low 15s' at Mt. SAC. Both were part of the 4x800m national champion team. The list of accomplishments goes on and on.
Nick and Art paved the way for the future generation of runners here at Lugo. They helped make Erick Maldonado, who made Fitsum Tesfa, and so on today. Without them, Lugo would never have been the program it is now.



2. "He's behind the bushes puking again."


Fitsum Tesfa
Graduation year: 2005
Accomplishments: 14:40 Mt. SAC, Inland Empire Champion 2004-2005, Stanford Invite 5k winner 15:13, CIF SS Section D1 champion, 4:15 1600m, 9:10 3200m
Bio: Many of you might be shocked, but Fitsum is number two on the list. I'll explain later.
Back when Fits was a sophmore when he was just another runner on the track, I remember talking to him briefy at the end of the 2003 track season. He wanted to race with the likes of Mark Matusak and be one of the top runners in the nation. I had no idea that it would happen in just a few months the following XC season. I was more shocked at the fact that he talked (It took six months before I heard him say a word believe it or not).
It started out as a victory over Erick at RCC over the summer. Then Michael Hadden at Sunset in the Park. Later on he has claimed victories over just about every top runner in the West by his senior year.
It was tough to put Fits here, but at the end, his bad luck at the XC state meet both years and the lack of some speed cost him. Fits had some great accomplishments, but he never got the big prize due to unfortunate circumstances.



1. "Here I come, to save the daaaaayyyyy."


Erick Maldonado
Graduation year: 2003
Accomplishments: 14:53 Mt. SAC, 15:28 Woodward state meet(injury), state XC D1 champion(junior), :51 400m, 1:53 800m, 4:16 1600m, 9:17 3200m.
Bio: People are gonna call me biased to put my best friend number one, but I can back it up.
Erick had always been on top of his class. Every year he came out and pummeled the competition. He set the all time Mt. SAC sophmore record(15:12) before it was broken again. He won state as a junior on a muddy day at Woodward. There wasn't stopping him, until his stress fracture in the middle of his senior year in XC. It messed up his momentum. When he finally healed, he had two weeks to train for state. He hoped to defend his state championship, but he finished 7th in state with a time of 15:28. Still a great accomplishment with two weeks of training.
His track season were full of ups and downs. In some people's eyes, his ups out-weighed the downs. Running 1:53 800m when his previous PR was 1:58, doing six different events, and finishing 2nd in the nation for the 4xmile (Although the last one can count as a down). His greatest accomplishment was at a duel meet with the very tough Diamond Ranch. He wanted to help the team win league so bad that he ran and won the 400m(:51), 800m(1:58), 1600m(4:24), and 3200m(9:47), all within two hours. Sadly his attempts were in vein and Lugo still lost but he went out with a bang.
The one thing that stood out the most about Erick was his leadership qualities. He never did anything for himself, but for the team. He would help everyone from varsity to JV to become a better runner. He took time out his own schedule to talk with anyone that needed advice or help. You can say he made Fitsum, Stomps, and the twins what they are today. Even to this day he helps the current crew. He loves giving one of his insperational "speeches", which somehow never fails to make people cry. Some may say he's arrogent and egotistical, but he cares about others more than himself. He loves the sport, and he loves the team. Nobody can do what he did. Not as a runner, but as a person. That's why he is Don Lugo's number one graduate.