Coaches: Hannah Batchelor (head coach), Ashley Bordy (assistant coach), Gideon Pichardo (assistant coach)

Top Returners (boys): Ian Cha (12), Nathaniel Covarrubius (12), Ronin Ngyuen (11)

Top Returners (girls): Aurora Delgado (11), Emily Espino (11), Mia Gonzales (11)

Top Newcomers (boys): Aaron Gelvezon (9), Charlie Munoz (9)

Top Newcomers (girls): Evelyn Delgado (9), Sally Henriquez (9)

Last Season: The boys, who finished fourth in the league, fell short of advancing to CIF because they did not accumulate enough points during the Freeway League finals.

The girls, however, placed third in league finals and qualified to compete in the CIF prelims held last November at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut. But the Lady Lancers fell short of advancing, as they did not place in the top four of their heats.

Outlook: The boys and girls teams found out about the loss of their previous head coach of four years, Jacob Holloway, in April during the spring semester. By mid-May, they were informed about Holloway’s replacement and had a chance to meet Batchelor during final exam week. 

The runners were then able to start summer practice sessions on campus with her starting June 24.

“I wasn’t too thrilled about having a new coach because I’ve had the same one since freshman year, and I was really used to him, as I’ve developed a bond with him,” boys captain Cha said. “Opinions have definitely changed after seeing Batchelor’s new workout style and coach philosophy because I feel like I’m the fittest I’ve ever been.”

The girls captain, Gonzales, said she had the same initial reaction to a new head coach.

“I was a little disappointed when I initially heard we were getting a new coach because I have a lot of respect and admiration for coach Holloway,” she said. “But after doing some training with coach Batchelor, our team has grown in various ways and has definitely gotten stronger.”

With over two years of experience as an assistant coach for Brea Olinda’s cross country squad, Batchelor said her approach with the runners this season is to use the skills she learned there.

“I am excited to use the skills I learned there about training, workouts, recovery and etc. to support and develop the team here,” she said.

Past summers with Holloway entailed weight room two times a week; this season, Batchelor has yet to implement the weight room into training.

Batchelor is also emphasizing more speed work, including 1-kilometer and 300-meter repeats, having the team drill it twice a week.

So far, Batchelor said her runners are responding well to her guidance.

“The team’s morale and chemistry are amazing as the team captains have been working together really well,” said the coach, who also ran cross country for four years for the Wildcats. “I’m looking forward to seeing how everyone utilizes the skills they have been building during practices.”

Another transition Batchelor and her team will face this season concerns the new leagues they’ll be competing in. Last semester, CIF shuffled Southern Section schools and created new conferences and leagues. 

For the boys, they got assigned to the Century Conference’s North Hills League. Besides La Habra, the Lancers will compete against three new schools: Esperanza in Anaheim, Pacifica in Garden Grove and Crean Lutheran, a private school in Irvine.

“Entering into the Century Conference, I am excited to go against new schools to see new faces I can compete against,” Nguyen said. “Going against schools from the old Freeway league, like Troy, is exciting so we can continue our rivalry against them.”

While Sunny Hills and Troy girls teams remain in a league that goes by the same name as in the past, the cross country runners from both campuses will face off against Foothill in Tustin, Esperanza in Anaheim and El Dorado in Placentia.

“I’m happy to go against a familiar school such as Troy because I’ll see faces I know since the girls there are really nice and have great energy,” Espino said. “But I’m a little worried because I’m not familiar with how the new schools run or what their strategies are”

Instead of facing their league opponents three times in a season as in the past, the boys and girls squads will only do so twice with the first meet on Wednesday, Sept. 11, at Yorba Linda Regional Park.

Going into her third year of cross country, Espino said she hopes to grow from her past struggles of not pushing herself to her full potential like what happened last season.

“I plan on trusting that I am capable of keeping a fast pace so I can run at my fullest potential,” she said. “Some strategies I have for this year are being optimistic leading up to the races, hydrating and building my mileage.”

Gonzales struggled with not meeting her own expectations as well last season, but the Lady Lancers’ co-captain hopes to move on by looking at her failure as an opportunity to grow and improve.

“I hope to qualify for CIF as an individual, if not as a team,” she said.

On the other hand, the boys’ captain hopes to reach a goal that the team’s only met in his freshman year.

“Qualifying for CIF is one of our big goals and I think it’s definitely achievable,” Cha said. “As far as personal goals, I want to end my high school cross country career on a good note since I was injured all of last season and didn’t get to have my junior year experience.”

Batchelor said the energy of both teams has been amazing, as many runners have been coming to practice with an open mindset.

“The atmosphere is super positive, and we have a lot of people showing up to Saturday practices, which is great because getting people up in the morning to run is quite difficult,” she said.

However, the coach said some obstacles she and her runners have faced so far concern the heat as temperatures after Labor Day weekend hit 100 degrees or higher and a delay in the arrival of their uniforms, which didn’t arrive in time for the first non-league meet on Saturday, Aug. 31, at the Pomona Fairplex. 

Batchelor said she also has goals for her runners beyond just winning races.

“I hope that in this year we continue to grow the positive team culture that I have seen over the past several months,” Batchelor said. “My goals are to build up a team of athletes that are passionate about the sport and working together to succeed since this sport is so challenging mentally and physically.”