September 17, 2008 > Mission Valley Athletic League Cross-Country 2008 Mission Valley Athletic League Cross-Country 2008 By Idorenyin Uto-Uko The 2008 Mission Valley Athletic League cross country season could be about as open and uneven as the trails which the teams run. Gone are last year's league champions Martin Mwangi of Newark Memorial and Beth Raymond of Washington. The two have taken their talents to strong Division I college programs. Mwangi, an All-NCS scholar-athlete in cross-county and track and field is competing for the Aggies of U.C.Davis. Raymond an All-NCS athlete in her own right decided to stay local and run for the upstart Spartans of San Jose State University. Last year the Washington boys convincingly ran away with the MVAL Championship. They beat their nearest competitor American, by 40 points. The girls almost won a league championship of their own but lost to a tough Irvington team by one point. Cross-Country is a unique sport. The lowest scoring team wins a meet or invitational. There are seven runners that may score on a given team. A runner's point is the place that they finish in a meet. The best score a team can finish with is 15 (first place to fifth). The league is very exciting this season so mark your calendar to watch your favorite MVAL team. Below is the schedule for seven MVAL meets. Each team has a week of rest ("bye") from competition at some point in the season. Meet # 1 Wednesday, September 24 Newark Memorial @ Irvington James Logan @ Mission San Jose Washington @ Kennedy BYE American Meet # 2 Wednesday, October 1 Kennedy @ Newark Memorial Irvington @ Mission San Jose James Logan @ American BYE Washington Meet # 3 Wednesday, October 8 American@ Irvington Mission San Jose@ Kennedy Newark Memorial @ Washington BYE James Logan Meet #4 Wednesday, October 15 Mission San Jose @ Washington Kennedy @American Irvington @ James Logan BYE Newark Memorial Meet #5 Wednesday, October 22 James Logan @ Kennedy Newark Memorial @ Misson San Jose Washington @American BYE American Meet # 6 Wednesday, October 29 Kennedy @ Irvington Washington @ James Logan American @ Newark Memorial BYE Mission San Jose Meet # 7 Wednesday, November 5 Irvington @ Washington American @ Mission San Jose Newark Memorial @ James Logan BYE Kennedy MVAL Cross Country Finals: Thursday November 13, 2008 @ Newark Memorial NCS Meet of Championships: Saturday, November 22, 2008 CIF Cross Country Championships: November 29, 2008@ Woodward Park in Fresno