Most high school cross- country teams would be satis- fied with the season Royal High had last year. They won the state title and finished sixth overall in the nation. But Royal's boys' squad isn't satisfied yet.

Although the Highlanders won the state title for the second straight year and the Marmonte League title for the sixth con- secutive time, the team was dis- appointed to not win the gold at the Nike Invitational that would've made them the top team in the United States.

With many runners returning for the 2006 season, RHS is ready to make another run at the title.

"Last year's team was pretty special but we really wanted to bring home a national champion- ship," Royal head coach Ryan Luce said.

"Our first goal is to win state, but we also want to win the na- tional championship. Not just bring it back to our school but also to California where there are so many good runners. We want to bring a gold back to the Golden State," he said.

Seniors Hudson Andrews, Michael Cybulski, Jun Reichl, Danny Benson and junior Alex Routh lead the 2006 team.

"We are going for No. 1 this year," Reichl said. "We would be happy with our No. 6 finish last year if we had run a good race, but we didn't."

Cybulski said he thinks the team has improved and is work- ing harder than ever to make sure they get the gold medal before he graduates at the end of this year.

"We are even stronger this year as a team," Cybulski said. "We have all been running together on this team since I was a sophomore so we've bonded well. I think one of the keys to our success is run- ning together. When we have five guys running in a pack near the front, we are tough to beat."

One reason the Highlanders have been successful in recent years is because of Luce.

He has coached the team for six years, winning the Marmonte League every year. RHS won the state title the last two years but also finished second in the state in 2003 and 2001. Luce also teaches biology at Royal.

"When I came in to coach this team I was new to the program so I had a lot of fresh ideas and a lot of energy," Luce said.

"As far as weaknesses on this team there really isn't any. We train very well and the team gets along very well. One person's goal is the same as everyone else's on the team. We handle the pressure of being one of the top teams very well and I just try and make every team better than the year before," he said.

According to Luce, another reason for Royal's success is that the team takes no one for granted. The Highlanders treat every race as if it were the toughest.

"We don't take anyone for granted and we make sure we are prepared to run against every- one," Luce said. "The Marmonte League is very competitive and we treat every team as an equal. We know we are good, but there is a difference between being con- fident and cocky. We just want to make sure our legs do the talking, not our mouths."

According to Benson, the players share Luce's philosophy.

"We don't put ourselves on a pedestal or anything," Benson said. "We never underestimate anyone and we'd actually like to think we are friends with most of the other teams in our league. They run like us, sweat like us, and want to win as bad as us."

One of the ways RHS prepares for its meets is by doing what the team calls "hill repeats."

"When we practice here at Royal, we have some huge hills we

go on," Cybulski said. "I think thais a huge benefit for us because by the time we go to our meets like Mount Sac, we are used to it." The captain of the teamAndrews, thinks this team has prepared well for the upcoming yeaand likes Royal's chances.

"We worked quite a bit in the summer," Andrews said. "We are working on staying consistent and sticking to the basics. We try to stay off flat surfaces and do a loof hill running." Luce believes the team habeen working harder than ever to get another shot at the nationachampionship and hopes all the hard work pays off.

"These are all good kids," Luce said. "Most of the succesgoes to them. It has been a snowball effect with them as the oldekids seem to pick up the youngekids and make them believe they can win any race."