There is always a contingent of cross country teams from Nevada at the NU Invite, giving Whitney a different set of jerseys to race, mixed in with some of our usual local opponents. Some of the Nevada programs we raced on Saturday were the best in Nevada, and our Wildcats still placed near the top in every race, despite having a depleted squad, as 16 of our runners were not able to compete, mostly due to illness.
JV GIRLS
Freshman Izzy Soto was almost the 17th runner for us to not be able to compete, but we avoided a time conflict as she was able to do the earliest race, the JV girls. That ended up being a memorable move as she took control of the race in the final mile to win convincingly. Supporting a strong team score were reliable seniors Ashlyn Fujioka and Kylee Wibbeler, both steadily working their way up to finish 4th and 5th. Fellow seniors Cailin Fitzgerald and Anna Giorgi gave solid efforts to help Whitney place 3rd as a team, just 4 points from 2nd place.
JV BOYS
In another memorable race, junior Aidan Barkve and senior Connor Jacoby followed up on last week’s thrilling Oakmont finish to claim 1st and 2nd. A week ago, Aidan and Connor climbed up past every runner and almost caught the leader. This time, Aidan took control well before the finish, while Connor put on a vicious kick in the final 100 meters to seize 2nd place; he collapsed after the line, then immediately got up to congratulate his opponent in a terrific show of sportsmanship. Not sure if that was quite the kick of the day though, as senior Levi Chadwick came into the stadium in 11th, but saw a runner about 20 meters ahead and put on the afterburners to grab the top 10 spot. Even that may not have been the kick of the day. Junior Corbin Peek had a similar opportunity, put on the turbo charger and flew past a runner with 40 meters to go. Junior Tyler Herceg and senior Alex Wan closed with strong efforts as well. Interestingly, the final scoring shows 3 teams within one point of each other, with Whitney unfortunately being 3rd of those three. We needed one more opportunity for a finishing kick!
VARSITY GIRLS
Junior standout Katie Kopec continued her stellar season placing 2nd (behind one of the top runners in Northern Cal). Her 3-mile time puts her 12th in the section at that distance; this is especially impressive since the NU course is probably 30 seconds slower than any other 3 mile course where these times are posted. Sophomore Ava Kopec showed her strength, outlasting other top contenders to finish 4th. With two of our usual top 4 girls out, the Kopec sisters needed three girls to round out a 5-person team. Senior Rachel Tajiri, junior Tyler Williams, and sophomore Sophie Bowen filled in the varsity positions beautifully. The three packed up to work their way up through the line of runners in a great show of teamwork. They all crossed in the top 50 from a large field of well over a hundred runners to ensure a 4th place team finish.
VARSITY BOYS
In a race that featured many top runners, it wasn’t til midway through the varsity boys race that we saw some Whitney runners work up to the top 30. Eventually, our familiar junior trio of Cole Jamieson, Mateo DelGadillo, and Nick Herrmann finished 17th, 18th, and 21st, followed by senior James Bowen and junior Jaden Rapp (showing terrific improvement). Those top 5 had a spread of less than a minute, which is very effective. Even though we didn’t have a runner in the top 15, we had our scoring 5 in the top 40, ensuring a 3rd place team finish–missing 2nd place by only 6 points. Juniors Callum Turner and Brandon Olah and senior Hunter Schwab provided the depth to be one of the top teams at the meet.
FROSH SOPH GIRLS
Although 12 girls on our roster were not able to race on Saturday, we did get two back, as the Holyoak sisters returned. Sophomore Kaylee continues to rise in her first season as a distance runner, as our top frosh soph runner finishing in the top 20. Not far behind, and running with Kaylee for much of the race, fellow sophomore Katie Hart was 22nd. Freshman Addie Keyes is another nice surprise and finished 27th. Fellow freshmen Sophia Sauer and Mandy Rao buddied up to finish 34th and 35th. And just a few places later was Mallory Turner, followed closely by Mykenzie Holyoak (still not a hundred percent) for an impressive team showing by all of our freshman girls. The team placed 5th.
FROSH SOPH BOYS
Our most dominant team performance came at the end of the meet. Not to jinx anything, but this frosh soph Whitney squad is not only undefeated going on two seasons, but continues to win by huge margins. At NU, Whitney won by 50 points–and that’s with two of our top runners out! Sophomore Noah Lopez once again battled at the front, eventually finishing 2nd. Fellow sophomores Joel Tajiri, Noah Reed, and David Hurren went 4th, 6th, and 7th, followed closely by surprising freshman Cody Wagner in 8th. Five in the top 8 ensures a dominant team victory. Our next 5 runners–sophomores Peyton Boyd (great race Saturday!), Landon Wibbeler, and Mikey Payan, and freshmen Tyler Kubota and Victor Needham–outscored all but 6 of the other teams in the race. Let’s say that again… our 2nd five would have placed 7th against all the other teams’ top 5’s. Sophomores Charlie Peek and Akanis Surapak, and freshmen Max Bowen, Aaron Humphries, and Jack Regan, with newcomers sophomores Carter McBride and Joey Gloria provided the depth to one of the strongest squads in the region.
Overall, Whitney placed top 5 or better as a team in every race … 5th, 4th, three 3rd’s, and one team win. Individually, we had two winners, and 17 runners placed in the top 20.