The Oakmont Invitational had to be moved from Maidu Park onto the Oakmont campus, due to construction. And then the date had to be moved a week later, due to smoky conditions. But the meet finally happened, and Whitney had a very good showing. Every runner ran 4K, which is about two and a half miles.
Varsity Girls
The first race was varsity girls. Junior Tyler Williams and sophomore Sophie Bowen ran their first varsity race, both finishing in the top 25 and affecting the score. They joined varsity returners from 2020, including juniors Katie Kopec and Mariana Blanding, and sophomores Ava Kopec and Grace Scott. Mariana ran most of the race with Sophie and Tyler. Grace finished in the top 10 with a fast time of 15:41, which puts her in the top 10 on the all-time Whitney list. Ava finished 4th, putting her 5th all-time. And Katie missed beating Coach Seawell’s school record by 5 seconds, going 14:31, and placing 3rd. Whitney varsity girls placed 2nd as a team.
Varsity Boys
For the varsity boys race, junior Jaden Rapp ran his first varsity race, mixing in really well with a pack of returners from 2020, many of them fellow juniors… Nick Herrmann, Callum Turner (hanging on after an aggressive start), and Brandon Olah. Also in the mix were two seniors… Hunter Schwab, who has trained extremely well this summer to become very consistent, and James Bowen, who climbed from behind the maroon pack to outkick all of them by the finish. In all, 6 Whitney runners finished within 20 seconds of each other. Our top two runners were juniors Cole Jamieson and Mateo DelGadillo, both finishing in the top 10. Cole ran a fast 13:06, which puts him #11 Whitney all-time, and Mateo went 13:14, good enough for 14th all-time. Whitney placed 2nd in team scoring.
Sophomore Boys
Our largest squad on the team is sophomore boys. Newcomers Joey Gloria and Carter McBride ran well, with Joey running his first ever high school race at Oakmont. Charlie Peek outdistanced a couple of Folsom runners to finish 22nd. Akanis Surapak continues to rise, nearly cracking the top 20 for a medal. Just ahead of him was the tandem of Landon Wibbeler and Mikey Payan, grabbing the last two medals, with Peyton Boyd half a minute ahead in 16th. Another tandem, Perry Hutchinson and David Hurren went 11th and 12th. A trio of Wildcats… Joel Tajiri, Brendan Whitmore, and Noah Reed, all finished in the top 6. And top sophomore Noah Lopez placed 2nd overall, nearly winning for the second time in as many meets. With 4 runners in the top 6, and 6 runners in the top 12, Whitney dominated in team scoring.
Frosh Soph Girls
This was the race with the highest percentage of Whitney runners not available to race. Or some of our runners were returning from illness or injury and not at full strength, such as Tess Curtis and Taylor Bettencourt, who used the buddy system to work side by side, just behind Mandy Rao by about 5 places. Mallory Turner did really well to break 20 minutes and nearly break into the top 30. Addie Keyes was a wonderful surprise, finishing 23rd while breaking 19 minutes in her first ever high school cross country race. And top runner Izzy Soto continues to be impressive, placing 7th overall as Whitney’s 4th fastest girl on the day.
Freshman Boys
Our freshman boys placed 3rd as a team, with all 7 of our runners finishing in the top 30. Max Bowen, Aaron Humphries, and Jack Regan provided depth for Brady Quinn and the duo of Victor Needham and Tyler Kubota, who paced off each other to finish together in the top 20. Consistent top freshman runner Cody Wagner came close to an individual victory, crossing the line in 2nd place overall.
JV Girls
In a small field of runners, the JV girls were the only complete team. Rachel Tajiri pushed to the front early and kept the pace quick for a convincing win and a time that was the 8th fastest Whitney girl at the meet. Ashlyn Fujioka placed second and hit a lifetime PR by 40 seconds, which is hard to do as a senior to continue that kind of improvement. Fellow seniors Kylee Wibbeler and Cailin Fitzgerald were next in 3rd and 4th. Maybe the most impressive race was Anna Giorgi, who was 30 seconds behind two Oakmont girls heading up the hill into the final loop, only to arrive at the track well ahead of both of them to place 5th and ensure the Wildcat sweep.
JV Boys
Possibly the most exciting finish of the day was the final race, the JV boys. Junior Aidan Barkve and senior Connor Jacoby ran like they were on a mission. Setting a solid pace early and putting themselves in position to challenge the lead runners, both passed several runners heading into the stadium for the final 300m. Aidan and Connor nearly caught the one remaining Folsom runner ahead of them to finish 2nd and 3rd respectively. It was a close battle with Folsom all day, and so it was fitting that it came down to Whitney and Folsom in the last race. Junior Dario Ruscica was 5th, just 5 seconds ahead of the next Folsom runner. Senior Levi Chadwick also placed in the top 10, and Corbin Peek and Alex Wan added the necessary depth to outscore Folsom by 3 points and win the JV race.