After meeting our annual goal at Subsections of qualifying 7 squads of 7 runners for Section Championships, the big day came for the Wildcats to perform on the biggest stage of the season. When all 7 races were done and in the books, each of the 7 squads either matched the team place at subsections, or improved on it. Among the biggest accomplishments… we had a team earn a berth to state, we had an individual win and become section champion, and we had a team win a section title. Pretty good for a day’s work against the best competition in the region.
JV BOYS
2nd, all divisions combined
The big day began for us with JV Boys toeing the line, knowing they had a shot at a top 3 spot, all divisions combined. With a 3rd place finish at Subsections, and then pulling #1 finisher Brandon Olah up to run varsity, top 3 was no sure thing. But Aidan Barkve has been a frequent low stick, and didn’t disappoint with an impressive 3rd place finish. Then, in his best race of the season, Levi Chadwick climbed many runners, including his own teammates to place in the top 10. Dario Ruscica was right behind in 11th, and with three already in, the team score was going to be strong. Jaden Rapp worked hard to hang onto 14th, followed by Connor Jacoby and Callum Turner each in the top 30. The team effort pulled Whitney into 2nd place, just 3 points ahead of Folsom, who had beaten us at subsections by quite a margin. Our guys really stepped up!
JV GIRLS
3rd, all divisions combined
Our JV Girls had only 5 runners at Subsections, but still qualified for finals by placing 4th. For the championships, top frosh/soph runners Alishia Elie and Kaylee Holyoak were moved up to JV. This move gave the squad some depth, and it paid off. Alishia was 5th overall, then came Kylee Wibbeler in 16th, followed by Kaylee who also finished in the top 25. This was Alishia’s and Kaylee’s first 5K. Ashanti Elie was just two places behind Kaylee, then Cailin Fitzgerald just 5 places back. Anna Giorgi and Jaqui Alvarez finished strong as well, with Jaqui managing a lifetime PR on a course where it is tough to PR. The JV girls finished 3rd, just 4 points behind 2nd place Bella Vista.
VARSITY BOYS
2nd in D2, 6th in the unofficial combined result
Maybe the race with the most at stake was varsity boys. Being in a virtual tie with two other teams and only two spots to state among the 3 teams meant we would need to perform our best. With our front runners about equal to Bella Vista’s and Vista Del Lago’s front runners, we felt our best chance would be to push our 5th-7th runners in before “the Vista’s” 5th runners. James Bowen was our number one runner for the first time, and finished right with both Vista’s top runners, all 3 within 2 seconds of each other. But then Nick Herrmann and Mateo DelGadillo came in less than 5 seconds from James, so Whitney had 3 in before either Vista had their 2nd man. That was a really good sign. Our 4th runner, Hunter Schwab, got in before Bella Vista’s 3rd man and before Vista Del Lago’s 4th man, so again things were looking good. Less than 10 seconds later came our 5th and 6th, Noah Lopez and Cole Jamieson–both ahead of scoring runners from both Vistas. Brandon Olah as 7th man displaced scorers from Bella Vista, having gotten across before their 5th man. It was a fast and competitive race which the Whitney runners mastered, beating 3rd place Vista Del Lago by nearly 20 points, and Bella Vista by 50 points. Our varsity boys finished 2nd as a team, Section Runners-up! And a trip to state, keeping a streak alive for Whitney boys since 2016, the longest active streak in D2.
VARSITY GIRLS
5th in D2, 8th in the unofficial combined result
The star of the day was Katie Kopec. We went into the race knowing she could compete with all the front runners, but she made fact out of that by pacing with whomever was leading throughout the race, until the final quarter mile where she made the move to the lead and did not relent. What an incredible race and finish for Katie, hitting 18:07 on arguably the most challenging 5K course in the north state. Katie will be going to state as an individual, with a chance to finish among the fastest runners in the state. Grace Scott also had a great race, breaking 20 min on this tough course, finishing 21st, less than half a minute from the final individual qualifier to state. Izzy Soto was just about 40 seconds after Grace, capping off a terrific freshman season. Ashlyn Fujioka, Sophie Bowen, and Tyler Williams hooked up during the latter part of the race and all three finished just a few seconds apart. Ashlyn closed out her senior season on a very high note, hitting a time on the tough Willow Hill course in the 21:30’s. The team placed 5th, even though #2 runner Ava Kopec was unable to finish the race after a valiant effort to push through.
FROSH SOPH GIRLS
6th in D2, 13th in the unofficial combined result
Frosh soph girls placed 6th at subsections, and then we moved a couple of the top runners up to race the 5K on the JV squad. The girls still on the frosh soph squad rose up and made it an equivalent result. Katie Hart led the squad in a fast time of 15:34 over the 3400m course. Taylor Bettencourt, who showed great improvement this season, was 2nd for us about a half minute back. Mandy Rao and Mallory Turner paired up and finished just a couple seconds from each other, both in the top 40. Mykenzie Holyoak (running tough with sore shins), Sophia Sauer, and Brooklynn Casey rounded out our squad of seven to ensure a good team result.
FROSH BOYS
6th in D2, 11th in the unofficial combined result
Early in the week, illness hit one of our freshman boys, so we were down to six. Then by midweek, another was sick, so we had the minimum five to complete a scoring team. Fortunately, one did heal and returned by race day. Our consistent top frosh finisher was once again Cody Wagner. Fast rising Tyler Kubota was just 20 seconds back. Max Bowen, Jack Regan, Aaron Humphries, and Victor Needham provided the depth to equal the 6th place team finish from subsections.
SOPH BOYS
1st in D2, 1st in the unofficial combined result
This particular squad has been very strong since they showed up a year and a half ago as freshmen. And the way they keep improving, it wasn’t too outlandish to predict they might have a good shot at a section title as sophomores. With the ability of teams to move fast frosh up to shore up a soph squad, there was a little uncertainty as to what our toughest competitors might do. We typically try to go age pure, but another top team could bump up their fast freshmen and go for the team title. A couple of the top teams did combine, but Whitney still managed to get four of the first six runners across the line. Perry Hutchinson was 2nd overall, then David Hurren, Brendan Whitmore, and Noah Reed went 4-5-6 for a dominant top 4. The question was whether we would be vulnerable down to the 5th spot. But the way Peyton Boyd has been training and racing, that gap has been shrinking. Peyton only allowed 12 runners to cross after Noah, placing in the top 20, only about 40 seconds behind our lead pack. With Landon Wibbeler and Akanis Surapak not far behind displacing runners from other teams, Whitney was assured a commanding point spread. Whitney sophomore boys won by 65 points. Interestingly, the 2nd through 6th place teams all tangled to within 7 points of each other, between 88 and 95 points. Congratulations Whitney Sophomore Boys… you are 2021 Section Champions!
Most high school sports don’t have a postseason for any level other than varsity beyond league finals. We are lucky in cross country in the Sac Joaquin Section to have a full complement of races for as many runners as we have. But after Sections, there is only the state meet, which is only for varsity. Our girls team placed 5th, missing a state meet berth by two team places. But with Katie’s phenomenal and historic performance, she not only advances to the state meet, but will be highlighted as one of the top contenders in the Division Two race. Our boys team really took care of business, going into Section Finals in a scrum with two teams fighting for the last two spots, and coming out with a convincing section runner-up plaque. So our boys are heading to state as a team, where we will put our top 7 runners on the line with the best in California. Good luck Wildcats at the CIF State Championships, Saturday, November 27.