Whitney qualified 8 runners to compete at the state meet. Junior Katie Kopec, who was section champion a couple weeks ago, defeated all runners in a deep and elite field of D2 girls, to earn a trip to state as an individual. On the guys’ side, Whitney beat both “Vistas” (Vista Del Lago and Bella Vista) to claim the runners-up plaque and earn a team trip to state.
The boys race was first. Without a “low stick” (a runner who finishes near the front), our strategy needed to be very team-oriented, work together, pack it up and get our 5th man across the line as close to our first runner as possible. This is how we almost beat Folsom in league (19-second team spread, from 1-5), and how we did beat the Vistas at sections (23-second spread). At state, as crazy as it sounds, an individual crossing in the top 100 is a huge achievement, and something to focus on. Also, 400 points is historically a mid-teens team finish, which is very respectable, and something else for us to focus on. How many runners could we get in the top 100? James Bowen and Cole Jamieson ran really well, all the way to the end and ended up side by side in 84th and 85th. Seven seconds back in 94th was Mateo DelGadillo. Just 3 seconds later in 102nd was Nick Herrmann. Sophomore Noah Lopez gave us a gritty performance to close that 5th man gap as much as possible, with Hunter Schwab and Brandon Olah rounding out the state team. Our guys did pretty well in getting 3 and almost 4 across in the top 100. And very interestingly, the point total we were aiming for at 400 is exactly what our final score was… 400! This was good enough for 16th place. Congratulations to our boys, none of whom had ever run at state nor even on the Woodward Park course.
A couple races after the boys race came Katie’s turn. Given her performances at league and at sections, we felt she had a shot at two marks… 1) Top 10, and 2) break 18 minutes at Woodward Park. The race started as usual, a 400m dash, where Katie was somewhere in the 30’s as far as place. She did a terrific job of being patient and settling into a smart pace, while being aggressive enough to hit a mile target of between 5:30 and 5:35. She went through in 5:33, so right on pace. She had moved up to about 26th place at this point. By the time she passed the midpoint and was heading up the long hill in the back, she was 14th and climbing. At the two mile mark, she was moving into 12th. Note of history here… Whitney’s best individual place at state all-time was Austin Vasquez, who placed 12th in 2019; and that’s where Katie was with a mile to go. By the time she reached the far turn with 600m to go, she had worked her way up to 8th place. And in the home stretch she moved into 7th where she held to the finish. Katie’s time? 17:57. The first ever sub-18-minute mark on a certified 5K course for any girl in Whitney history. Top 10 and sub-18! This is undoubtedly one of the most impressive performances ever in the Whitney Distance Program.
Congratulations Katie on a very historic season!
This officially concludes the Whitney Cross Country 2021 Season. We once again hit many milestones and reached many goals. This is a huge testament to the large group of amazing student athletes who know what team commitment is and to never quit. The character of these young runners is the backbone of our ongoing success as one of the top programs around. It is not easy to face adversity and persevere through it, and to not give up. Life skills, character, and integrity are even more significant than tempo runs, hill repeats, and race day 🙂 We are very proud to say our runners have the right perspective of relying on each other, celebrating one another’s opportunities and achievements, and trusting the long and difficult process it takes to be successful in this sport. Thank you to all of our runners and families who sacrifice so much for the team.
See y’all for track season!!!