For the second consecutive year, Whitney girls and boys both earned team berths to the CIF State Championship Meet. Each squad rose up at the section meet to leave no doubt that Whitney was ready to compete at the state meet. The girls resoundingly defended their D2 section title, holding off nearest competitor and state-ranked Granite Bay by a comfortable margin. And for the boys, who beat the rankings by holding off both Rocklin and Bella Vista, they shocked #2 ranked Vacaville to claim D2 runner-up. If it weren’t for a quirky rule that brought Jesuit from D1 to D2 this season, our boys would have successfully defended their D2 title as well. As it ended up, section runner-up isn’t too shabby. So with both squads meeting or exceeding expectations at the section level, would they have anything left to rise up yet again on the biggest stage at Woodward Park? The answer is a resounding “Yes”. Our boys, who had not been in the top 10 state rankings, once again surprised many folks by placing 9th at state. And the girls, who had been ranked 6th or 7th in the state, made even bigger history by placing an unimaginable 2nd place, the highest finish ever for a Whitney team at state.
There were plenty of achievements that came along with Whitney’s performance at the state meet in 2023:
- 4th time Whitney has qualified both boys and girls for the state meet (2022, 2018, 2012)
- Streak of state meet appearances kept alive by the boys… since 2016
- Streak of top 5 for both varsity teams at sections… since 2016
- 11 runners hit lifetime PR’s at state meet… not just course bests, and not just season bests, but lifetime 5K personal bests
- Boys were 9th … 3rd highest finish ever for a Whitney team at state
- Boys 4th top 10 finish at state in the last 5 state meets (2018, 2019, 2022)
- Girls were 2nd … highest finish ever for any Whitney team at state
- Second consecutive top 10 finish for both the boys and the girls at state
- The girls team average of 18:37 was the fastest for any girls team in the Sac Joaquin Section since 2016, regardless of division
- Our girls were just 8 seconds per runner from tying Ventura on points, and our 6th girl was ahead of theirs, meaning winning the tie-breaker and winning the state championship
It should also be mentioned that Whitney girls beat both Los Altos and St. Francis Mountainview. Los Altos was 2022’s state champions and ranked #1 in D2 this season statewide. They were also ranked as high as 23rd in the nation. St. Francis Mountainview, whom our girls came within 2 points of defeating while running a faster team time at Monterey in September, had improved dramatically and rose up to beat Los Altos in their section championship. This prompted a top-30 national ranking for St. Francis Mountainview. Ventura was ranked 14th in the nation going into the state meet. Whitney beat both Los Altos and St. Francis Mountainview, two top-30 nationally ranked opponents, and came within 29 points of the #14 team in the nation. Although a post-state meet ranking has not appeared, by the data it is safe to say Whitney girls are a top-30 team in national rankings.
The other side story is what our Whitney runners are doing to affect positive change in our section. If a team goes to state representing the SJS section as the top team, that team is expected to make the section look good. Southern section power Ventura, with one of the top-ranked individuals in the nation, was the only team Whitney girls did not beat in the state of California. No doubt the Lady ‘Cats took care of business. Our boys did their part securing a top 10 team place along with fellow SJS programs Jesuit and Vacaville. With all three boys teams from our section placing in the top 10, the CIF will begin to consider awarding our section an additional berth to the state meet, raising our total boys team berths in D2 from three to four spots. That’s a huge detail, considering D1 Jesuit has moved into our division and will claim a spot every year.
MEN’S DIVISION TWO RACE
The state meet was the culmination of a season where our varsity boys were following up the most decorated Whitney XC team in history. The 2022 team featured 5 seniors, 3 of whom were among the fastest runners in the section. Only two runners returned in 2023 from that team, current seniors David Hurren and Noah Lopez. Those outside the program didn’t view the 2023 iteration the same as the 2022 team, which may have lit a fire under David and Noah to lead their team to its highest point. Finishing in the top 10 at state was certainly not the likeliest scenario, and no top 10 rankings included Whitney. But on the final race day of the season, the Wildcats defeated numerous teams ranked ahead of them on their way to placing an eye-opening 9th at the state championships.
Once our boys outdid the section rankings to finish as D2 runner-ups, our talking points leading up to the state meet became more ambitious. Three of the previous 6 state teams placed in the teens (18th, 17th, 16th), while the other 3 previous state teams placed in the top 10 (10th, 8th, 4th). The 2023 team seemed to be right in between these two outcomes. According to data analysis, it seemed this team might finish around 12th at state. Could they rise up and crack into the top 10? That would take beating the 16:30 team average, another talking point. If David could break 16 like he did once before, that would certainly help the average; but the balance of the top 5 would have to break 17, with some having to do it by more than a few seconds. Our team spread had been pretty tight all year, and recent workouts indicated this as a continued strength. So if David could get into the 15:50’s, and if his teammates could ensure all scorers finish in under a minute from him, top 10 was certainly a possibility.
As the race unfolded, David hit a 4:58 mile, right on target. Noah was just a few seconds back. And the rest of the team was all within about 10 seconds, with the front 7 getting through the mile mark at 5:10. Knowing Whitney typically improves on team place after the opening frame, going through in 16th place was not immediately concerning. In 2022, the team went through in 10th and finished 4th. With that symmetry, could the 2023 team get up to 10th? And 10th is exactly where the sensors put us with a mile to go. David powered through with a very strong final mile to crack into the top 40, placing 39th in an impressive lifetime 5K PR of 15:50. Noah had a strong race to finish 62nd in 16:10, significant in meeting the objective of sub-16:30 team average. Things were looking good! Joel was next, just 10 seconds behind Noah… 75th in 16:20, hitting a lifetime 5K PR that puts him in the top 20 all-time at Whitney. Things were looking really good! Just 14 spots later, and still under 16:30 was our 4th man, the lone junior on the squad, Jackson Geiselman racing a personal best, making that top 10 finish even more of a reality. Before a minute passed from David’s finish came Perry Hutchinson in 16:48, also a 5K PR, completing our top 5 scoring with a team spread of just 58 seconds. Ty Ertel was just 3 seconds back, also hitting a lifetime PR, followed by Noah Reed who nailed a PR as well, rounding out our top 7. Both David and Joel managed a final mile just one second off their first mile split, and Jackson was nearly as even with only a 7-second positive split. No wonder the trio passed a combined 30 runners in the final mile. According to the split technology, without that forward movement, Whitney would have finished in 12th place as a team. But with an even-split final mile from David, Joel, and Jackson, a top 10 team finish was the result.
The 2023 iteration of Whitney men’s XC has been even more senior-heavy than 2022, with 6 seniors in the postseason line-up. Despite the ever-changing line-up as new members to the front 7 eventually graduate out, Whitney has proven to be a fixture at the state meet. Talent? Certainly. But more pertinent is the character element. This year’s roster augments a tradition of character, commitment, and culture. David, Noah, Joel, Jackson, Perry, Ty, and Noah didn’t just rise up and find a way to earn a league title, a section runner-up, and a top-10 state finish. They did it the right way.
WOMEN’S DIVISION TWO
As of late in the 2022 season, the Whitney Girls Varsity Cross Country Team has been at the forefront of local, regional, and now state-wide recognition. The last time a local or regional opponent beat these girls was settling for 2nd by one point at league finals in 2022. Two weeks later, an incredible winning streak began. At the time, that race was arguably the greatest race in Whitney history. It was 2022 Section Championships when our first four girls very unexpectedly placed in the top 7, on the way to a nearly 40-point victory over two highly ranked teams. But even considering the impact and accolades of that race, the 2023 state race for our girls may now be the greatest race in Whitney history. For numbers, the team average was 18:37, which is by far the fastest team effort in school history. As for optics, the team stood on the podium at the California State Championships hoisting a 2nd place trophy. Lots of other ways to look at this dazzling result, but it’s all about the 7 runners and the months and years of steady work and commitment, and the resolve to put everything on the line for the biggest race. Seeing these girls race a near perfect race is the biggest reason history was made.
The race started with the usual mad dash to the front by many runners who would not be able to keep the pace. Two things about the Whitney girls’ start… 1) they stayed poised, settled, and did not get caught up in the scamper, and 2) even with the controlled effort, these girls are so fast, they were already above mid-pack. Talking points were for Karissa Chamberlain to go through mile one in 5:45 to 5:50; she hit 5:48. The rest of the maroon pack was to pace for 5:50 to 6 minutes at the mile mat, and they were all in the range of 5:49 to 5:56. And again, controlled, relaxed, poised… it couldn’t have been a better first mile for the team. The fact that Whitney showed up in 6th place at the mile was great news because we knew our girls would gain plenty of ground in that 2nd mile.
When Karissa was coming up Killer Hill just before the 2-mile mark, she had moved into 19th place. Jane Landon, Addi Ewers, Grace Scott, and Ava Kopec were each running so well, there were no vulnerable gaps between maroon jerseys, meaning at no point were we giving up lots of points. The girls were painting a masterpiece!
Historically, most movement during a state race at Woodward Park happens in the second mile. As well as our girls were running, what would the leader board reveal at the final mile marker? Whitney, it showed, was all the way up to 2nd place! And the girls still looked strong. With 600 meters to go, MVP Karissa had bettered her 19th position to finish 16th in 18:12, shattering her previous PR by half a minute, and establishing herself as the 2nd fastest Whitney girl of all time, behind only the legendary Katie Kopec. When you have a top 20 finisher, that’s impressive. What’s lethal is when you have a runner finish up that well and there’s no large gaps after her. No sooner had Karissa gone by and there was Jane, who finished 25th with a blazing 18:30, a PR by over half a minute that puts her 3rd on Whitney’s all-time list. Charging hard, passing 5 more runners with a 5:53 final mile to match her 5:53 first mile, was Addi Ewers who bounded in just two seconds after Jane to place 26th; her time of 18:32 was a 48-second PR and puts her as the 4th fastest Whitney runner all-time. Most Improved Whitney Athlete Grace Scott also PR’d, hitting 18:44 in 35th place to keep the maroon swarm coming; Grace is now 8th on the all-time list. That’s 4 runners under 19 minutes, and one of our talking points was to average under 19 minutes to have a shot at the podium. Ava was next and finished very strong to hit right at 19 flat, moving up 2 spots in the final mile to claim 42nd, and is 9th on the all-time list. There are many good teams at state who don’t have a single runner place in the top 50, and Whitney girls were all done scoring. Sophie, not running a hundred percent healthy, still hit 19:21 for 65th place–the first 6th girl of any team, so had there been a tie, Whitney would own the tie-breaker on every team in the entire field. And just as impressively, a mere two seconds later was Izzy in 69th place, by far the first 7th runner to reach the finish line of any other team in the race; the next 7th runner was champion Ventura in 95th (after that was Granite Bay, who was the third team to get their 7th runner across in 128th). Izzy as our 7th finisher displaced scoring runners from every team except Ventura and St. Francis Mountainview. In fact, she got in before Los Altos’ #3 runner, and Los Altos was ranked #23 in the nation before the state meet.
How historic was this effort by our varsity girls?
- The team average was 18:37, the first time Whitney has ever averaged under 19 minutes in a race
- 3 of the 4 fastest 5K times in Whitney history were run in this race (Karissa, Jane, Addi), with only 5K record-holder Katie Kopec having posted a faster time
- The team time was 93:01 which was a Whitney record by more than 2 minutes
- Six of the top 10 spots on the all-time list are members of this team
- The last time a team from the Sac Joaquin Section ran this fast was 2016, any division
- These girls were 8 seconds per runner from winning the D2 State Championship
- Fewer than 20 teams in Sac Joaquin Section history have ever had a team (boys or girls) on the podium at the state meet; our girls join that elite group
- Los Altos, last year’s D2 state champions, were ranked 23rd in the nation prior to this year’s state meet; St. Francis Mountainview was ranked 29th in the nation going into the state meet; Whitney defeated both teams, arguably establishing a top-30 national ranking
END OF 2022 SEASON
The state meet marks the official end of high school cross country team competition. It also marks the end of a high school cross country career for each of our many wonderful seniors… Taylor Bettencourt, Kaylee Holyoak, Sophie Bowen, Ava Kopec, Grace Scott, and Karissa Chamberlain on the girls’ side, and a long list of boys including Peyton Boyd, Joey Gloria, Carter McBride, Caden Martin, Akanis Surapak, Landon Wibbeler, Noah Reed, Ty Ertel, Joel Tajiri, Noah Lopez, Perry Hutchinson, and David Hurren. Most of these student athletes are 4-year athletes, demonstrating a high level of character and commitment. Their story will be told and retold to current and future generations of Whitney runners hearing how to do things the right way to achieve the highest marks and deliver the highest potential. Congratulations to all of our runners who played a part in lifting Whitney Cross Country to two top 10 state finishes for the second consecutive year, 9th place and 2nd place at the California State Championships!