Sierra College (Rocklin, CA)
This past Saturday was not only a meet, but our home meet that we hosted. So before I go any further, the biggest shout-out goes to the 40-plus parent volunteers who filled all the slots for parking lot attendants, course monitors, check-in table, snack bar, finish line, and many other ways people helped out. I’m proud to say the meet was a huge success, with many visiting coaches, athletes, and parents offering very positive feedback. Again, thank you all very much !!!
Frosh soph girls started the day with another epic battle between freshman Grace Lathrop and the sophomore stud Abby Fletcher from Oak Ridge. These two ladies battled side by side at Oakmont the week before, with Abby winning. At Sierra, once again they were shoulder to shoulder coming out of the woods with Grace barely edging Abby this time. These two young ladies are very talented, and happen to be in the same league, so they figure to be good competitors for awhile.
It wasn’t just Grace and Abby going head to head. The Whitney girls and Oak Ridge girls teams were neck and neck as well. Grace won, but Oak Ridge went 2nd, 3rd, 4th. But then Kirsten Ransford, Grace Pierce, Jessica Becker, and Haley Bedrin were all across the line in the top 12 before Oak Ridge’s 4th and 5th runners came in, and that was the difference in the scoring. Whitney edged out Oak Ridge 31-35 (remember, in XC, low score wins :-)) And as if that wasn’t enough, Emily Peterson, Hailey Kelly, and Olivia Sauer were all right behind, so we had 8 girls in the top 19 finishers! I have a lot of respect for the Oak Ridge program, with great coaches and a wonderful tradition. It will be exciting competing against them now that we’re all in the Sierra Foothill League together.
One other highlight worth noting … freshman Anna Giorgi began the race at the back of the pack. She set a smart pace and meticulously worked through the very challenging Sierra terrain (very “Whitney-esque” approach). And by the end of her 2-mile race, she had caught and passed 12 runners! Great job Anna!
Frosh soph boys … very similar to their lady teammates, Whitney came away with a team win. Sophomore Jason Finta, who is running amazingly well after a great summer of conditioning, almost claimed the second individual Whitney victory of the day, but crossed the line in a close 2nd. Tyler Hawkins and Byron Chadwick ran super strong too, going 4th and 6th respectively. The final team score showed Whitney edging Placer 56-61, which is huge, because Placer’s program is very strong. Like Oak Ridge, they are fast and very well-coached.
Varsity girls … congratulations Brooke Giorgi = 1st place! Brooke worked hard, racing against a St. Mary’s runner, but outlasted her and emerged from the woods with a lead and finished strong. Her teammates Mikayla Barkve, Sarah Davis, Emily Britt, Melanie Walsh, and Emma Totaro all came in strong too, securing a 3rd place team finish.
Varsity boys … Ethan Dodge and Austin Vasquez once again provided a solid 1-2 punch up front, finishing 4th and 5th respectively. Brenden Jacoby and Jacob Harbert both finished in the top 25, with Aidan Redding, Logun De La Mora, Connor Hedman and Sam Hernandez all finishing in the front half of the field of runners. The team took 4th place.
We did not have a JV girls team, but our JV boys placed 3rd. Chanakya Sharma, Jared Regan, Robby Jones, Peter Casinias, and Christian Cunningham pack ran, all placing from 10th to 21st place to claim 3rd in the team scoring. Chanakya, who was unable to join us for summer conditioning (because he was off on a 7-week course in the mid-west earning a pilot’s license!!!) is getting stronger and rounding into good form.
Great job by all our Wildcats runners. This Saturday is a bye, and then we get ready to travel for our overnighter to Salinas next weekend.