Capital Cross Challenge

Sacramento, CA

Whitney Cross Country was one of nearly 100 high schools (not to mention dozens of middle schools and colleges) to compete at Capital Cross Challenge. Even with many of the top programs in the area being at the meet, Whitney had some dominant showings.

The day started with our varsity girls. The smallest squad on our team is upper class girls. We had only 5 total junior and senior girls, but that’s enough to score as a team. Brooke Giorgi, Mikayla Barkve, Katelynne Finta, Emily Britt, and Melanie Walsh placed 11th as a team. Nice job ladies!

Varsity boys ran in the seeded race, in which entry has to be accepted by the meet host, as they want only the fastest teams. Our guys placed 10th among very tight competition, only 7 points from 6th place. Our three front runners used teamwork (something we work on quite a bit in our pacing and training) to be the fastest trio on the day. Ethan Dodge and Austin Vasquez each broke 16 minutes (2nd and 4th on the Whitney all-time list) and placed in the top 10 individually. Bennett Woodward was not far behind in 14th, nearly cracking the elusive 16-minute barrier, going 16:03.

Whitney domination especially showed up in both frosh-soph races, where our boys and girls teams each came away with first place. For the guys, Jason Finta settled in near the lead runners and patiently worked his way to the front til taking the lead for good in the final 1200. He won a new pair of Hoka shoes (congrats Jason!). Malachai Amore, Tyler Hawkins, Byron Chadwick, Aidan Ransford, and Max Sommerhauser–which by the way comprises the same group that won the freshman section title last season–all ran great to secure the team win over 2nd place Jesuit. For the ladies, Grace Lathrop battled Abby Fletcher once again and took 2nd individually. Natalie Eppler, Jessica Becker, Elena Collier, Kirsten Ransford, Grace Pierce, and Haley Bedrin were by far the strongest team of the day, placing 6 Whitney girls in the top 12 finishers. That’s unheard of, and beat Oak Ridge, St. Francis, Davis and Woodcreek in the process, by an impressive margin of 80 points. That is outstanding!

Whitney domination especially showed up in both frosh-soph races, where our boys and girls teams each came away with first place. For the guys, Jason Finta settled in near the lead runners and patiently worked his way to the front til taking the lead for good in the final 1200. He won a new pair of Hoka shoes (congrats Jason!). Malachai Amore, Tyler Hawkins, Byron Chadwick, Aidan Ransford, and Max Sommerhauser–which by the way comprises the same group that won the freshman section title last season–all ran great to secure the team win over 2nd place Jesuit. For the ladies, Grace Lathrop battled Abby Fletcher once again and took 2nd individually. Natalie Eppler, Jessica Becker, Elena Collier, Kirsten Ransford, Grace Pierce, and Haley Bedrin were by far the strongest team of the day, placing 6 Whitney girls in the top 12 finishers. That’s unheard of, and beat Oak Ridge, St. Francis, Davis and Woodcreek in the process, by an impressive margin of 80 points. That is outstanding!

Whitney domination especially showed up in both frosh-soph races, where our boys and girls teams each came away with first place. For the guys, Jason Finta settled in near the lead runners and patiently worked his way to the front til taking the lead for good in the final 1200. He won a new pair of Hoka shoes (congrats Jason!). Malachai Amore, Tyler Hawkins, Byron Chadwick, Aidan Ransford, and Max Sommerhauser–which by the way comprises the same group that won the freshman section title last season–all ran great to secure the team win over 2nd place Jesuit. For the ladies, Grace Lathrop battled Abby Fletcher once again and took 2nd individually. Natalie Eppler, Jessica Becker, Elena Collier, Kirsten Ransford, Grace Pierce, and Haley Bedrin were by far the strongest team of the day, placing 6 Whitney girls in the top 12 finishers. That’s unheard of, and beat Oak Ridge, St. Francis, Davis and Woodcreek in the process, by an impressive margin of 80 points. That is outstanding!