Section Championships

Nov 23, 2018

Huge day for Whitney Distance, as both of our varsity squads qualified for State Championships. After a week of uncertainty of whether or not we’d even be able to race, we woke up to “semi-bright” blue skies that allowed us to have a varsity-only championship event. Many of us coaches commiserated about how challenging it is to keep our athletes sharp, focused, both physically and mentally, enough to perform at the highest level with all the uncertainty. Our two squads rose above any such letdowns.

Varsity Boys

After finishing 3rd to Bella Vista and Rocklin at sub-sections, it looked like section finals would once again be a battle among these same three programs, as it has been for three years in a row.  Even though Whitney beat Rocklin at SFL Finals, time-wise it was not by much … just a few seconds per runner.  So our guys knew it would be very close at sections, and it was:  5 points separated Whitney from Rocklin.  But it was Whitney who claimed the D2 Section Title!!!

 

Austin Vasquez continued his unworldly season, moving to the front and challenging last year’s individual winner, Damian King of BV.  It was a 1-2 race as those two ran most of the final mile having created a sizable gap on the chase pack.  Austin almost got him at the finish, getting 2nd place in an incredible time of 16:03 (3rd fastest all-time for a Whitney runner on that difficult Willow Hills course).  Not far behind in 5th was Ethan Dodge, then 6th was Bennett Woodward.  But Rocklin had their top 3 in right with ours, so more work to do.  Ajani Salcido paced to catch and eventually pass Rocklin’s 4th man, while Jason Finta and Josh Tajiri both gutted it out enough on a tough day to secure a strong enough overall score and ensure the team victory.  Brenden Jacoby has been battling a hip injury much of the season, but still managed to displace top 5 scorers from several other teams, demonstrating the depth of our squad.

 

Today’s first place team finish marks the first-ever Section Title for a cross country team in Whitney history.  The overall team average (top 5 scorers) today was 16:39 on the rigorous Willow Hills course, which is a noticeable improvement on our team average in 2017 when we placed 3rd (16:53) and in 2016 when we were section runner-up (16:57).  This day also marks the third consecutive berth to the state meet, which no boys team has managed before.  These boys were the 2nd fastest team on the day, all divisions combined, behind only state-ranked D1 Jesuit.

 

Congratulations to the 2018 Whitney Boys Varsity Cross Country Section Champions !!!

Varsity Girls
Right after the boys finished, the gun went off for our girls.  Consistent #1 Whitney runner Grace Lathrop set a smart pace from the beginning, needing to mark a few girls from top teams Woodcreek and Vacaville primarily.  While she settled in for that battle, “Mama ‘Cat” Brooke Giorgi also put herself in the right position, but with the added task of pacing our awesome pack of five.  During the first mile, Woodcreek and Vacaville each had their entire team in front of Brooke and the rest of our girls.  To earn a berth to the state meet, our strategy going into the race was to focus on those two teams; if we could outperform just one of them, we felt that was good enough to hold off Rio Americano as well, also figuring into the scrum for top 3.  During the race, each time the runners emerged from the woods or from the far loops, it seemed that the Whitney “swarm” was closing in on the other top competitors’ front runners.  And by the time they approached the 2-mile mark at Splitrail hill, Brooke and her posse of Natalie Eppler, Jessica Becker, Elena Collier, Grace Pierce, and Kirsten Ransford appeared to have climbed their way into 2nd place on points behind only St. Francis.  Finally, with 1K to go, coming back from Freeway Loop, all of our scorers were in front of all Woodcreek’s girls, all but one of the Rio girls, and all but the front two Vacaville girls.  Just like our boys team of 2017, Whitney did not have anyone in the top 10, but all five scorers in the top 20.

 

Hats off to our very young varsity girls team (one junior, the rest freshmen and sophomores).  As young as they are, they managed the week of delays and uncertainty in the most mature way.  And the battle plan today was carried out to perfection.  These young ladies trusted each other, just as they have week in and week out, through all the training and all the invitationals during the season where they fine-tuned this approach.  It was challenging to maintain focus and urgency after Section Finals had been canceled last week, and while many programs struggled for an edge today, our girls rose up.  Whitney girls were not only Section Runner-up to state-ranked powerhouse St. Francis, these girls were the 3rd fastest team on the day, all divisions combined.  Super impressive !!!

 

Congratulations Lady Wildcats … you are going to state !!!