Lagoon Valley (Vacaville, CA)
The Whitney Cross Country Team competed in 7 races at the massive Lagoon Valley Classic on Saturday. Over 80 schools and 3,000 runners gathered in Vacaville for this major NorCal XC preview meet. Although we don’t approach early September meets with the much urgency, we did have some noteworthy performances to celebrate.
Both of our varsity squads had impressive showings, each placing 3rd in team scoring.
Sophomore Grace Lathrop led the ladies with a 4th place finish overall out of more than 200 runners. She hit a milestone breaking 19 minutes, going 18:50 on the difficult 3-mile course, which is equivalent to a 5K course, due to the major hill features. The effort puts her at #3 all-time at Whitney HS, a very impressive feat, given that Lagoon Valley is not at all a “PR course”. Senior Brooke Giorgi (22nd) and Junior Jessica Becker (33rd) each medaled in the top 40. Junior Kirsten Ransford had a strong finish, passing several girls down the final stretch, and Junior Grace Pierce completed the scoring for Whitney. Fellow Juniors Haley Bedrin and Olivia Sauer affected the scoring by displacing many opposing runners, and each ran a lifetime 3-mile PR.
The guys were led by Senior Austin Vasquez‘s 2nd place finish of nearly 250 runners. Seniors Ethan Dodge (15th) and Josh Tajiri (23rd) as well as Junior Jason Finta (39th) all medaled in the top 40. Junior Aidan Ransford completed the scoring, and Seniors Aidan Redding and Jacob Harbert rounded out the top 7.
Our Freshman Boys squad won! Mateo Delgadillo, Cole Jamieson, Fekadu Cantrell, Callum Turner and Brandon Olah all crossed in the top 22 for the dominant win. Nick Herrmann, Jaden Rapp, Aidan Barkve, Corbin Peek, and Tyler Herceg completed the freshman team that is one of the best in the area.
Sophomore boys placed 6th, and were led by Ryan Hart‘s 3rd place finish in the largest race of the day with over 400 runners. Isiah Daniels was 17th to earn a medal as well. Charlie Gioia, Hunter Schwab, Connor Jacoby, Calvin Parcher, Levi Chadwick, Cooper Collier, and Ethan Dunnery completed the team.
Whitney’s frosh soph girls also finished 6th as a team, with Freshman Katie Kopec placing 11th out of over 300 runners, breaking into the Top 20 all-time 2-mile list for Whitney. And she did it on a very tough course. Sophomore Elena Collier was 22nd, earning a top 40 medal. Freshman Tyler Williams had a terrific race as she is improving noticeably on the young season; she finished 41st, less than one second from earning a top 40 medal. She is no doubt determined to get that medal next time! Freshman Emma Martinez and Sophomore Hailey Kelly completed the scoring for Whitney.
JV guys finished 6th, as Juniors Byron Chadwick, Riley Carroll, and Malachai Amore all placed in the top 40 to earn medals. And for the JV ladies, Junior Emily Peterson and Senior Katelynne Finta earned top 40 medals to lead the girls to 7th place as a team.