This past Wednesday, Whitney tangled with our 5 fellow programs in the Sierra Foothill League in our first league meet of the 2019 season. There were only 6 schools in the meet–much different than the large invitationals we’ve been racing–but the SFL is stacked with top-notch competition, so wins were tough to come by. And to add to that, Willow Hills is considered one of the most challenging courses in Northern California.
Frosh-soph boys started the action with a very exciting battle with Oak Ridge and Folsom. Those two programs went head to head at an invitational the week before, and were separated by only one point. Things were equally as tight at league on Wednesday, and with our frosh-soph boys getting in the mix, it was fun seeing how close the race was. Whitney finished 3rd, but the top three teams were all within 8 points, setting up an exciting winner-take-all scenario at SFL Finals Nov. 1st. Ryan Hart went stride for stride with the eventual winner, Folsom’s top runner. Mateo Delgadillo finished right behind in 3rd. Cole Jamieson finished 7th, then Fekadu Cantrell, James Bowen, and Charlie Gioia all finished in the top 20 to ensure a very strong score. With the top 3 teams scoring within just a few points of each other, this race figures to be a thrilling one to watch when we all settle up at SFL Championships on Nov. 1st.
On the girls’ side, Whitney finished 2nd as a team in frosh-soph. Granite Bay dominated, as all their top frosh-soph girls stayed age-pure, not being moved up to varsity. If all their underclassmen stay frosh soph for SFL Finals, they will be very tough to beat. Tyler Williams has been running really well; she was our lone runner in the top 10, finishing 9th. But she led a maroon swarm of 5 Whitney runners in a span of 7 spots to gain a very solid 2nd place behind Granite Bay. Mariana Blanding, Rachel Tajiri, Ashlyn Fujioka, and Hailey Kelly all finished in the top 15.
The varsity mens race was very competitive as Rocklin always brings a top-notch team and effort to our league. They had 3 of the top 5 finishers, which we knew going in could happen. Fortunately for Whitney, our depth came through, as we had 6 of the top 15 overall before Rocklin’s 4th man came in. Austin Vasquez dominated the field as he became one of only about 20 runners in Willow Hills history to break the 16-minute barrier on that course, and he did it all alone, clocking 15:56. Ethan Dodge was 3rd. Juniors Byron Chadwick and Riley Carroll came through in a big way, scoring for Whitney and displacing other runners, which provided that depth needed to win as a team. Byron and Riley have each put in a ton of “quiet miles” during summer (and previously), so their hard work and dedication is starting to pay off. Rocklin is always legit, so we’re going to need outstanding efforts from our guys to try and hold them off again at championships.
For the ladies, our top runners did a great job of offsetting Oak Ridge’s front four, where they are very dominant. After 4 runners were in from each side, Whitney was within 3 points. Just as with the guys, our depth was the difference, as we got four more runners in before Oak Ridge’s 5th. Grace Lathrop and Brooke Giorgi ran extremely well, each bettering their marks from last year’s section finals on this course, and grabbed 3rd and 4th place. We moved Katie Kopec up to run her first varsity race (no pressure!), and it paid off as she was 7th overall, scoring big points for us. With Natalie Eppler not far behind, we got 4 of the top 10 overall, and ultimately 7 of the top 15 to ensure the win. To illustrate Whitney’s depth, Haley Bedrin was our 7th girl, but with her very solid 22 min flat performance, she would have been a top 5 scorer on any other team except one. Oak Ridge girls are still the dominant team to beat in this league. Also, Del Oro was missing a couple of their top 5. And in the SFL, every team is strong. So nothing will be easy at league finals Nov. 1st.