Saturday, February 6 was a bright blue sky day with balmy temperatures in the 60’s, a great day for a cross country meet. The very challenging course at William Jessup University was made even more challenging by the mud and some puddles from the recent rain. And with restrictive health protocols in place, there weren’t many PR’s, but Whitney was able to sweep Rocklin, winning all four races.
The first race was the frosh soph boys. These boys not only swept the top 5 spots (nearly the top 7) for a perfect score, they did it for the second week in a row, something that is rarely done ever. We knew our top 3 sophomores, Callum Turner, Nick Herrmann, and Brandon Olah, would work together from the beginning, which they did very effectively as they took control. Meanwhile, behind them a couple of good Rocklin runners were being stalked by fellow sophomore Jaden Rapp, as well as freshmen David Hurren, Joel Tajiri, and Anthony Berg. In the end, Nick won, followed by a solid line of maroon. And Anthony almost made it a top 7 sweep, putting on a kick that got him within a tenth of a second of the Rocklin runner who finished 7th. Freshman Noah Lopez wasn’t far behind, and sophomore Aidan Barkve still not at full strength both broke 13. Freshmen Brendan Whitmore, Noah Reed, and Peyton Boyd, along with sophomores Corbin Peek and Nick Nottoli all broke 14 minutes. Sophomore Tyler Herceg and freshmen Landon Wibbeler, Michael Payan, Charlie Peek, and Akanis Surapak added to the depth of Whitney’s very strong frosh soph squad.
Three minutes after the boys started, the frosh soph girls took off. Again, a couple of good Rocklin runners went to the front, making for an exciting race. Freshman Sophie Bowen did the wise thing and paced very well early on before challenging the leader and eventually passing her for the win. Fellow freshman Katie Hart, who is having a breakthrough recently, finished in a strong 3rd. After a couple of Rocklin runners, a line of maroon crossed the line in 6th through 10th place. Freshman Mikaela Pock, sophomores Ashanti Elie and Maddie Kelly, freshman Taylor Bettencourt and sophomore Emma Carlson completed the scoring for the Whitney team win.
The varsity boys race began with almost the entire Rocklin team taking the base of the hill before the Whitney runners, which simply means it’s time for our guys to do their thing. As the race developed, seniors Jason Finta and Byron Chadwick and junior Ryan Hart worked to the front pack and pushed the pace with the top Rocklin runners. Senior Aidan Ransford and sophomore Teo Delgadillo tethered off of them with a couple more Rocklin runners. After things spread out, Jason was able to take 2nd in what ended up being the fastest race of the day, followed by Ryan and Byron for 3rd and 4th. Teo almost caught the second Rocklin runner, with him and Aidan finishing 6th and 7th. Juniors Hunter Schwab, James Bowen, and Charlie Gioia all broke 20 minutes to finish in the top 15. Juniors Connor Jacoby and Levi Chadwick and seniors Luca Ruscica, Max Sommerhauser, and Dylan DeValk completed the team.
The varsity girls race was similar in that Rocklin won the individual race, but Whitney won the team race. Freshman Ava Kopec led the Lady Wildcats with a very strong sub-21-minute effort to finish 3rd overall. Senior Jessica Becker and sophomore Katie Kopec paced with each other to cross 4th and 5th. Freshman Grace Scott and junior Natalie Eppler were 6th and 7th, making it five Whitney runners in a row to outscore Rocklin as a team. Senior Kirsten Ransford and sophomore Mariana Blanding used the buddy system to finish in the top 10. Likewise seniors Haley Bedrin and Grace Pierce buddied up to finish next for Whitney. Seniors Olivia Sauer, Cassidy Ransford, and Alicia Chiang added to Whitney’s depth, as did an army of juniors… Rachel Tajiri, Cailin Fitzgerald, Ashlyn Fujioka, Anna Giorgi, and Jaqui Alvarez.
In all, the Whitney Cross Country Team completed its second sweep in as many weeks. All four squads are undefeated. We face Folsom next Saturday in SFL #2 as the competition stiffens. For the ladies especially, three tough SFL programs await in Granite Bay, Del Oro, and right now the toughest of all, Oak Ridge, which is ranked #1 in the entire SJS section.