Once again, despite weather during the week and overnight, race day greeted us with bright blue skies. Del Oro High School hosted our third dual meet, this one against Oak Ridge.
Frosh soph girls were featured in the first race. For the 4th time in a row, freshman Sophie Bowen led the squad. A couple of Oak Ridge girls from their deep and powerful team held the first two positions, followed by Sophie, who kept her steady pace despite the uncertainty of navigating the complicated course. A small pack of runners got mixed up due to taking a wrong turn, which may have ultimately affected the order at the finish. But as they made their way down the final hill, freshmen Katie Hart and sophomore Tyler Williams outlasted the third Oak Ridge girl to take 4th and 5th place. Seventh through 12th place were all Whitney, as sophomores Ashanti Elie, Maddie Kelly, and Emma Carlson, and freshmen Mikaela Pock, Taylor Bettencourt, and Zoe Cloud ensured the Whitney win, which kept our frosh soph girls perfect on the season.
As strong as the girls have been, the frosh soph boys have won just as consistently, but in more convincing fashion. In each of the four meets, our young guys have swept the points, getting at least 5 runners across the line before any of our opponents have gotten their top runner in. In team scoring, the first 5 on one team makes a perfect score of 15. On Saturday against Oak Ridge, sophomore Cole Jamieson took the lead early and never relinquished it. Behind him, usual suspects sophomore Jaden Rapp and freshmen David Hurren, Anthony Berg, Joel Tajiri, and Noah Lopez jostled for position, wearing down a couple of good runners from Oak Ridge, to grab the next 5 spots after Cole. Sophomore Aidan Barkve and freshman Brendan Whitmore used the buddy system to place in the top 10. Sophomores Nick Nottoli and Corbin Peek, and freshmen Noah Reed, Peyton Boyd, Landon Wibbeler, and Michael Payan all made it 8 maroon jerseys in a row before Oak Ridge got another runner across the line. Sophomore Tyler Herceg and freshmen Charlie Peek and Akanis Surapak displaced the 5th Oak Ridge runner outside of the top 20 to ensure the strong Whitney team win.
We knew going into the varsity girls race that it was going to be very difficult to score against Oak Ridge. They came into the season a clear #1 in the entire SJS section; and several state rankings had them at or near #1 in NorCal, as well as what is referred to as a “podium team” at the state meet, which means Top 3 in the state. Much like our frosh soph boys, the Oak Ridge girls haven’t just won, they’ve swept. So far this season, only two girls have been able to break up their front five scoring so far this season. Whitney’s top runner, sophomore Katie Kopec placed 7th, with freshman Ava Kopec next in 8th. Senior Jessica Becker ran a very strong top 10 effort. Freshman Grace Scott and senior Kristen Ransford (running really well lately) followed in 11th and 12th, completing our scoring. Junior Natalie Eppler and sophomore Mariana Blanding rounded out Whitney’s top 7. Our depth was equal to Oak Ridge, as our 8th and 9th runners, senior Haley Bedrin and junior Rachel Tajiri mixed side by side with Oak Ridge’s 8th and 9th runners. Juniors Kylie Wibbeler, Cailin Fitzgerald, Ashlyn Fujioka, and Anna Giorgi, as well as seniors Grace Pierce, Olivia Sauer, Cassidy Ransford, and Alicia Chiang added to the team’s depth, managing a very challenging course with lots of corners and turns. To put this race into perspective, transposing the times from all 3 meets into one combined result reveals that Oak Ridge would have swept every team in the league with their top 6. A further look indicates that our girls are making gains on the other stronger teams in the league. Given our rate of improvement, and how tough Whitney ran against the most difficult opponent, our girls should be commended for how well they did in this race.
The last race of our meet featured Whitney’s strong varsity men against Oak Ridge. Our top 3 set a smart but tiring pace to gain control of the lead by the midway point. Senior Jason Finta pulled away and won fairly convincingly. Junior Ryan Hart and senior Byron Chadwick wore down the top Oak Ridge runners, as Whitney went 1-2-3. In a dual meet, an opponent cannot recover on points once a team grabs the top 3 spots. So even if the rest of our team was way back, Whitney would have won the team competition (as long as two more teammates at least finish). But only two Oak Ridge runners and less than half a minute later, senior Aidan Ransford then sophomore Teo Delgadillo crossed in 6th and 7th to outscore Oak Ridge 19-38. Junior James Bowen finished in the top 10, with sophomore Brandon Olah just one second back. Junior Hunter Schwab got in before their 6th and 7th runners did, with junior Charlie Gioia not far behind. Seniors Luca Ruscica, Max Sommerhauser, and Dylan DeValk, and juniors Connor Jacoby and Levi Chadwick rounded out Whitney’s team win.
At the midpoint of our SFL dual meet season, Whitney’s varsity men remain undefeated, as do both frosh soph squads. Girls varsity is 2-1 in league after the meet with Oak Ridge. Next up is Granite Bay at Willow Hill in Folsom. Granite Bay’s girls, although not currently as elite at the varsity level as Oak Ridge, certainly have a state quality team, as well as more depth and numbers than Oak Ridge; this will make it very challenging for both varsity and frosh soph girls in our next meet. And although our boys’ squads are favored to win, we’ll have to run our best to make that happen. Should be good competition this coming Saturday at the iconic Willow Hill course, site of Sac Joaquin Section Championships.