Western League Finals 7 November

Going into the Western League Championships we knew that the girls' team would be in for a long day. Several of our key runners were sick, and we have virtually no bench on the varsity squad. When everyone's healthy, we're a match for the larger schools, but that wasn't the case this time around. We placed 4th behind Scripps Ranch, Cathedral Catholic, and University City. Individually there were a few Personal Records with the most significant being a new girls' course record by Teresa Perez who clocked 18:15 over the 3.08 mile City Conference Course. The current course has been used since the 2012 season. The old record was 18:34 set by Giovanna de Silva from Scripps Ranch in 2015. Cathedral Catholic's Cami Doheny, who placed 2nd,  was also under the old record with a time of  18:27, and University City's Elise Boisvert was only 2 seconds over in 3rd place with a time of 18:36. De Silva placed 4th with 18:57. Perez took the lead from the gun and led the whole way. For her performances in the finals and the other two varsity races held this season, she is for the Girls' Western League Athlete of the Year. Freshman Abby Hundley also had a PR in the varsity race with a time of 19:47 while Regina Czerewko, Kate Ruiz, and Josie Morrissey all set personal records over the 2.5 mile JV course with times of 18:08, 20:30, and 20:32. 

The boys' team was up against some tough competition but did well and placed 3rd  behind a powerhouse team from Scripps Ranch and Cathedral Catholic, with five of the seven varsity finishers posting Personal Records. Brad Busby was our top finisher with a PR of 16:26 followed by Ian Hurlburt with 16:47 (PR), Patrick Harris with 16:50 (PR), Luke Klingenberg with 16:51, Cole Mullins with 17:18, Connor Jaynes with 17:32 and Cole Nichols with 18:02. Because he placed in the top 10 (7^th) Busby is All-League. Although Klingenberg didn't set a personal record, this was only his 2nd race back after sitting out the first part of the season with a knee injury. Even so, he was only 31 seconds off his previous best. Other finishers in the varsity race were Casey Harris with 18:05, Grant Hawthorne with 18:16, and Chris Russell with 19:16.

In the boys' JV race over the same course, Nicholas Inzunza and James Cook set PRs with times of 19:19 and 20:45 followed by Will Leonard and Orian James.

This weekend we'll compete in the CIF finals at Morley Field. The girls will race at 11:45 followed by the boys at 1:25. The CIF finals are the qualifier for the state meet in Fresno on November 25th. Both the boys' and girls' teams have good chances to qualify. To advance as a full team, the boys must finish among the top 3 Division-IV CIF teams and the girls' among the top 2 D-IV teams. Sage Creek is the top D-IV boys' team with Coronado, Crawford, and Valley Center vying for the remaining two slots. For the girls, the top-seeded teams are Coronado and Sage Creek with Valley Center a threat.