This season, the DDF will once again be held on the third Friday/Saturday of March and this will be the largest one date. For comparison check out this year's numbers compared with last year.
According to meet director and Dublin head coach Chris Williams, the DDF will once again be the largest distance-only meet in the United States based on the total number of entries.
OK, now a bit of history I share each year regarding this meet for those of you attending the soon-to-be-world-famous Dublin Distance Fiesta (RIP Peter Brewer). The meet has been held at Dublin HS since 2009 with the lone exception being the 2020 season when it was not held. Before 2009, the meet was held at Skyline HS (one year), Cal Berkeley (one year), and then multiple years at the original location, Piedmont HS.
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Last year, the 4 x 800-meter relay races made their debut in this meet on Friday. The winners from both races established new meet records with Rio American taking the girl's race and Clayton Valley winning a very competitive boys' race. The favorites to win the girl's race will be Campolindo with their superstar senior, Shea Volkmer. For the boys, the two favorites will be Los Gatos HS and Davis HS.
Aside from super fast competitive fields, the Dublin Distance Fiesta is known for its incredible efficiency. You can check this out in action thanks to Jesuit coach, Walt Lange in the following video made a few years ago.
Let's take a closer look at the "Sombrero" races (coined by Walt Lange?)
GIRLS 1600
Meet Record - Riley Chamberlain (Del Oro/SJ) - 4:46.34 ('22)
This meet has grown over the years and proof of the competitiveness of this meet is the record in this event. In 2015, Sonora's Cassi Land lowered the 1600 record at the DDF to 5:06.01. A year later, Miramonte's Hannah Fishlow lowered the record to 5:02.79. The first runner to lower the record under 5 minutes was Redwood's Gillian Wagner in 2017 as she raced to a 4:55.35 victory. That time held up until 2021 when Albany's Sophia Nordenholz ran 4:53.26 in the 3rd DDF that season (that's right 3rd!). In 2022, Del Oro senior Riley Chamberlain outran Montgomery's talented then-freshman Hanne Thomsen to set the new standard at 4:46.34.
This Saturday, Thomsen is the clear favorite but it will take a tremendous solo effort on her part to break the now stout record in this race. Thomsen just recently signed an NIL with New Balance making her the first NorCal runner to sign such a deal. She has now won three state titles in cross country as well as a state championship in 2022 in the 3200 meters as a freshman.
The second fastest runner in the field is Eleanor Raker from Galena in Reno Nevada. She ran 4:51.81 at the end of the last year's Track and Field season. Evangeline Marheineke of Archbishop Mitty is right there with a 4:52.42 personal best. A wild card in this field is Acalanes senior Olivia Williams who is fresh from a victorious effort in the 3200 at the Dan Gabor Invitational.
BOYS 1600
Meet Record - Ajani Salcido (Jesuit/SJ) 4:09.95 ('21)
GIRLS 800
Meet Record - Alyssa Brewer (California/NC) 2:08.99 ('18)
BOYS 800
Meet Record - Yutaka Roberts (El Camino/CC) 1:52.34 ('22)
GIRLS 3200
Meet Record - Hanne Thomsen (Montgomery/NC) 10:14.46 ('22)
Meet Record - Matt Strangio (Jesuit/SJ) 8:47.97 ('19)
GIRLS DISTANCE MEDLEY RELAY
Meet Record - Santa Cruz (CC) - 12:07.58 ('18)
The Campolindo girls may be going for the relay sweep provided they win the 4 x 800 relay on Friday. Their main competition should come from two Division V schools, Bay School and University. Bay School will be anchored by Division V state cross country champion Elsa Krummel (photo above courtesy of West Coast XC).
Because of COVID, this relay was not contested in 2021 and obviously in 2020 when the meet was not held at all. Here are the winning teams over the past few years which I posted last year and now include last year's champion, Campolindo.
BOYS DISTANCE MEDLEY RELAY
Meet Record - Davis (SJ) - 10:23.93 ('16)
This is always a tough event to predict as many of the fastest teams will include runners doubling back from the just concluded 3200m. So without picking a favorite, here are the contenders. Last year, Matilda Torres out of the Fresno area finished in 6th place and appears primed to move up the rankings here. Jesuit has a group of young runners that will contend for the title. Scotts Valley has been one of the strongest teams in CCS while Yosemite has a strong foursome that will be chasing the win here.