2007 HAAL Cross Country Preview by Peter Brewer

Boys:

Final Dual Meet standings:

1. Arroyo 7-1

2. Castro Valley 6-2

2. Hayward 6-2

4. Bishop O’Dowd 5-3

4. Moreau Catholic 5-3

6. San Leandro 3-5

7. Mt. Eden 2-6

8. Tennyson 1-7

9. San Lorenzo 0-8

Arroyo is in the driver’s seat for the overall league title, as they would have to slip to 3rd in the finals to lose out. This would be their first HAAL boys’ title since 1962, and their highest finish since a 2nd place in 1990.

Castro Valley appears to be the favorite for the finals race itself. Jack Leng and James Fazzio have been the solid 1-2 finishers in all of the center meets. Arroyo’s Thomas brothers Daniel and Derek have been the HAAL’s 3-4 runners all year right behind Castro Valley’s 1-2. Castro Valley counters with sophomore Tom Ashby and freshman Ben Eversole, and Arroyo answers right back with seniors Martin Miller and Rick Medierios. Castro Valley’s rotating 5th man (senior Joel Becker and freshman Anthony Martore) seem to have the advantage over Arroyo’s 5th man rotation (senior Marcus Hines and junior Abe Zakkak).

Hayward, Moreau Catholic, and Bishop O’Dowd are all very very close, as indicated by the results of center meet # 3. Hayward has Bisrat Zerehaimanot up front, Moreau counters with Brian Fix, and O’Dowd boasts Zeal Levin. Hayward follows closely with Geordan Smith and Sam Hales, while Moreau claims Kevini Hannon. O’Dowd has to wait awhile before Connor Cronin and Joe Diaz show up. Where the picture muddies up is that O’Dowd can bring iin 6 runners before either Hayward or Moreau can finish their scoring with a number 5. The league finals could see some shakeup in the overall standings.

The second tier of teams has San Leandro clearly in front of the rest. Johny Garcia and Edgar Alvarado are good runners for the Pirates. San Lorenzo has the edge on Mt. Eden and Tennyson by virtue of their top two runners John Lyndon Vergara and Billy McGrath. Tennyson and Mt. Eden look evenly matched in a big race, even though Mt. Eden beat the Lancers easily in their dual meet.

Predicted order of finish

1. Castro Valley

2. Arroyo

3. Hayward

4. Bishop O’Dowd

5. Moreau Catholic

6. San Leandro

7. San Lorenzo

8. Mt. Eden

9. Tennyson

Predicted order of finish, Individuals

1. Jack Leng 12 Castro Valley

2. James Fazzio 12 Castro Valley

4. Daniel Thomas 10 Arroyo

5. Derkek Thomas 12 Arroyo

6. Thomas Ashby 10 Castro Valley

7. Brian Fix 12 Moreau Catholic

8. Bisrat Zerehaimanot 11 Hayward

9. Ben Eversole 9 Castro Valley

10. Kevin Hannon 12 Moreau Catholic

Girls’ Predictions:

Final GV dual standings:

1. Castro Valley 8-0

2. Moreau Catholic 7-1

3. Bishop O’Dowd 6-2

4. Arroyo 5-3

5. San Leandro 4-4

6. Hayward 3-5

7. Mt. Eden 0-8

7. San Lorenzo 0-8

7. Tennyson 0-8

Castro Valley holds all the marbles here. They have been running well all season, are top ranked in NCS Division I, and have been nibbling at top-10 consideration at the State level. Freshman Kelsey Santisteban has been their leader, with defending HAAL champion sophomore Chelsea Schneider only steps behind her. Sophomores Pamela MacLeond and Nicole Yang are close after that, with junior Samantha Owyang the consistant #5 for the Trojans. These runners have all placed in the top 7 of all the center meets this year.

Even though Arroyo counters with a very good Samantha Kearney and an always-tough Lacey Bockhaus, and Bishop O’Dowd has the excellent front duo of freshman Kaitlyn Spees and junior Damajeria Dubose, it is Moreau Catholic that has prevailed over the other two in league standings due to superior depth. The Mariners were able to squeeze 7 runners in front of O’Dowd’s # 4 two weeks ago to take that duel. In a larger race, though, the upfront power of O’Dowd might turn the tables. This will be a very close race for 2nd overall.

San Leandro and Hayward have been able to field complete teams but both remain second tier teams. San Lorenzo runs incomplete, if at all, and Mt. Eden and Tennyson have yet to field a team.

Predicted HAAL finals finish:

1. Castro Valley

2. Bishop O’Dowd

3. Moreau Catholic

4. Arroyo

5. San Leandro

6. Hayward

7 (tie) Mt. Eden, San Lorenzo, Tennyson

Predicted HAAL finish, individuals:

1. Kelsey Santisteban 9 Castro Valley

2. Chelsea Schneider 10 Castro Valley

3. Samantha Kearney 12 Arroyo

4. Pamela MacLeod 10 Castro Valley

5. Nicole Yang 10 Castro Valley

6. Kaitlyn Spees 9 Bishop O’Dowd

7. Samantha Owyang 11 Castro Valley

8. Gabrielle White 9 Castro Valley

9. Lacey Bockhaus 12 Arroyo

10. Damajeria DuBose 11 Bishop O’Dowd

Northern California XC Newspaper Coverage

High School
•Coach had record figured out (Skyline XC team's new course record)
•Scenic end to cross country season (More H-DNC coverage)
•Kislyuk accelerates to EBAL title
•Liberty's Landrum kicks it up
•Roger wins BCL Championship (scroll down)
•Gunn's Evans has head start to fast finishes in cross country

College
•NCAA Division II Cross Country West Regional: Chico State looking for berths at national meet
•Two ladies making their marks in Pacific history: Micaela Kraus
•
More links to come...

NorCal XC League Action heating up...

Check out results, pictures and meet summaries of several league races from the CCS, NCS and Oakland Section below. More to come this weekend. If you have any pictures or would like to contribute a report from your league final, please send to albertjcaruana@gmail.com.

Northern California rankings and predictions will be posted next weekend following all the league finals. I will also have rankings heading into the section finals of CCS, SJS, NCS, NS, Oakland and San Francisco.

Any thoughts on any of these sections, please comment below.

Results from the BCL East and the H-DNC have been added below.

BCL East Race Summary and Results...

BCL EAST LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS RESULTS AND RACE SUMMARY
NOVEMBER 2, 2007
2.6 MILES AT JOAQUIN MILLER PARK, OAKLAND
By Steve Gregg of Head Royce

Senior Victor Ho from Chinese Christian took advantage of almost perfect running conditions to break the course record on the short but difficult Joaquin Miller Park course. His time of 14:32 broke the old record of 14:38 set by Ken Akiha of Head-Royce in 2003. Victor is a definite contender for a top ten finish in the boys Division V race at state.

College Prep won the boys team title with 32 points, closely followed by Berean Christian with 39 points. Both teams are expected to easily qualify for state, especially now that boys Division V now qualifies five teams to state from the NCS Championships, instead of the previous four.

Head-Royce’s number one runner took a very hard fall halfway through the race and limped home in 39th place, putting an early end to what would have been a very tight team battle with Chinese Christian for 3rd place. Both of these two teams will have to run exceptional races at Hayward to qualify for state, but must be considered to be in the hunt to gain a state meet berth.

To no one’s surprise, College Prep took the girls team title with 22 points. Head-Royce ran an excellent team race to take second place with 52 points, but lacking a frontrunner, they will be hard-pressed to beat out any of the top four ranked teams (College Prep, Crystal Springs, University, and Marin Academy) to earn a state meet berth. Too bad Girls Division V does not also have five teams qualify this year!

College Prep’s dynamic duo of Adrienne Strait and Barbara Barnes finished well ahead of the pack to take the top two individual places. Their times of 17:18 and 17:19 were the second and third fastest times in league championship history, beaten only by Clara Horowitz’ unworldly time of 15:48 from 2001.

SCHOOL ABBREVIATIONS
CPS: College Prep
BC: Berean Christian
CC: Chinese Christian
HRS: Head-Royce
BENT: Bentley
ATH: Athenian
CSD: California School for the Deaf
LIZ: St. Elizabeth

GIRLS JV
(1) Sydney Knudsen CPS 9 20:50
(2) Sarah Volk CPS 11 20:58
(3) Deanna Wong CPS 10 21:04
(4) Kate Feeney CPS 11 22:35
(5) Ashley Saylor BC 12 22:42
(6) Valentina Garcia CPS 10 23:10
(7) Gabrielle Wee CC 12 23:12
(8) An Huang CPS 12 23:24
(9) Anna Lim CC 10 23:27
(10) Jennifer Truong CC 11 24:12
(11) Monita Wong CPS 12 24:26
(12) Jasmine Lee CC 10 25:19
(13) Hoi Lam Chan CC 10 25:20
(14) Katie Quen CC 9 25:28
(15) Amber Smith CSD 12 26:10
(16) Sophie Lee CPS 12 26:15
(17) Kate Schroeder HRS 11 26:15
(18) Melissa How CC 9 26:36
(19) Ying Ying Wong CC 11 27:11
(20) Maria Nixon CSD 10 27:43
(21) Faith Noreiga BC 10 31:20
(22) Selam Gebregziabher HRS 10 35:58

Team scores:
(1) CPS 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – (7) – (10) = 15
(2) CC 6 – 8 – 9 – 11 – 12 – (13) – (14) = 46
HRS, BC, CSD INC

BOYS JV
(1) Sam Sontag CPS 10 16:54
(2) Julian Compagni Portis CPS 9 17:02
(3) John Williams CPS 11 17:07
(4) Chris McIntosh CPS 10 17:16
(5) David Lew BC 11 17:23
(6) Chris Lane CPS 11 17:30
(7) Michael Meyer BC 11 17:32
(8) Kristian Clemens CPS 11 17:33
(9) Evan Look BC 11 18:10
(10) Chris Hall BC 11 18:28
(11) Craig Cary BC 9 18:36
(12) Cody McDermott BC 11 18:44
(13) Jeremiah Wong CC 11 18:45
(14) Allan Kwan CC 11 18:47
(15) Matthew Iannone ATH 10 18:52
(16) Patrick Star Fitzgerald BENT 11 18:54
(17) Charlie Ho CC 11 19:12
(18) Andrew Peterson CPS 10 19:14
(19) Calvin Ator BENT 10 19:25
(20) Noah Ihop-Hanson BENT 12 19:27
(21) Elijah Ben-Izzy CPS 10 19:31
(22) Brendan Wong CC 11 19:45
(23) Vincent Tong CC 11 19:47
(24) Takumi Murayama HRS 10 19:52
(25) Nolan Feeney CPS 11 19:53
(26) Perry Wong CPS 12 19:55
(27) Devin Kerns BC 9 19:57
(28) James Conklin CPS 12 20:01
(29) Kevin Tanouye ATH 12 20:06
(30) Michael Fung CC 11 20:12
(31) Safar Shakeyev ATH 10 20:16
(32) Ollie Heitkamp CPS 12 20:19
(33) Jonathan Chia CPS 10 20:28
(34) Michael Zalewski ATH 12 20:29
(35) M.J. Choi HRS 11 20:51
(36) Ramie Ali-Adees ATH 9 20:57
(37) Garrett Party BENT 10 21:04
(38) Tyler Peters CPS 10 21:15
(39) Kyle Naps BENT 11 21:44
(40) Simon Gray BENT 10 21:44
(41) Dylan Stanton ATH 11 22:05
(42) Ryan Scanlon ATH 12 22:14
(43) Ryan Chan CC 10 22:49
(44) Yurij Melnyk HRS 10 22:51
(45) Snook Chaipornvadke ATH 11 23:23
(46) Patrick Ward BC 11 23:27
(47) Jason Cheung CC 11 23:34
(48) John Wang CC 10 24:47
(49) George Yang CC 12 25:12
(50) Savas Schnieder BENT 11 25:49

Team scores:
(1) CPS 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 6 – (8) – (18) = 16
(2) BC 5 – 7 – 9 – 10 – 11 – (12) – (23) = 42
(3) CC 13 – 14 – 17 – 21 – 22 – (25) – (34) = 87
(4) BENT 16 – 19 – 20 – 29 – 30 – (31) – (35) = 114
(5) ATH 15 – 24 – 26 – 27 – 28 – (32) – (33) = 120
HRS INC

GIRLS VARSITY
(1) Adrienne Strait CPS 9 17:18
(2) Barbara Barnes CPS 11 17:19
(3) Emily Erickson CPS 10 17:53
(4) Jessica Ho CC 9 18:09
(5) Olivia Hill HRS 9 18:40
(6) Heather Anderson HRS 9 18:45
(7) Sarah Eppley CPS 10 19:07
(8) Kylie Tussing BC 11 19:53
(9) Alex De Denko ATH 11 20:11
(10) Holly McClellan BC 10 20:31
(11) Cat Truesdell CPS 11 20:35
(12) Lena Hermans CPS 10 20:39
(13) Victoria Lee HRS 12 20:42
(14) Skye Lawler BENT 12 20:43
(15) Allison Melendez HRS 11 21:02
(16) Chelsea Wong CC 12 21:05
(17) Carie Kwan CC 12 21:22
(18) Anita Fung CC 11 21:27
(19) Jessica Suplick HRS 9 21:35
(20) Madeline Gold ATH 10 21:35
(21) Julia Beery CPS 9 21:57
(22) Kristina Chang CC 10 22:08
(23) Jennifer Su CC 10 22:09
(24) Elenor Perez BENT 12 22:30
(25) Danielle Szushi BENT 11 23:05
(26) Olivia Nelson ATH 12 24:27
(27) Phoebe Dixon BENT 12 24:45
(28) Quinn Hubbard ATH 12 24:56
(29) Elaine Truong HRS 10 25:13
(30) Pantea Faed ATH 12 26:46
(31) Katherine Hamilton HRS 10 26:54
(32) Sarah Hawkner BENT 12 27:23

Team scores:
(1) CPS 1 – 2 – 3 – 7 – 9 – (10) – (19) = 22
(2) HRS 5 – 6 – 11 – 13 – 17 – (27) – (29) = 52
(3) CC 4 – 14 – 15 – 16 – 20 – (21) = 69
(4) ATH 8 – 18 – 24 – 26 – 28 = 104
(5) BENT 12 – 22 – 23 – 25 – 30 = 112
BC INC

Final overall league standings (Center meets + League championship):
(1) CPS 21 + 14 = 35
(2) HRS 17 + 12 = 29
(3) CC 16 + 10 = 26
(4) ATH 9 + 8 = 17
(5) BC 12 + 0 = 12
(6) BENT 4 + 6 = 10
(7) CSD 0 + 0 = 0

BOYS VARSITY
(1) Victor Ho CC 12 14:32 (Course record)
(2) Jamie Lawrence CPS 12 14:48
(3) Charlie Sauter CPS 11 14:59
(4) Tyler Deniston BC 11 15:07
(5) Matthew Day BC 11 15:07
(6) Kevin Walters CPS 12 15:42
(7) Christian Saylor BC 11 15:49
(8) Jacob Rice HRS 12 15:49
(9) Casey Knudsen CPS 12 15:52
(10) Robert Campbell BC 11 15:54
(11) Jordan Lee CC 10 15:54
(12) Tim Hunt CPS 10 15:56
(13) Jacob Roth BC 10 16:01
(14) Walker Holden HRS 10 16:17
(15) Alex Sing-Song BENT 11 16:31
(16) Conor Woodlief BC 10 16:32
(17) Lewis Kane ATH 12 16:39
(18) Fletcher Stucky CPS 12 16:39
(19) Aviv Adler CPS 11 16:40
(20) Nathan Ong CC 11 16:42
(21) Eugene Cheung CC 9 16:48
(22) Hugh Green HRS 11 16:49
(23) Maxwell McDonnell BENT 12 16:52
(24) Chris Kooties BENT 12 16:53
(25) Chris Wendt ATH 11 16:54
(26) Richard Greig BC 12 16:58
(27) Andrew Glass ATH 11 17:34
(28) Michael Eng CC 11 17:41
(29) Alan Go CC 10 17:46
(30) Alex Freiberg HRS 11 17:55
(31) Chris Bishopooh BENT 12 18:20
(32) Mark Ellis ATH 12 18:29
(33) Pavel Kanavalchuk CSD 11 18:32
(34) Ian Tapir Mcury BENT 12 18:41
(35) Martin Lara LIZ 12 18:44
(36) Stephen Cartlidge ATH 10 18:55
(37) Tae Ho Kim ATH 11 18:58
(38) Zach Isaacs HRS 9 19:03
(39) Mercer Cook HRS 10 19:03
(40) Jackie Lok CC 10 19:04
(41) Arica Morton BENT 11 19:04
(42) Sam Gunther HRS 11 19:07
(43) Geoff Gardener BENT 11 19:08
(44) Matt Culkin ATH 11 19:13
(45) Ricardo Portley LIZ 12 20:39
(46) Carlos Martinez LIZ 12 21:41
(47) Daryl Garcia CSD 12 23:45

Team scores:
(1) CPS 2 – 3 – 6 – 9 – 12 – (18) – (19) = 32
(2) BC 4 – 5 – 7 – 10 – 13 – (16) – (26) = 39
(3) CC 1 – 11 – 20 – 21 – 28 – (29) – (38) = 81
(4) HRS 8 – 14 – 22 – 30 – 36 – (37) – (40) = 110
(5) BENT 15 – 23 – 24 – 31 – 33 – (39) – (41) = 126
(6) ATH 17 – 25 – 27 – 32 – 34 – (35) – (42) = 135
CSD, LIZ INC

Final overall league standings (Center meets + League championship):
(1) CPS 23 + 16 = 39
(2) BC 22 + 14 = 36
(3) CC 17 + 12 = 29
(4) HRS 16 + 10 = 26
(5) BENT 12 + 8 = 20
(6) ATH 9 + 6 = 15
(7) CSD 6 + 0 = 6
(8) LIZ 0 + 0 = 0

H-DNC Results...

Individual Varsity Winners: Hank Carl (South Fork) and Allie Maher (Arcata)
(Photos courtesy of The Eureka Reporter)

H-DNC Cross Country League Championship Results
Saturday, Nov. 3 at Patrick’s Point

Girls' Team Results
Arcata 25
Eureka 47
Fortuna 57
McKinleyville 102

Individual Results
1. Allie Maher (A) 19:47
2. Montana Larson (A) 19:55
3. Nochella Ozard (F) 20:19
4. Anya Ritter (A) 20:36
5. Kira Tangney (A) 20:53
6. Imogene Carson (E) 21:06
7. Brook Marino (E) 22:10
8. Gwyndolyn Ozard (F) 22:37
9. Haley Collins (E) 22:43
10. Kate Inhthapatha (M) 23:05
11. Jocelind Fox (E) 23:11
12. Hvong Hoang (E) 23:18
13. Kim Dimsmore (F) 23:29
14. Lola Figueiredo (A) 23:50
15. Holly McLaughlin (E) 23:59
16. Jasmin Ly (NPA) 23:59
17. Tessa Opalach (A) 24:13
18. Madison Kausen (F) 24:19
19. Maia Colyar (E) 24:27
20. Breann Winters (F) 24:31
21. Zara Gastineau (F) 24:39
22. Maya Blakemore (A) 25:03
23. Ashley Collamet (E) 25:13
24. Taylor Nolan (M) 25:26
25. Muriel Manka (A) 25:40
26. Ana Lee La Preziusa (A) 25:57
27. Rose Randazzo (M) 27:43
28. Taylor Jacobs (DN) 28:48
29. Megan Fowlkes (M) 29:44
30. Michelle Lee (M) 29:44
31. Evelyn Teasley (F) 32:31
32. Julia Sweitzer (A)

Boys' Team Results
Eureka 33
Arcata 48
South Fork 51
McKinleyville 83

Individual Results
1. Hank Carl (SF) 16:20
2. Michael Radenbaugh (SF) 16:33
3. Jason Haase (E) 16:42
4. Robin Harkins (E) 16:49
5. Joaquin Smith (A) 16:59
6. Tyson Brown (E) 17:06
7. Nick Krause (E) 17:10
8. Edward Hunter (A) 17:23
9. Sylvan Arevalo (NPA) 17:54
10. Michael Williford (M) 17:56
11. Lucas Wilhelm (SF) 18:05
12. Tyler Coley (M) 18:05
13. Tyler Safier (A) 18:15
14. Richard Herndon (E) 18:19
15. Grant Ivison (DN) 18:31
16. John Hunter (A) 18:33
17. Chris Zazueta (A) 18:38
18. Adrian Thomas (E) 18:40
19. Jerome Coleman (M) 18:51
20. Brandon Steele (SF) 18:54
21. Lucas Sack (SF) 18:54
22. Evan Mahoney (NPA) 18:58
23. Travis Bulock (M) 19:08
24. Sixto O’Connell (A) 19:13
25. Jeff Mason (A) 19:30
26. Lucas Prokopiak (A) 19:33
27. Jan Jorritsman (A) 20:03
28. Jasper Amir (M) 20:05
29. Johnathan Edwards (M) 20:06
30. Jacob Patterson (DN) 20:28
31. Cody Gary (E) 20:53
32. Jack Cunha (A) 21:02
33. Sean Rotbergs (SF) 21:07
34. Bret Voyles (M) 21:33
35. Tom Trevino (DN) 21:50
36. Alex Bobillot (M) 21:52
37. Sam Battaglieri (DN) 22:24
38. Morgan Thomas (E) 22:28
39. Walker Jones (A) 23:02
40. James Wodley (A) 24:07
41. Daniel Feicco (M) 25:53

BCL West Pictures, Summary and Results

On a beautiful day in the city of San Francisco, the BCL West cross country final took place once again at Lindley Meadow, Golden Gate Park. The league final is run on a deceptively slow 5K course that is not very hilly but the footing throughout most of the course leaves many runners wondering why their times are not faster.

Following the 4 league races (Girls' JV, Boys' JV, Girls' Varsity and Boys' Varsity), the University Red Devils came away with 3 team victories and a 3rd place finish in the Varsity Girls' race behind Crystal Springs Uplands and Marin Academy, who had the individual victor in Alesandra Roger. Teammate Lucy McCullough finished 2nd place, three seconds behind her teammate, after she passed through the 2 mile marker in 4th place.

The first three girls' teams, who are seen pictured below, are all ranked in the top 10 at state. They will all be battling for the NCS crown in two weeks along with College Prep from the BCL East. This could be the most competitive girls race for the Division V title in NCS history.

1st Place Crystal Springs Uplands Girls

2nd Place Marin Academy Girls

3rd Place University High School Girls

Individual Girls' Winner: Alesandra Roger of Marin Academy won her second individual league championship. She won her first title as a freshman year and followed that up with two 2nd place finishes the next two seasons behind Andrea Imhof of University HS.

Runners 2nd-5th: Lucy McCullough MA, Cecilia Furlong UHS, Alysha de Souza CSU, Eliza Weiss MA

The University Boys swept the boys events, handily taking both JV and Varsity races. Troy Calandra of International HS won the boys race closely followed by T Bliska of MA. The University pack followed the two front runners and continued their impressive running scoring 25 points. 2nd place went to Lick Wilmerding with 81 points. The next three teams came withing 10 points of each other as MA finished 3rd with 100, Stuart Hall with 106 and CSU with 110. All those teams in the top 5 will be battling for state meet berths this year at NCS as five teams will qualify. College Prep and Berean Christian from the BCL East along with South Fork from up north will also be in the mix.

Below are the first five runners in the boys' varsity race:
From left to right: Bliska MA (2nd), Calandra IHS (1st), Kealhofer, R. UHS (3rd), Kealhofer, D. UHS (4th) and Mead UHS (5th)

Here is a better picture of the two leaders at the 2 mile mark. Troy Calandra won this first league championship following his tough finish last year as he battled the flu and an ankle injury. T Bliska tried to break away on the downhill before the 2 mile mark but Calandra covered the move to eventually pull away for the 3 second victory.

JV Champions: University HS Boys (left), University HS Girls (right)

Top 7 Runners from both JV Races (some not pictured)

Results are posted at www.recordtiming.com or to be more precise:

Girls Varsity: http://www.sml1.com/ncxc/infores/bcl_west_vg.txt
Boys Varsity: http://www.sml1.com/ncxc/infores/bcl_west_vb.txt
Girls JV: http://www.sml1.com/ncxc/infores/bcl_west_jvg.txt
Boys JV: http://www.sml1.com/ncxc/infores/bcl_west_jvb.txt

Here is a short recap of the top varsity teams and individuals.
Varsity Girls
1) Crystal Springs Uplands 37
2) Marin Academy 46
3) University 55
4) Lick Wilmerding 100
5) Convent 156

Girls' Individuals
1) Alesandra Roger Marin Academy 19:40
2) Lucy McCullough Marin Academy 19:43
3) Cecilia Furlong University HS 19:52
4) Alysha de Souza Crystal Springs Uplands 19:58
5) Eliza Weiss Marin Academy 20:17

Varsity Boys
1) University 25
2) Lick Wilmerding 81
3) Marin Academy 100
4) Stuart Hall 106
5) Crystal Springs Uplands 110

Boys' Individuals
1) Troy Calandra International HS 16:49
2) T Bliska Marin Academy 16:52
3) Robert Kealhofer University HS 17:16
4) David Kealhofer University HS 17:19
5) Weishen Mead University HS 17:21

BSAL Final Meet Summary by St. Mary's runner Matt Duffy

The BSAL championships took place at Point Pinole Regional Park in Richmond. It is nestled between the Richmond country club, the Richmond Juvenile department and the bay. The course is one big three mile loop mostly on loose gravel, acorns and twigs that have fallen from the Eucalyptus trees up above. It was a 5k course and was the first time the 5k layout has been used in a championship meet. The Saint Mary's teams had a duel meet versus Berkeley HS and Salesian HS on October 4th, on a 2.9 mile layout which was also the site of the 2004 BSAL cross country championships. The meet is very flat with only a few hills including a very gradual hill that spectators can see from the final straightaway and as runners appear over the hill with a little less then half a mile left the spectators in the crowd try to decipher which school the runner is from before they see them come onto the final straightaway for the finish.

For the Saint Mary's High School Cross Country teams, Thursday was a very special day. It was the first time that both the Boys and Girls team have ever won a league championship in the same year. It is important to keep in mind that Saint Mary's just turned co-ed in 1995. All the athletes from both Boys and Girls teams are very appreciative of the season they have put together. We are all happy for our Head Coaches Jeff Rogers and Denis Mohun and also our assistant coaches James Lawson and Coach Alison. The girls went 1-2-3 and 5 in the top 10 in their race to score a dominating 21 points which was a great improvement from a year ago. On the Boys side we scored 34 points and placed 5 runners in the top 13 despite holding out two of our top runners due to nagging injuries. Both races went out in large packs as the first mile has a net elevation loss and then it spread out during the last 2.1 miles. It was an exciting race to watch and be apart of as a Senior as I know many teams from the leagues are extremely friendly with one another and we have been racing against one another for up to four years now. Congratulations to Saint Mary's Cross Country Teams and the entire BSAL, especially to Coach Doyle O'Reagan from PIedmont and Coach Tony Fong from St Joes for hosting the meet each year.

The BSAL uses three courses for their league championship which rotates every year. Point Pinole, Joaquin Miller in Oakland and Crab Cove in Alameda. Like I said earlier we ran at the same location in the season earlier but with a bit of a different layout, which made the course longer.

Also, watch out for the Alameda boys as they have been racing strong and pouring it on lately. There is a good chance that they can sneak into the top 3 in D2 behind Petaluma and De La Salle for a berth to the state meet. They are very confident heading into the meet and I know Saint Mary's and the BSAL wishes them the best of luck.

-Matt Duffy

PAL Meet Pictures and Meet Summary

On the warmest day of the week for competition at the Crystal Springs Course, the PAL held their league championship on Thursday. Both Carlmont Varsity teams easily outdistanced their competition as the boys (pictured below) scored 23 while the girls (also pictured below) all filed in behind the individual winner from Half Moon Bay to score 20 points.

For a great meet summary check out the following article from the San Mateo Times:
Jefferson's Bor wins second straight title

Individual Varsity Winners
Gambileg Bor (Jefferson) 15:15/Sammy Hamilton (Half Moon Bay) 18:03

Results are posted at the following link: Lynbrook Website Link
Boys charging out after start.

Boys 2-5 following Bor: Surh (Carl.), Filipcik (Wood.), Logie (Carl.), Lee (Carl.)

Girls racing downhill after start.

Girls 2-5 following Hamilton: Pascale (Carl.), Rhoades (Carl.), Abinader (Carl.), Cottong (Carl.)

Two more articles from local papers:
Bor wins PAL cross country title again
Scotts use PALs as cross country workout

Skyline Boys set Joaquin Miller Park Course Record

The Skyline High School Titans boys team time of 92:36 at the Joaquin Miller Park Course in Oakland was exactly 2 minutes faster than the previous record of 94:36 set by Piedmont High School in 1995. That time is the best any team from any league has ever run at Joaquin Miller Park, including the great teams from Piedmont and Bishop O’Dowd High School in the 1990s and from Oakland High School in the more recent past. Senior Sean Purcell (18:13) earned his second victory of the year, close behind were fellow seniors Andrew Sylvester (18:15), Ryan Purcell (18:17) and Chase Wilson (18:18), and rounding out the historic team were junior Cameron Kohles (19:33) and seniors Jose Vazquez (19:53) and Steven Chu (20:21).

For complete results and more pictures, check our
website at:
www.skylinecrosscountry.com

Christopher Luke Williams
Skyline High School

Great Meet Summary and Pictures from Jim Crowhurst

Check out the newspaper coverage at the link below by the Santa Rosa Press Democrat's Jim Crowhurst at the Maria Carrillo, Montgomery and Ukiah meet on the Ukiah HS Cross Country Course.

Carrillo extends streak to 63