By Justin Hsieh, Staff Writer
This morning, the boys’ and girls’ cross country teams competed in the Orange County Championships in Silverado. Despite brutal course conditions that led to the early cancellation of the meet, the freshman and varsity teams were still able to give excellent performances in their early morning races.
When the Barons first took to the line at 8:35 a.m. for the freshman boys’ race, a light drizzle was falling on the three-mile course. Overcoming a difficult hill climb and mud slippage, Abraham Morales, Asher Bradshaw and Jonathan D’Ambrosio led the boys with times of 18:14, 18:15, and 18:18, respectively. All three set personal records (PRs) and placed in the top 50.
“Today’s race was interesting and fun as I made a new PR, but it was too muddy for everyone’s liking. I almost slipped multiple times during the race,” said Morales.
At 9:45 a.m., when the boys’ varsity race began, intensified rain had made the dirt course even muddier, with sophomore Jaden Nguyen sliding completely off of the course twice. Nonetheless, six out of the seven boys placed in the top 50, and senior leaders Justin Schmidt, Yuki Watanabe, and Nicholas Mockus all placed in the top 20 and brought the team to a 4th place overall finish.
“The course was extremely muddy today, but that didn’t stop our top guys from killing it,” said Schmidt, who placed second in his race. “Although there were many slips and falls during the race, our guys pushed through and we got 4th as a team. I’m super proud of our guys and we are fit and ready for league finals in two weeks.”
By the time of the girls’ sweepstakes race at 10 a.m., the rain had reduced the course to a treacherous mud trap, making it near impossible for runners to stay upright on the many tight downhill turns. However, the Baron girls managed a 5th place team finish, with senior leaders Sara Feitz and Ashley Faller both placing in the top 20. Freshmen Leah Ferris and Kaho Cichon also set PRs on the course, with respective times of 19:05 and 19:59.
Not all teams managed to come out of the course as well as the Barons, though, and shortly after the girls’ race, the meet was canceled due to the hazardous course conditions.
