By Justin Hsieh, News Editor
On Saturday afternoon, the Barons’ cross country team raced at one of the most competitive cross country meets in the nation, the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic. With personal records (PRs) set across all levels, the team gave a strong performance at their second three-mile race of the season.
The Barons first competed in the boys’ novice race, where despite temperatures around 98 degrees Fahrenheit, junior Michael Pohl led the pack with a time of 20:33 and an overall third place finish. Other notable performances included those of freshmen Noah Korhonen and Jonathan Tran, who placed 15th and 17th with respective times of 21:51 and 21:55.
“My performance was what I expected due to the heat,” said Pohl. “It was a tough run for me and I wish I had hydrated better. But overall, I was happy with my time and I hope to improve with each race going forward.”
After the novice race, the Barons were led in the boys’ freshman division by Benjamin Prado and Luke Dias, who placed 44th and 57th out 400 runners with outstanding PRs of 17:47 and 18:03.
“My performance at the race today was great because I set a personal record,” said Prado. “Our team did well even though the wind and heat were against us. I feel optimistic that our team will thrive this season because we are all working hard.”
In the boys’ sophomore race, nine out of ten runners set PRs, with leaders Shane Hill, Abraham Morales and Jonathan D’Ambrosio running respective times of 17:31, 17:41 and 17:44. Despite setting impressive PRs, however, many of the leaders were dissatisfied with their times.
“I felt I did very poorly in today’s race, despite medaling,” said Hill. “I had high hopes but was very short of my goal of breaking 17 minutes. However, my team’s performance still never ceases to impress me; our varsity team is powerful along with our frosh. Therefore I see many high [hopes] for our season, although for myself I am certainly going to have to work on my performance physically and mentally.”
In the boys’ junior race, Aaron Dao led the pack with a 30-second PR of 19:14. Samson Le and Benjamin Nguyen also set impressive PRs, improving three minutes and two minutes respectively for times of 19:25 and 19:40.
“I felt that my performance was amazing today,” said Le. “My mental game was strong as I went out hard but stuck with it throughout the whole race. The team’s performance as a whole was absolutely astonishing. Many people ran fast times and got personal records. With the times that we have so far for the team, I believe that we will have a successful season.”
Seniors Uy Tran and Cody Hohertz led the boys’ senior team, with respective PRs of 18:16 and 19:08.
“I thought my race was pretty epic since I PR’d 34 seconds and medaled for the first time,” said Tran. “I think this season will be epic for both me and the team and I’m looking forward to see what we’ll be able to do this year. Hopefully our varsity team can make it to CIF.”
By the time of the boys’ varsity race, the sun had set on the race course. In the cooler temperatures, the boys’ varsity team gave an excellent performance, with five of the seven runners setting PRs and running under 17 minutes. The boys were led by senior Kyle Meis and junior Hunter Augustus, who ran respective times of 16:11 and 16:24.
“I feel pretty good about my performance,” said Augustus. “I was able to secure a good time and medal. Today’s race was one of my favorite races, because of the flat land, and the multitude of fast people to help you push yourself to run faster.”
The last race of the night was the girls’ varsity race. Led by senior Maddie Jahshan and sophomore Leah Ferris, who placed 8th and 13th overall out of 200 runners with times of 18:06 and 18:24, the girls took a seventh place overall finish to end the Barons’ night on a victory.
“[This meet] was a PR festival,” said Coach Steven Knowles. “I think the most improvement came from the bottom half of our team; the sophomores and freshmen shined. The varsity team shined with almost the whole team receiving medals. Yet I feel like they are just getting going and there are faster times to come.”
