Fountain Valley’s Cross Country team defeated several opponents at Cerritos Regional Park on September 8 at the Great Cow Run, a three-mile cross country race open to all California high schools. The girls and boys team trained all summer long and this event was their first official race.
Girls’ varsity took 5th place out of 14 schools with the help of lead runner, Amanda Stark (‘14), who ran the three miles in 18:38. When asked how she felt about the rest of the season, she answered, “We are planning on peaking for League Finals. Races like Great Cow are good for preparing for our more important races.” Stark says that she is “super excited for the rest of the season” and is prepared to run in flats—shoes designed especially for racing long distances—instead of trainers for FVHS’s more important races.
Hunter Gulino (‘14) led the boys’ team with a time of 15:18, and was followed just milliseconds after by Thomas Duckson (’13), who also ran the race in 15:18. The boys were 7th out of the 27 boys’ varsity teams that raced. Gulino was asked what the boys’ team’s goals this season were. “We all want to sweep Sunset League this year on all levels, and the only team that’s going to try to stop us is—you guessed it—Edison.” Gulino’s personal goal this year is to “break the school record that Jay [Bonthius (’12)] nearly broke.”
Coach Brian Bivens, who is head coach for the girls’ team this year, says the girls are “working as hard as [they] can, and [they] did a whole lot of summer mileage” that will hopefully lead to a League Title and making CIF.
With the season just beginning, both varsity teams are off to a great start. Their next race will be at Estancia High School on September 15.
