By Justin Hsieh, Staff Writer.
This morning, the Barons’ boys cross country team competed in their first three-mile race of the season at the Las Vegas Invitational, blazing through the brutal desert heat to place 7th in Varsity and 5th in Frosh-Soph. Despite mixed personal results, the team as whole looked to be in promising shape for their upcoming season.
The Barons first ran the Frosh-Soph race at 8:40 a.m., as temperatures climbed into the high 80s. The four sophomores and one freshman blew past expectations to achieve a staggering five personal records (PRs), with sophomores Michael Mockus and Jaden Nguyen both improving by over a full minute to post impressive times of 17:33 and 17:45, respectively.
“It was hot, but I felt like I was running on clouds,” said Mockus.
By 9:35 a.m., when the Barons’ Varsity boys began their race, it was a sweltering 90 degrees outside. The intensified assault of heat exacted a toll on the runners, whose performances were not as spectacular as those of their younger teammates.
“Las Vegas Invitational was one of the most difficult courses I’ve ever ran,” said senior Yuki Watanabe. “You’d think that it’d be one of the easiest races but when you’re in the field you realize that the heat will break you.”
Nevertheless, the upperclassmen are still optimistic about their chances this season.
“The upperclassmen in the varsity race all ran well, but we definitely had some more gas in the tank. We can only keep our heads up and look forward to the rest of the season, including our next race at the Woodbridge Invitational,” said senior Justin Schmidt.
Overall, the team is satisfied with its first showing in Las Vegas and is ready to continue improving as they return home.
“Out of the 11 runners I brought out here to Las Vegas we had three of them place top 15: Yuki, Michael, and Jaden. Based off what I saw today, it’s looking like a great season,” said Coach Steve Knowles.
I stopped doing my homework to read this amazing article. Good job, Justin! <3
Wow sounds like it was hot and dry.