By Justin Hsieh, Staff Writer
Friday afternoon, the boys’ and girls’ cross country teams competed in the Sunset Conference (formerly Sunset League) Finals at Huntington Central Park in a series of stunning three-mile races at all levels. While the meet was a strong season finish for the boys’ team, the girls’ varsity team won their division and are heading to compete in the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section Prelims.
The Barons’ first event of the meet was the girls’ frosh/soph race, for which they were competing in the Surf League (the Sunset Conference is divided into two leagues, Wave and Surf, of four schools each). Although the team finished third overall, freshman Kaho Cichon and sophomore Cielo Chavarria led the girls with outstanding personal records (PRs) of 19:38 and 21:09, respectively. Both Cichon and Chavarria placed in the top 10, with Cichon finishing first and Chavarria finishing ninth.
“I definitely felt better than last time [Sunset Preview, the other conference meet of the season],” said Cichon. “In the beginning, I was afraid like last time, but [less so] because I knew what the course was going to be like and I had more confidence because we did a lot more track workouts and I had trust in my speed. I remember when I was running near the end I thought that I should stick with the girl in front of me, but I realized that her pace was a little slow so I thought maybe I’ll just go faster.”
Half an hour after their female teammates, the Barons’ frosh soph boys took to the line for their race. Led by sophomores Michael Mockus, Justin Hsieh and Ethan Lam, who placed second, third and eighth, respectively, the boys took an impressive second in the Wave League, losing only to the powerhouse Laguna Beach team. Eight of the runners PRed, including freshman Abraham Morales and sophomore Dezi Hernandez, who finished 11th and 16th with respective times of 18:00 and 18:19. Also notable were PRs from freshman Kotaro Ito, who improved 30 seconds after several weeks of illness, and sophomores Aaron Dao and Samson Le, who both set PRs by over a minute.
“The first mile was alright, but then I kind of died in the third mile because I went out too fast,” said Hernandez. “I got an alright time, even though it wasn’t what I was hoping for, but everyone is saying I did well so I guess I’ll just believe them and keep on running.”
Following the frosh/soph boys, six girls went into the junior varsity (JV) race to represent the Barons. Finishing first in the Surf League, the girls smashed all expectations as all six placed in the top 10, and all of the top five finishers set PRs. The girls were led by senior Isabella Guerra, sophomore Ellie Peterson and senior Emily Olson, who placed first, fourth and sixth and ran respective times of 18:19, 19:26 and 19:54.
“The race was really good,” said Guerra. “It was kind of hard being up in the front by myself because normally I run varsity. It was definitely a different kind of race, but it was one of my best races, especially since this will be my last race here on this course since I’m a senior.”
Following their spectacular performance on the JV girls’ front, the Barons took a minor blow in their next race, the JV boys. Despite a fourth-place team finish in the Wave League, however, senior Phong Co placed second in the race, and sophomore Ethan Dang managed to set a PR of 20:42.
Although the JV girls’ race may have seemed difficult to top, the Barons managed to do just that in the girls’ varsity race, with their legendary team securing an incontestable first-place Surf League finish and the opportunity to compete at CIF Prelims. The seven varsity girls, five of whom PRed, finished in a jaw-dropping sequence of second, third, fourth, sixth, seventh, eighth and 12th place in the race. Standout performances included those of sophomore Ashley Faller, who placed second with a PR of 17:16; junior Maddie Jahshan, who placed fourth with a PR of 17:53, and freshman Ashlee Gallegos, who placed sixth with a PR of 18:04.
“Before the race, I was feeling pretty excited,” said Faller. “The beginning of the race was rough, and I got a little scared because it was really fast, but coming back I thought I just had to carry the momentum and finish it out. Our team performance was amazing, a step above our stellar race last week at Riverside. I’m so happy and proud of everyone, and I’m feeling really confident [about CIF]; we’re going to go in there and kill it and make it to state.”
The varsity girls have been favored to make it to the CIF state championships since the beginning of the season, and their performance at Finals is highly auspicious.
“I was really happy [with the girls’ performance]; I think they continue to run as a pack really well. They understand that they get strength by being with each other rather than racing each other. They took it in stride; it’s four weeks until state, so this can’t be the best race, but I think they ran what they had to. I think it’s been a great day,” said Girls’ Head Coach Jerry Palazzo.
For the last event of the day, the Barons watched a nail-biting race as their boys’ varsity team fought to place second in the Wave League and qualify for CIF Prelims. Although the boys fell an agonizing 13 seconds short of their goal, placing third after Huntington Beach and Laguna Beach, they still saw incredible performances from all of their runners, five of whom PRed. Especially notable was a 30-second PR from senior Yuki Watanabe, who at 15:05 placed seventh in the league, as well as two blazing fast PRs of 16:23 and 16:29 from sophomores Hunter Augustus and Jaden Nguyen, respectively.
“I think the boys performed admirably,” said Boys’ Coach Steve Knowles. “They did a great job, and there were a lot of personal records; I am sad because we just missed making it to CIF. One of our top runners [senior Justin Schmidt] was deathly ill this week, and then he came out and ran a tough race and I’m really proud of what he did. I also was extremely proud of our top runner Yuki, who set an insane PR today on this tough course. Overall, I loved this season, and it’s been an honor to have coached these young men. The sophomore performances were exceptional, and I think that bodes well for the future. I’m super excited about what there is to come and even though we’ll lose our top three runners next season, we’ll have a strong team.”
