By Justin Hsieh, Staff Writer
Yesterday morning, the girls’ cross country team competed at the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section Finals after advancing from Prelims the previous weekend. Beating out 20 of the fastest teams in Southern California to place fourth in Division One, the girls qualified for the statewide championship and will race in Fresno this coming weekend.
“My expectations at CIF [Southern Section] Finals were for the FVHS girls to advance to the state meet, which hadn’t occurred in 11 years. Their [4th] place finish yesterday secured that,” said Girls’ Head Coach Jerry Palazzo. “Their performance was a full team minute faster than at Prelims the week before, and they were told not to hold back at that earlier meet. I thought that averaging 12 seconds faster this round, per scoring runner, was outstanding.”
All seven of the Fountain Valley girls finished before the fifth scoring runner on the four other teams considered on par with the Barons, including two teams that had been ranked ahead of Fountain Valley all season, West Ranch and Ayala. The girls were led to this stunning upset by senior Ashley Faller, senior Sara Feitz, and junior Maddie Jahshan, all of whom placed in the top 40.
“Going into Finals, I was very confident in our team and our abilities; we raced very well at the Riverside Invitational on the same course, so I knew that we could all run fast on this course,” said Faller. “Overall, I think I raced pretty well, and I also ran the fastest time I ever have on the Riverside course. I felt that our team did amazingly; I think Maddie and Julia were the MVPs, as they both had amazing races, but everyone really stepped up and worked together to accomplish our goal. Division One Southern Section is by far the most competitive area in California, so the fact that we made it to state is huge.”
The girls, who had their eyes set on CIF for the whole season, started out relatively easy and infrequent racing in September, aiming to begin racing hard in early to mid October and build for a longer season than most other teams. This strategy paid off, with four of the girls setting personal records on the three-mile course.
“Our goal this entire season was to qualify for the state meet. I was so proud of our team today, and we finished higher than I expected. I was happy with my own performance; my time today [18:32] was a personal record for that course. Running with the varsity team has been an amazing experience. The coaches are amazing and the older girls on my team are great role models,” said Ashlee Gallegos, the fifth scorer and only freshman to run on Saturday.
Having placed in the top seven of their highly competitive Southern Section division, the girls have a strong chance for a standout performance at the state competition and an appropriate finish to what has been a spectacular season for the team.
“The girls have an outside chance of making top five at state, but should finish within the top 10. It’s never easy to know whether or not a distance runner has another race left in them after five months of continuous training,” said Palazzo. “This team has grown up in the sport together during their high school years, with steady improvement throughout, and no injuries. None of them came into high school with lofty achievements, but instead developed at a slow but steady rate.”
