The Dos Pueblos boys and San Marcos girls cross country squads capped off their impressive seasons at the CIF State meet on Saturday in Clovis.
The Chargers registered an eighth-place finish with 201 points in the Division 2 race, while the Royals came in 10th place in the Division 3 race with 307 points.
Dos Pueblos
The Charger boys turned in a stellar showing as five of the seven racers earned lifetime bests.
“The boys feel that the place we got doesn’t reflect the team’s true quality,” Dos Pueblos head coach David Jackson said. “The team got a lot faster, but the rest of the state did too. So, we’ll hold our heads up high, knowing that all it took was all we had.
“The result marks a significant improvement in speed from last fall and solidifies the Chargers as one of California’s most rapidly ascending programs.”
Owen Abbott was at the front of the pack for the Chargers, taking 30th place individually with a time of 15:26.7.
Just three spots behind him was his teammate Phil Contakes, who crossed the finish line in 15:33.5 to take home 33rd place.
The duo was followed by strong performances from Ashton Smedley (15:45.1, 45th), Ian McMurtry (15:47.8, 48th) and Linus Martin (15:52.7, 55th).
San Marcos
The Royals were paced by back-to-back finishes from Elsie Tuttle and Sofi Hernandez in 62nd and 63rd place, respectively.
Tuttle recorded a time of 18:54.1 to finish just ahead of Hernandez at 18:54.4.
“These girls have really stepped up this past month of the season,” San Marcos head coach Marilyn Hantgin said of Tuttle and Hernandez. “They are not afraid to go out fast and challenge the top runners. They complement each other well, and they push each other to be better every day.”
Autumn Richardson placed 84th with her time of 19:22.4 and Layla Llewellyn closely followed in 87th at 19:23.1. Samara Shalhoub rounded out the San Marcos scorers at 19:41.5 in 103rd place individually.
“Autumn has been the anchor of our team. She works hard every day and has high expectations for herself and others,” Hantgin said. “Layal and Samara are two seniors that have been such amazing leaders. We are going to miss them terribly.”
Maya D’Amour and Jane Demmin also raced in the state meet with times of 19:44 and 21:53, respectively.
“Maya has impressed me all season. She is very athletic and has extreme mental toughness. Her future is bright,” Hantgin said. “Jane is one of the most positive people I know. She has been such an important part of our team all season
“These girls ran their hearts out today. Watching them run today made me so proud, not because they ran fast but because they are such special girls. They get along with each other so well and have so much gratitude that it’s pretty bittersweet to end our season. It’s hard to think it’s over.”