It was a good day for Carpinteria prep cross country runners at the CIF-SS Division 5 Prelims on Friday as both Carpinteria High and Cate School boys and girls teams qualified for next week’s section championships at Mt. San Antonio College.
The Carpinteria girls placed third and the boys fourth in their respective heats to earn advancement.
The girls were led by Jaqueline Gaussian, who placed seventh in the three-mile Heat 3 race in 19:07.3 and Mila Martins, who finished ninth (19:16.5).
All the races were held on the flatter rain course at Mt. SAC.
Max Soto led the Warrior boys, placing third in Heat 1 with a time of 15:23.1.
“We had some quality performances from both our boys and girls teams today on the rain course,” said coach Angel Silva. “Our fourth and fifth runners on each team made a huge impact in helping our teams to qualify for finals.
“Seniors Victoria Martinez on the girls team and Jayden Ambriz on the boys team both had excellent finishes to help push both teams to qualify for the finals. It’s exciting to have both teams competing in the finals next week. They have all worked so hard to get here.”
Carpinteria finishers:
Girls
Jaqueline Guadian, 7th, 19:07.3
Mila Martins, 9th, 19:16.5
Belen MacMurray, 37th, 21:10.3
Victoria Martinez, 40th, 21:21.0
Stacy Miranda, 43rd, 21:36.6
Summer Ziegler, 58th, 22:18.3
Kenzi Gardner, 60, 22:37.6
Boys
Max Soto, 3rd, 15:23.1
Ronnie Rosales Bui, 20th, 16:40.4
Jayden Ambriz, 29th, 16:58.6
Liam Killen, 21st, 16:59.1
Brody Pozzebon, 43rd, 17:27.0
Christian Hernandez Ortiz, 52nd, 17:59.6
Christian Dominguez, 57th, 18:12.7
Cate
Sophie Blank won the first heat in 18:30.25 to pace the Cate girls to a fourth-place finish and a spot in the finals.
“Honestly, I was a bit nervous when Sophie came by and already had a good lead 800 meters into the race,” said Cate coach Tim Weir. “But then she settled down a bit and ran the rest of the way very comfortably. The rest of the team ran very well, especially junior Aggie McTigue, who has been hampered by injuries all season.”
McTigue was Cate’s No. 2 finisher, placing 25th in 20:52.
“We are excited to head back to the finals for the fifth consecutive year,” said Weir.
Senior Ati Zwieback finished second overall in 15:21, helping the Rams advance with a third-place finish in their heat. It’s their third trip to the finals in five years.
“Ati ran a PR today while being totally under control. He is set up well for next Saturday and should lower his PR again,” said Weir.
Senior Jackson Steele’s basketball season will have to wait at least one more week as he was Cate’s number two runner, setting a PR of 16:25 and finishing 14th.
“We couldn’t be happier for Jackson; he committed to running cross country after having a strong spring track season and it has really paid off for him. He will certainly be in shape once he hits the hardwood,” said Weir.
Also competing was Laguna Blanca freshman Nick Wilson. He placed 13th in his race in 16:23. Last Sunday, he ran the Santa Barbara Half Marathon and finished 34th in 1 hour, 19 minutes.
Cate’s Scoring Runners
Girls
1, Sophie Blank 18:30
25, Aggie McTigue 20:52
32, Harper Bishop, 21:17
49, Michelle Wu, 22:24.90
50, Lynn Kim, 22:28.90
Boys
2, Ati Zwieback, 15:21
14, Jackson Steele, 16:25
27, Patrick Wykoff, 16:51
32, Jackson Kerr, 17:07
35, Bruce Li, 17:12
