Hundreds of high school cross country runners gathered in Goleta for the Dos Pueblos Invitational on Saturday, with the highlight of the local teams being San Marcos taking home the girls Sweepstakes Title and the Chargers winning three Sweepstakes titles.
Dos Pueblos won the sophomore and senior races as well as the sophomore girls race.
Individually, the Royals’ Kiala Haas won the senior girls division and Dos Pueblos junior Eamon Gordon ran the fastest race of the day at 15:09.49.
Cate had a pair of first-place finishers, with Everest Schipper taking home the boys senior division with a time of 15:31 and Francesca Sutch paced the girls junior race after finishing at 19:14, a personal best.
“Both Fran and Everest ran smart, strong races today,” Cate coach Tim Weir said. “Fran went out under control and looked really strong the entire race.
“Everest works extremely hard in practice, and everyone was thrilled to see him comfortably in front. It was a great day for all our runners as everyone on the team set new personal best.”
San Marcos
The Royals girls came out on top in the Sweepstakes Title, which includes all four grade levels.
Kiala Haas powered San Marcos to the win, finishing in first place in the senior division with a time of 19:05.48. Also in the senior division, Ellie Monson pulled out a sixth-place finish.
At the junior level, Melina Vela and Colette Keller placed fourth and fifth, respectively.
Sophomore Samara Shalhoub ran an impressive time of 19:43 to earn seventh place in her race.
“Samara ran a smart race from the beginning to the end,” San Marcos coach Marilyn Hangtin said. “I am so happy for her and all her hard work is paying off.”
Finally, freshmen Autumn Richardson and Gabby Jaramilla wrapped up the day with third and sixth-place finishes, respectively.
On the boys side, junior Ben Callanan was the highest finisher for the Royals with a third-place performance. Meanwhile, Ashton Johnson finished fifth in the same race.
“Both Ben and Ashton ran a very controlled race and were able to run with some good competition,” Hantgin said.
In the senior race, Jared Simms, Andrew Robillio and Asher Homes finished together in 10th, 11th and 12th place.
“Today will definitely help us as we enter the next difficult weeks of racing,” Hantgin said.
The Royals will next race at the Mt. Sac Invitational on Friday.
Dos Pueblos
The Chargers found plenty of success in the sophomore field, as Cullen Gully won the race with a time of 16:07.47. Joining Gully in the top six were teammates Oliver Saleh (3rd), Linus Martin (4th) and Owen Abbott (6th).
Gordon’s invitational-best time made him the second Charger to take home a first-place finish, this one in the juniors division.
In the senior race, Will Matthews (16:41.70) slotted into fifth place.
For the girls, Vienza Machuca registered a second-place finish (19:04.74) while Cate Bishop followed in sixth place (19:42.30) at the sophomore level.
Sophie Saleh medaled in the senior race, finishing in 19:48.53 to finish in third place.
Laguna Blanca
The Owls showed out, with almost every runner finishing with a personal best.
“All around, the team did great,” Laguna Blanca coach Abigail Stadtlander said. “Overall, I’m super proud of them and all the hard work they’ve put in the season so far.”
Olivia Sofranko led the way for the girls, finishing the race in 21:40, a personal best of about a minute. Meanwhile, Tanner Murphy achieved a personal best this season as well with a time of 18:08.
“They are learning how to push and compete, which is the best thing to watch as a coach,” Stadtlander said.
