Behind the 1-2 finish of juniors Andreas Dybdahl and Blaise Snow, the Santa Barbara High boys finished in second place at the Moorpark Invitational cross country meet on an early Friday morning at Arroyo Vista Park.
The meet was shifted to an early-morning start to avoid the extreme heat in the afternoon.
The Dos Pueblos girls came in third place and the boys finished sixth.
“The cooler temperatures and flat course layout made for some great racing,” said Santa Barbara coach Olivia Perdices. “It didn’t get really hot till the seniors got out there. Moorpark did a great job keeping the meet moving and getting kids running under the best possible conditions.”
The runners competed by grade level. The meet scorer added a team’s five fastest times across all the races to come up with total team times. Those times were used to determine places for the overall competition.
Santa Barbara’s boys scored 63 points and finished second to Crescenta Valley (40), with Camarillo (163) and Moorpark (188) rounding out the top five. The girls team placed 10th.
Competing in the Junior race, Dybdahl and Snow were each timed in 15 minutes, 41 seconds for the flat, three-mile course. Bode Andrulaitis came in 12th in 16:44. In the Sophomore race, Cainan Birchan and Nico Tassos finished second and third in 15:52 and 16:20, respectively.
“It was fun to watch the guys open up and race hard against some good teams on a fast course. Those were big lifetime bests for Cainan and Nico, and just really solid early season performances top to bottom for all the boys,” said Perdices.
Freshman Ailey Alexander (8th in 21:22) led the SBHS girls in her high school debut. Ridley DeSoto and Mackenna Show were 10th and 14th among the juniors (21:31 and 21:48). Sophomore Belen Catalan Jaimes (30th, 22:11) and senior Tiffany Ball (19th, 22:53) also scored for Santa Barbara.
“That was an impressive high school opener for Ailey and a nice set of early season marks for Ridley and Mackenna,” said Perdices
The Dons are at the Ojai Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 17.
DOS PUEBLO RESULTS
Seniors Phoebe Wolfe Lyons (19:42) and Ellie Gleason (20:19) led the DP girls, placing third and fifth in their race.The other scoring runners for the Chargers were sophomore Quinn Gleason (20:48), freshman Ashley Hansen (20:55), and sophomore Eloise Shea (21:02).
For the boys, sophomore race winner Eamon Gordon ran the course in 15:48. He was followed by senior Tyler Jamieson (16:55), senior Orlando Ye (17:20), sophomore Andy Brennan (17:21), and junior Dominic Corral (17:30).
“The commitment of the team to make a 5 a.m. bus from school and compete in the heat and humidity was truly awesome,” said coach Micks Purnell. “They are a really cohesive group, which makes coaching a lot of fun.
“Eamon Gordon had a pretty impressive win in a battle with Cainan Birchan of Santa Barbara, prevailing at the finish.”
Cullen Gully (17.37) and Oliver Saleh (17:38) finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 9th grade race.
“We lost a few girls from last year’s girls varsity to graduation and focus on academics, but we have had a few good freshman,” said Purnell. “Ashley Hansen and Cate Bishop joined and show they can contribute, placing fifth and seventn in the 9th grade race.
“And Phoebe Wolfe Lyons and Ellie Gleason showed us how it’s done, finishing third and fifth in the 12th grade girls race.”
SAN MARCOS RESULTS
“Thank goodness our races started at 7:30 a.m., because by 9 it was scorching hot,” said San Marcos coach Marilyn Hantgin of the day at Moorpark.
Shaina King finished sixth in the Senior girls race in 20:29 and Baylie Bingham was sixth in the Sophomore girls race in 20:14.
Bryan Edgar was the Royals’ top senior finisher, placing 16th.
“Both of these seniors (Edgar and King) are amazing leaders and examples of commitment and perseverance,” said Hantgin.
Kiala Haas was 11th in the girls 11th grade race with a time of 21:34.
“It’s great seeing both (Kiala and Baylie) healthy and running with confidence,” said Hantgin.
Ben Callanan was eighth in the boys 10th grade race with a personal best of 16:46.
“Looking forward to a cooler week next week at our meet at the Raider Invitational,” said Hantgin.