Cross country runners from Heritage, Deer Valley and Liberty, got the chance to size up their league competition during last week’s Bay Valley Athletic League Center Meet in Antioch.
Photo by Justin Lafferty
Photo by Justin Lafferty
While the first BVAL meet of the season last Thursday was more of a scrimmage than a competition, coaches of Liberty, Heritage, Freedom, Deer Valley and Antioch squads were pleased by how their teams are performing midway through the season.
All teams, including Pittsburg, return to the track in November for the BVAL championship meet.
This meet was not scored as a team competition, but individual runners were timed. Freedom’s Lisa Tilcock came in first in the varsity girls race at 21 minutes, 36 seconds. Deer Valley junior Stephanie Siemens claimed second, Freedom’s Carmen Martinez placed third, Mariam Issa from Deer Valley took fourth and Liberty’s Alissa Hansen finished fifth.
“It’s a really good way to see if you’ve improved throughout the year,” said Falcon head coach Alicia Wiley. “I’m just happy that everyone did what they came out to do and got the first one under their belt.”
The defending BVAL champion Wolverines took first place in the boys’ race on the fleet feet of Dylan Winn, who finished the course in 17:36. Heritage’s Noah Peña, Liberty’s Jesus Morales, and Deer Valley’s Paul Matejcek and Austin Chapman rounded out the top five.
Patriot Paige Rosano took first place in the junior varsity girls race, while the Wolverines’ Nick Eng won the junior varsity boys race.
Deer Valley head coach Dave Bartholomew was pleased with the other BVAL teams so far this year. If the Wolverines plan on returning to the top, said Bartholomew, they have their work cut out for them: “We’re at the point now where we’re beginning to peak, and their training is going well. If I’ve done my job correctly, they’ll peak at the end of this championship and that’s when they’ll be running their very best.”
Deer Valley and Freedom also competed in the Stanford Invitational on Saturday. Matejcek, a Wolverine senior, finished 55th in the 5,000-meter race. In that race, Winn placed 62nd, Chapman finished 151st, Jack Warrick came in 200th and Josh Potter was the 213th runner to cross the line.
Joseph Fajardo was the first Freedom runner to finish, at 129th, and teammate Emmanuel Marzan placed 206th.
In the girls 5,000-meter race, the Falcons’ Martinez made an impressive showing – coming in 20th place with a time of 19:49. Tilcock finished 47th, Deer Valley’s Siemens 128th, Candy Salazar 151st, Sarah Ogden 175th and Emeree Duvauchelle 179th.
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