We’re XC and We Know It

by Katherine Taylor

We met at school before the sun even rose. Everyone was sleepy eyed and drowsy, ambling around the sidewalk on Chatsworth, waiting to start a six to seven hour drive to Clovis, CA. When we finally got on the road, the fate awaiting us was one we never would have thought, especially because Google Maps didn’t tell us the 5 North was closed due to fires throughout central California. I was using another app, so we reached Clovis soon after we were supposed to. The last of our team, however, made it several hours late, making their drive a painstaking twelve hours. I ate a pasta dinner with my teammates, surrounded by dozens of our competitors, to carbo-load before the race. We then retired to our hotel to rest in preparation for the next day’s race. 

We arrived at the course around 8:30 A.M., the chilly morning air making us thankful for our matching tracksuits. Junior Jake Richardson was the first athlete from Point Loma competing as he qualified for the Championship heat. The rest of the team claimed their spots along the course by the one and two mile mark to cheer him on. After he passed us, with one mile left, he passed ten more competitors and finished with a personal record (PR).

The next race, for our school, was the Varsity girls. It was only a brisk 65°F, but it still felt as though the sun was baking us on the start line. After the gunshot rang out, 210 other racers and I quickly funneled through the beginning of the course. The first mile went by faster than usual as the competition consistently pushed the pace. We choked on dust, got kicked and elbowed, and did our own share of shoving. The second mile was more grueling, with more hills and less shade, but Jordyn Duby, a junior, passed forty-two other racers. The race ended with three Pointers earning medals: the aforementioned Jordyn Duby, sophomore Sophie Compton, and me.

It continued to heat up as the Santa Ana winds moved in through the rest of the races. Varsity boys raced next with both Captains, Brett Cox and Alex Lewis, racing PR’s. Around noon, when there was hardly a spot on the course that escaped the sun, the JV boys raced. Jaeden Holenda-Diaz helped to drastically increase the teams score by passing twelve others in the last mile while finishing with another PR. Another astonishing performance was by Molly O’Neal, who surpassed fifteen racers in the last mile of the Frosh-Soph race. 

All of the teams have had a very successful start to their season, with plenty of PR’s, a new 5k school record by Jake Richardson, and a ranking of six in San Diego County for the Varsity girls. The next race is the Postal Nationals 2-mile on November 2nd at University City High School. Come support! Go Pointers!