by Ethan Bond and Ian Sturak
Point Loma’s cross country team was recently lucky enough to attend the Asics Clovis Invitational in Fresno on Saturday, October 7. They left early on Friday, staying the night at Garden Inn and Suites, a family-owned hotel that consistently supports the team each year. They then ran early the next morning at Woodward Park. The boys’ and girls’ teams have previously placed high in this meet, winning the Boy’s Frosh/Soph race two years ago. With temperatures reaching up into the nineties, the dusty course is controversial among the team - a place of past glory but a hard race to run.
The varsity girls’ team raced early at 7:15 in the morning. They received ninth place overall out of 31 teams, racing with a total of 303 points. Isabella Ramos placed first for the team, followed by Zoey White and Nicole Witt. Ramos came in 21st overall with a time of 19:16.8 on the 3.11 mile course. White came in 68th at 20:34.8. Witt came in 70th at 20:36.8. They were followed by Sara Geiszler, Naomi Williamson, Annie Guhse, and Katherine Lapic.
The varsity boys followed them, racing at 8:05 a.m. and receiving 15th place with 387 points. Point Loma’s team was led by Max Kelley, Toby Feiler, and Sebastian Palmer, who received 63rd, 68th, and 73rd places with times of 16:54.1, 16:56.6, and 17:01.0. They were followed by Garbiel Xavier, Jacob Witt, Diego Cardenas-Wallenfelt, and Will Baker.
The frosh/soph boys raced at 11:20 a.m., and received fourth place with 121 points. Jonah Turner got fourth place overall with a time of 17:30.1, and was followed by Ethan Levine in 11th and Fletcher Madigan in 30th with respective times of 18:04.8 and 19:18.1. They were followed by Bear Morales, Franklin Rutt, John Anderson, Seamus Egan, and Jesse Lawson.
The junior varsity boys raced at 11:40 a.m., and, with only three runners in the race, weren’t able to place. A.J. Anderson came in first for the team in 55th place with a time of 18:48.6, followed by Neal Brown and Ian Sturak.
The frosh/soph girls raced at noon, coming in 11th with 265 points. They were led by Paige Eudy in 28th, Amelia Klimiuk in 65th, and Celia Thome in 67th with respective times of 22:38.0, 24:00.5, and 24:08.7. They were followed by Zoe Boes, Corinne Santoro, Colby Russell, Jaselle Cahill, and Lia Snider.
The final race was the junior varsity girls at 12:25 p.m. - the hottest race Point Loma had runners participate in that day. Like the JV boys, they were unable to place due to only having four runners in the race. They were led by Kelly McIntire, who came in 123rd with a time of 25:40.6, and was followed by Teresa Cardenas-Wallenfelt, Isabella Fleming, and Victoria Felix-Arvizu.
Each team put up a valiant race, portentous of future success when they race in League Finals, this coming Friday, November 3rd.