'CATCHING THEIR BREATH' at the Bret Harte Invitational
'Frogtown' - Angels Camp, CA - Sept. 22, 2007
By Joe Hartman!
Varsity Girls Winner Sarah Rico, senior, West HS (Tracy)
(Sarah was 8th at SJS Division 1 finals last year and 20:11 at state)
Joe Hartman/DyeStatCal: Sarah can you tell us about some of your other high finishes at invitationals.
Sarah: This year I’ve only ran two invitationals: at Sierra and then in Hayward - the Farmer’s Invite – and I won the Farmer’s (over Rebecca Hbtamu of Prospect HS) and I placed 2nd at the Sierra which was my first race of the year. And last year I won this one actually.
Joe Hartman/DyeStatCal: What can you tell us about today’s race because you weren’t winning the whole way?
Sarah: When I first came out here as a sophomore we were mostly training on flat (ground) so we go straight to these hills and it’s a shock on your legs and after I ran this course I was like 'out' for four days (laughs). It helps to do more hills now and train for these type of races so it’s helped me mature a little bit more.
Joe Hartman/DyeStatCal: Tell us a bit about your running background and what you want to accomplish in your senior season.
Sarah: I’ve been running since basically junior high but mostly training for other sports that I played. (basketball) But I ended up starting to like it once I hit high school. It was the way it makes you feel so good after you run. You just feel so good! So I started to like it and I got more serious about it. You get that runner’s high from running.
Joe Hartman/DyeStatCal: And winning!
Sarah: Yeah, that too! And this year I’m hoping to basically PR in all the races that I’ve ran so far and hopefully do a lot better at state if I can make it there. I’m hoping to place (high) there this year.
Varsity Girls 2nd place Lauren Petersen, junior, Galt HS
(
Lauren was 10th as a freshman at the 2006 SJS Division 2 finals. Lauren led this race for the first mile, dropped back to 5th or 6th, and recomposed for 2nd overall.)
Joe Hartman/DyeStatCal: Lauren, that was a really interesting race because you wanted to take it out hard, then you were suffering a bit on the back hills, and then you rebounded hard in the third mile. So tell us when and why you started feeling good again.
Lauren: This race I kind of went out really fast because hills aren’t my strong point. In Galt we’re all flat. So I thought, ‘Well, I’m going to go out fast and I’ll get a lead and maybe I can keep it.’ I started getting on the hills and I got a really bad sideache and I knew I hadn’t drank enough water today and yesterday. We ran the rest of the hills and I started to feel better and I started to catch some of the girls. Then the arches of my feet started to tighten up and for the last mile I ran in excruciating pain.
Joe Hartman/DyeStatCal: So you might have had a chance for the win if not for the arches?
Lauren: The girl that won was really fast, so I think at least I might have been able to keep up with her.
Joe Hartman/DyeStatCal: You’re a veteran now. What’s your best advice for someone with sideaches… for dealing with a side stitch in the middle of a race?
Lauren: In the middle of the race just dig down deep and hope for the best. Fight through the pain, that’s what I try to do.
Joe Hartman/DyeStatCal: How about a few words on where you think your running is at this year versus last.
Lauren: I think this year’s gone a little better than last year. I’ve already broken 20 minutes. This year we have a new coach from last year, he’s great. I love (Nathan) Woods. He’s a great coach. We have a whole lot of new workouts this year and I think we’re doing pretty good.
Varsity Boys Winner, Marty Pyeatt, senior, Modesto HS
(Marty was 19th at Div 1 Sections last year with a Willow Hill time of 17:41, #3 for Modesto)
Joe Hartman/DyeStatCal: Congratulations on a great race and how has your season gone so far?
Marty: Well just for now I’ve been in the Mt. Carmel Invite (5th Large School seniors, 16:11, 2.95 miles) and during the summer we were just logging miles mostly. Some short interval workouts but not a whole lot of speed. But I’m looking forward to later on in the season once we do some speed work.
Joe Hartman/DyeStatCal: Tell us about today’s race. You’re definitely used to running here.
Marty: Yeah, we run it for subs so I know the course and everything. I wish I could have gapped ‘em a little bit more on the hills because that’s kind of my strong suit right now but I went into it in kind of a bad position. I was back in like 6th or 7th. Once I came out of it I had about a 20 yard lead, so I was pretty happy with that. It went pretty well for me today.
Joe Hartman/DyeStatCal: You had a dual versus Beyer on Wednesday. How did that meet go and how do you expect things to go in the Modesto Metro Conference this year?
Marty: Beyer went very well for us. Our JV lost but everybody else won. Their varsity girls were pretty close to our varsity girls (Modesto squeaked out a narrow win). Our boys ran good. Me and Matt Maldonado didn’t race that day so all our juniors pulled it our for us and they did a really good job. Our biggest competition is definitely Grace Davis. They have three returners coming back from last season and a new guy came down from football, Ronny Bruce, so that’s going to be a tough race for us. But we’re pretty deep with our juniors.
Joe Hartman/DyeStatCal: How about a ‘shout-out’ to someone else on the varsity who did really well besides yourself?
Marty: Squeegee. Alejandro Hernandez did really good and came through. He’s had a rough season so far but he’s turning it around and we’ll be good.
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