Humboldt-Del Norte League
C ross-Country Championships
Saturday, November 15, 2003
Rohner Park (Fortuna)
4,58km (wheeled). three substantial hills of 500m, 200m, 500m, respectively. asphalt, 200m grass, & forest trail
overcast and breezy, 15*c

the no. 6 state-ranked arcata (d. 4) girls expected to cruise to victory, but instead were overwhelmed by a surging eureka (d. 2), who took the top four places to dominate in a time of 1:41:21 over arcata's 1:45:15 and fortuna's 1:56:44. arcata's efforts were hindered when sophomore yasmine white (arcata), who has dominated local competition the last two seasons, took a tumble and dropped out between 2km & 3km. eureka's nicole beare (11) went on to claim the title on the challenging course, stopping the chronometers at 19:23, followed by three teammates (martin (19:30), genger (19:45), & larson (20:00)) in quick succession. eureka's chances at next week's m.o.c. in ukiah will, however, be greatly hindered by the gap between its no. 4 & no. 5.

01. beare eureka 19:23 4:14/km
02. martin eureka 19:30 4:15/km
03. genger eureka 19:45 4:19/km
04. larson eureka 20:00 4:22/km
05. tobin arcata 20:09 4:24/km
06. knox arcata 20:36 4:30/km
07. hoch arcata 20:45 4:32/km
08. hampson big lagoon 20:53 4:34/km
09. oliphant fortuna 21:10 4:37/km
10. kelsey arcata 21:49 4:46/km

1. eureka (d. 2) 1:41:21
2. arcata (d. 4) 1:45:15
3. fortuna (d. 4) 1:56:44

a moribund team race was enlivened by a rare head-to-head battle between senior aaron magazzi (ferndale (d. 5), 16:10 @ 2002 c.i.f. state x.c. meet) and junior john figueiredo (arcata (d. 4), 16:03 @ 2002 c.i.f. state x.c. meet). the duo took advantage of the flat first 1 100m, splitting 2:59 at 1km, then powering up the 500m & 200m climbs that mark the heart of the course. magazzi was within 3m of figueiredo coming out of the hills at 2 500m, but figueiredo proved stronger on the flats, and had gained 30m on his rival by the time they headed back in to the hills at 3 500m. figueiredo pushed hard on the final 500m climb, then used the mostly downhill final 600m to his advantage, breaking the tape at 15:17, the fastest time in recent memory, while magazzi held on to cross in 15:42. the two were followed by a trove of freshmen. jared wohlwend (fortuna), a former age-group maven, ran a patient 16:25 to garner 3rd, while three of the winning eureka squad's top five were yearlings.
eureka, still regrouping after the graduation of its strong 1999 & 2000 group (1:20:50 & 1:20:20 @ woodward park, respectively), now has a glimmer of resurgence with its unexpected victory over a fairly strong arcata squad with mostly underclassmen.
with little more than vague qualities to go by, it is difficult to compare the fortuna course to standard courses in california. the course is very short (420m shy of woodward park), but also very challenging. based on very limited comparisons, it may run 0:30-0:40 faster than woodward park.

01. figueiredo arcata 15:17 3:20/km
02. magazzi ferndale 15:42 3:26/km
03. wohlwend fortuna 16:25 3:35/km
04. corrigan arcata 16:44 3:39/km
05. keller eureka 16:52 3:41/km
06. palmer fortuna 17:08 3:44/km
07. halliday eureka 17:09 3:45/km
08. craps eureka 17:22 3:48/km
09. ayers eureka 17:27 3:49/km
10. flannery eureka 17:28 3:49/km

1. eureka d. 2 1:26:18
2. arcata d. 4 1:25:57
3. southern trinity d. 5 1:43:45