Sat 11/13 - Sac Joaquin Section Girls Preview

Joe Hartman

Saturday will mark the first time that SJS Section finals have not been contested at the venerable Sierra College course in a long time. The new venue is the Willow Hill Reservoir course at Folsom HS. While the pros and cons of the course have been debated, there is no question that the hard work of John Mansoor, Dave Gregson, Peanut Harms, have benefited many area athletes. The course is indeed a challenge, and the six hills will quickly identify who is prepared and who isn’t. The course began as a 5k but was modified to 3.05 miles. As the graded and shovel-turned trails have gotten more and more packed due to rains and frequent use, the course is much faster. All this - plus some hard training - has lowered times substantially (example: Oak Ridge’s Alex Kosinski was 20:38 on Sept. 4 and 19:05 at league finals.) Possible rain this weekend only adds to the intrigue. The girl’s course record is 18:14 by Natasha LaBeaud (Oct. 27 - Delta League Finals). Given the format of the subsection-section meet sequence, one could make the mistake of putting too much emphasis on last Saturday’s Frogtown results. So with that caveat in mind – and nevertheless throwing caution to the wind - here are some divisional team and individual previews.

Division 5 Girls - 12:37pm– 2 teams qualify
Inderkum High School’s stay in Division 5 will be brief, but they have a chance to establish some early tradition in the program. Erika Keylon is the one to beat for individual D5 honors as she was under 20:00 at Frogtown with a respectable 19:50. Erika was 33 seconds ahead of Lauren Jimison of Capital Christian, whom she also beat by 28 seconds in league action. In the team competition, Jim Elliott Christian has a :50 gap one-to-four and looks to be the favorite again. Katie Whitemire and Erin Keylon came in 3rd and 4th, but Inderkum drops off rather quickly after that. It should still be enough to claim the final state berth.

Division 4 Girls – 12:37pm – 3 teams qualify
Last Saturday, #3 state-ranked Riverbank gave us no reason to believe otherwise. Despite sitting out #1 Maritza Garcia with a reported sore ankle, the Bruins beared-down to score just 30 points, putting 4 runners in the Top 7. Bianca Melchor, Georgina Arnold, and Brettany Harrison of the ‘maroon platoon’ were all under 20 minutes. With a healthy Garcia this coming Saturday, Riverbank would appear to be capable of scoring fewer than their miniscule total of 28 at sections last year. In doing so, they would match Bret Harte’s three straight D4 titles from 1999-2001. Speaking of the Mother Lode League champions, Bret Harte has been holding down the #2 spot in the rankings and did take 2nd Saturday on their home course. Brooke Lawrence finished in 19:29 at Frogtown, and Nikole Harmon (20:58) and Chelsea Flores (21:01) also ran well, so it wouldn’t be much of a leap to pencil in a state berth for the Bullfrogs. It looks like Escalon or Colfax for the third and final state spot. Escalon, already possessing a pretty decent #1 (more on her in a minute), has been bolstered by two freshmen Annalyse Deluchi and McKinsley Brown. Bronco Invitational small school champ Colfax finished 34 points behind Escalon on Saturday but were without #2 Tiffany Harrison. If she runs at finals, Colfax would still have to make up about 20 points on the Cougars.

Last year, the Sac-Joaquin Section could boast a trio of individual girls’ state champions. The only returnee from 2003 is Escalon’s Amanda Moreno (18:27 at Woodward Park). Amanda started the year a little slow (for her) finishing second to Cherise McNair on opening day and losing to Garcia in a dual meet, but she rebounded nicely, and the girl with the headphones is all tuned in for the stretch drive. She won the Roughrider Invite (small school), was 19:06 at Mt. SAC, and won the Trans Valley League by :20 over Garcia. Four of the individual qualifiers could be Mary Wagner of Golden Sierra (2nd at Bronco small school), Rebecca Dianda of Hillmar, Kelsey Croall of Lincoln-L, and Leti Dominquez of Waterford, along with Moreno or Ella del Sarto of Colfax, depending on whose team does not qualify.

Division 3 Girls– 1:02 pm - 3 teams qualify
One of the faster runners in the section… incredible depth 1 through 7… the entire team in the Top 10… strong legs from months of training in the American River Canyon… a team worthy of state meet competition… a school dripping with running tradition… Placer? Yes. The varsity? Heck no. That’s the JV. Only St. Francis’ Colleen Buehler was able to break up a 1 thru 7 ‘perfect game’ by the Hillgals in the D3-4-5 JV meet. Sherrie Rouse’s 19:29 at Subsections would put her #1 on nearly every team at Frogtown but it’s only good enough for an opening act in the town of Auburn as Placer’s Junior Varsity had the fourth fastest team-time in D3, including all varsity teams.

Which brings us to the Big Green Machine. This is clearly a hungry and motivated team. Back-to-back third place finishes at state have made the SJS #1-ranked Hillgals very familiar with the path to the big white tent after the race. This time they want to enter the tent last. But the section meet comes first. One of the state’s Fab 40, Kim Crouch (1st on Saturday 18:27), won the 2002 Section Championship and looks ready to win again. She is backed by emerging Keri Buck (3rd, 18:56) and three veterans: Katie Vaughan (10th, 19:25), Amanda Gillming (11th, 19:46), and Megan Ramirez (12th, 19:51). But what is most troubling to D3 foes, is that coach Randall Fee has unwrapped two more special freshman - Jordan Burke (5th, 19:11) and Michelle Dadigan (7th, 19:19) - to keep the ball rolling down Stagecoach Hill for a long time.

Coach Jake Hardey of the SJS #2-ranked Del Oro Eagles has seen his entire team improve in front of his eyes. Senior Brecken Drager was 16th at last year’ section meet. Based on her runner-up 18:36 showing on Saturday, this may be the most improved runner in this division, along with Keri Buck. Brecken was only 9 seconds behind Crouch, setting up a showdown between two runners with completely different running strategies. Kim likes to feel her oats early while Brecken pulls the catapult back and lets fly in the back half of the race. Rounding out Del Oro is one of the top two freshmen in the section Brianna Atkins (4th place, 19:03), much improved St. Francis-transfer Jacqueline Lee (idle on Saturday), and Jessica Wilson, who was absolutely huge in Frogtown (8th place, 19:21). 2001 and 2002 section champion St. Francis and coach John DuCray have great hope for the future with five impact freshmen on the varsity squad: twins Katherine and Meghan Enabnit, Brittani Lum, Katie Bolce and Maggie Lloyd to go with senior leader Mairin Meltvedt, the last holdover from the 2002 state championship squad. It appears Placer, Del Oro, and St. Francis have the inside track for the 3 state berths.

The contingent of hopefuls shooting for the five individual spots have another problem to contend with (other than themselves)… and it’s those darn Hillgals again, who put ALL SEVEN in the Top 12. Add Del Oro’s top three to that mix, and if that happens again this Saturday, that only leaves TWO spots for the individuals, who must finish Top 12 overall. Yikes. (And don’t count out SF’s Meltvedt or Del Oro’s Lee for Top 12, either.) The top two hopefuls appear to be a rusty - but very talented - Michelle Born of Oakmont (19:18), and Kaitlin Frier of Calaveras (19:21, and 3rd at Bronco Invite small school). Others with Top 12 potential are Brida Beltrami and Jodie Leal of Oakdale, Hillary Trainor and Allison Jones of Union Mine, and Haley Carrigg of Roseville.

Division 2 Girls – 10:57am – 3 teams qualify
Whether it’s breezy or not, the winds of change will be in the air in D2. After a quadrennium of domination, the Granite Bay Grizzlies are mere mortals once more. Off to Chico State is Megan Williams. And off to Alberto Salazar’s ‘Project Oregon’ – via the University of Richmond – is four-time section champion and 2-time state champion Caitlin Chock, and with her four straight D2 team titles as well. Finishing as runner-up three of those four years was Ray Hausler’s team, who has his own ‘Project Vacaville’ underway. After last winning D2 sections in 1999, the SJS #3-ranked Bulldogs are poised to regain the D2 title; and this dog has bite. Namely: 2002 NorCal freshman of the year and last year’s section runner-up Cecily Lemmon (18:38 at Frogtown, 4th in D2), basketball and softball star Tamar Gruwell who is completely back from knee surgery, and three fine runners in Analiza Rizo (3rd at league), Lindsay Dubs (11th at Subs, 19:35), and Christina Lopez.

Although Bella Vista can’t be overlooked because of the improvement of Krystal Buck and Nicole Freeman – who were both Top 5 in the CAL league – the other two state team berths figure to go to Granite Bay and Oak Ridge who both have a very strong two out front. If Ashley Silas, Oak Ridge #3, can get healthy and Mary Zagaynov of Granite Bay can come through like last week (20:16 at Frogtown), this show is over.

The individual section title, recently a foregone conclusion, could generate the most excitement of the day on the girls’ side. Here are four good ones to start with: The D2 subsection winner in the day’s second-fastest time was sensational Oak Ridge sophomore Alex Kosinski, who is ranked #21 in California by DyeStatCal.com. Besides winning the Sierra Foothill League for the 2nd year in a row, Alex had wins at the Rocklin Invite and Clovis (medium schools), and 2nd place finishes at Granite Bay, Bella Vista, and Stanford (D1), behind the likes of Katie Fritzke, Natasha LaBeaud, and Tori Tyler respectively. She was the only SJS girl under 19:00 at Stanford. Alex’ running mate is Danielle Dominichelli who was 2nd in league action and 6th on Saturday (19:03). Granite Bay’s dynamic duo consists of two runners who made state in track: sophomore Caitlin Clark (2:15.26 800m) and senior Erin Schuyler (5:00.32 1600m). The pair went 1-2 in league. Clark’s 19:25 here at Willow Hill was #1 at Metro finals and she was just 10 seconds behind Kim Crouch at Placer while Schuyler was fourth at Yolo County and Placer.

Five more runners are serious contenders, if not for section champ, at least for Top 3: Cherise McNair of Sierra (2nd at Subs), Alex Ciaraglia of Woodcreek (3rd), Kristina Holtz of Tracy (7th), Kaylin Pennington of Benicia (8th), and Monica Frailing of Downey (10th). Valley Oaks League champ McNair, the 2003 D3 Section Champ, was 4th at the Bronco Invite and had the day’s 4th-fastest time at Frogtown. Rookie of the Year Alex Ciaraglia was 3rd at Rocklin and Placer, and she denied Kim Crouch the league title in the Sierra-Foothill League.

Senior Monica Frailing is most unique in that she was 4th in the section at 3200m last May, but had never run high school cross country. To the best of our research, she set a course record at Modesto’s Legion Park in her first-ever cross country race. Soon after she became injured and wouldn’t return until league finals where, you guessed it, she broke her own course record by 1 second. Her request to have section finals moved to Legion Park was denied; but we jest. She ran with the leaders Saturday but faded in the third mile. How she handles the second loop (final 2k) this Saturday will be her key. Seniors Kaylin Pennington and Kristina Holtz have been through it all and would love to return to state to conclude their prep careers. Bella Vista’s Tara Harmon and Cordova’s Erin Wachter may be heard from too.

Division 1 Girls – 11:22am – 2 teams qualify
If trends hold true, the defibrillator needs to remain close to the Davis High tent. Bill Gregg has seen his Blue Devils upset Woodland’s Fab Four by 3 points in 2002 and pull another upset over Nevada Union last year by 2 points. If he can live through it, he just might settle for a one-point win over NU this go-round. Going by subsection scoring, the Kardiac Kids have 18 points to make up on NU this year, but Davis did not race senior Kaitlin Gregg who was 5th at Sections last year. In truth, another title would not be an upset, as Davis, behind Monticello League champion Chelsea Reilly and a deep cast that includes Alicia Reinhart and Grace Pettygrove, has been ranked #1 in D1 by Dan King for the last five weeks.

Sara Freitas of Nevada Union would have discarded any notion that the Miners had a chance to win the section had you told her in August that neither Caitlin Schultheiss nor Randi Fairweather was available. But there they sit, much like Vacaville, just days away from their first section title since 1999. NU did only run six girls at Subs, so we’ll have to wait to find out who’s behind Door #3. In any case, behind Door #1 is none other than Shannon Lingo, who has more guts than Rocky. The boxer, not the squirrel. Shannon took 4th at league finals and was 8th at NU and 7th at the Bella Vista meet. Shannon Buckley has contributed all year; Hannah Harrison nearly made Top 10 on Saturday.

Two other teams are desperately seeking state. Folsom was rolling all year until league finals and has slumped a bit. If they are healthy, they will be very dangerous and have a huge advantage in terms of course familiarity. They probably shoveled every rock – twice. Modesto was 3rd at subs and was just 20 points behind Gregg-less Davis. Don’t count them out.

She’s come close and now she wants to come through. Natasha LaBeaud was 3rd at state last year, and also 3rd in the 3200m at Hughes Stadium. But for now, she’d be perfectly happy with her first cross country section title. And now that two-time State Champion Rachel Bryan (Laguna Creek HS, Tulane Univ.) is out of her league, out of her section, and out of her division, there’s some hope! There were no hare-brained drivers knocking her down in the Folsom streets this year, but there was another stress injury. Which she overcame, again. Natasha’s first race back was a 1:07 win at Yolo County on October 4 and since then, it’s been ‘all good’. And what a leader to look up to for Folsom sophomore Casey O’Day (2nd at Yolo, 2nd at league finals), who just might finish 2nd.

And for all the world, it does appear to be a race for 2nd. Potential bridesmaids include: Davis’ Reilly (18:39 at Frogtown, 8th fastest time), Lagoon Valley winner and Solano League champ Caprice Bradshaw of Fairfield, Metro 3rd place sophomore Megan Fullmer of Yuba City, NU’s Lingo, Trella Chrisco of Napa, and SJAA league champ Francesca Stonum of Lodi who was 2nd behind Pennington at the Lincoln/Lodi Invite. At the rate Fullmer seems to be improving, if this race were in December, she’d probably win it. One other runner that cannot be ignored is Modesto’s Erin Lewis who is going a bit unnoticed, despite her high statewide ranking. Her season was defined - both good and bad - in the span of a split-second on October 16th. The moment she crossed the finished line 27 seconds behind Top 10 ranked Lauren Saylor of Buchanan at the Mariner Invitational, Erin stepped in a rut and suffered a nasty ankle sprain. Despite her purple ankle clashing with her maroon uniform, Erin was a cautious 7th at Subs, so we’ll see what happens when she lets fly.