Sara Bei 

November 14, 1999

Junior Sara Bei (Montgomery High School, Santa Rosa) is one of the top high school cross country runners in the nation. She won the Foot Locker Western Regional Cross Country Championship at Mt. SAC in 1998 and placed third in the National Championship.

Conning: Please describe the North Bay League Championship race on Friday, November 12 at Spring Lake Park in Santa Rosa for our readers.

Bei: Friday was awesome!!! It wasn't a spectacular race for me, but as a team, 
we really stepped it up!!! I went out hard in 5:30 for the first mile (the 
hilliest mile) and Jenny Aldridge (ed. Maria Carrillo, Santa Rosa) trailed a little ways back (about 5-8 sec.). By doing this, I dragged a lot of the lead runners (besides Jenny and I) out to a really fast start that they were unable to handle and allowed many of my teammates to have an advantage later on. I was excited 
that I was able to get out so fast, I hadn't been able to go out under 5:40 
all season. The second mile I pulled away from the rest of the runners. In 
doing so it made it hard for me, as always, to maintain the pace that I had 
been going. I have been trying all season to keep the hard pace, but it is 
difficult when there is no one to challenge your position. I had the 
privelege of having Trina (ed. Cox, Santa Rosa) the past two years, and she was always right with me for at least 2 miles of the race. I never realized before how much this was able to help me. I ended up finishing the race in 16:57, and I was happy that it was under 17 but kinda bumbed that it didn't match up to my 
16:43 from last year. But I'm not letting it get me down or anything, I 
know that I pushed myself which isn't easy when you are ahead by 40+ sec. 

Conning: How do you feel about your team winning the league championship?

Bei: As far as our team, we were SOOOO excited!!! We were undefeated coming into 
the meet, but we knew that it was going to take a super effort from every 
team member to win and be able to take home the penant. Santa Rosa is 
always a threat because they have so much depth, and Maria Carillo had 
gained the two Nelson twins (Jenny Aldridge's step sisters that play soccer 
but are impressive runners as well) who we knew would be in their top 5. 
However, we rose up to the challenge. Sarah Bashel really stepped up to it 
and ran the best by far that she has run this season, placing fourth. Elisa 
Pederson and Joy Terribilini, two sophmores that are just getting started in 
running, ran really strong races and pushed a lot of other runners back. 
Our fifth runner, Barbara Hall, a freshman who is very new to running, had
an awesome last mile of the race and finished strong. We beat Santa Rosa by 
3 points and Maria Carillo by 6 pts if I remember correctly, which was 
extremely close. Our team was really excited, especially when we found out 
that it is only the 3rd time in Montgomery's history that the girls have won 
NBL and the last time they won it was 1986!!! It was also exciting to have 
the boys team win the meet as well as be able to tie for the League 
Championship.

Conning: What is next for you?

Bei: Next is NCS... we went and previewed the course yesterday at Hayward
College (ed. Hayward High School) and did a work-out on it. Personally, it is not a course that I favor. I think that it is pretty boring; a lot of it is on soccer fields and grass and even on the track. I do like how there is a decent hill that we do twice that keeps the course from being completely flat. It is also 
very confusing with numerous loops that overlap (I hope they have a lot of 
course monitors out there!!! I am notorious for getting lost at races :) 
!!). However I think that it is a good course to have the week before State 
because it won't be detrimental to your legs like a super hilly course. I'm 
excited about NCS because I am hoping that our girls team will make it to 
State. I REALLY hope they do because ever since I have come to Montgomery, 
we have made it to State. I don't know what it would be like to run without 
my team (assuming that I make it). I think it would be really lonely, and 
it is so much fun having the team there before and afterwards. It is going
to be tough, but if we can all run like we did on Friday, I have high hopes
that we'll qualify.

Conning: What are your plans for the weeks ahead?

Bei: My plans for the weeks ahead are to train through NCS and State, 
decreasing my mileage slightly before state but not tapering until the week 
of Western Regionals. I hope that as I rest up, the hard work that I have 
put in all season will pay off and I'll feel fresh and strong in the races 
that really matter. I'm excited and have high hopes for the end of the 
season!