On September second, the sun blazed on the bare shoulders of freshman cross country runners at the two-mile Dry River Run in Hollister, California. Cory Nounnan steps foot to the starting line, awaiting the shot of the gun to start the race. Cory Nounnan finished fourth place with a time of 11:42. Other great performances were shown from freshman boys Angelo Reis, Casey Crouch, and Kenai Dindia. Kenai actually performed with an exciting two new personal mile bests on the course. After all races were over, Nounnan quotes, “I thought I did well, but I also think I could have pushed myself more at the last 100 meters. I got passed by three six-foot guys at the last part. I’m only five-foot-three.” The freshman boys team was the group to watch that day. This first race in Hollister is actually able to help determine where some of those who raced will eventually be placed on the team. The fastest seven runners from each side of the girls and the boys team, resulting in an eventual fourteen fastest runners, although sometimes a few of the athletes tend to move around in their ranking. The rest of the runners on junior varsity will not end up racing at bigger future meets such as the CCS state qualifying meet, or the State race itself.
Last year, The cross country team had quite a strong racing season , with strong runners throughout the entirety of the team. With the loss of several seniors, the team is now significantly young, with many freshmen runners. The girls team has added a few new freshmen to its bunch, including Azalea Groleau, Summer Hipwell, and Brenda Solis-Lemus, who should be some unexpected tough assets to the team. Closing up last years cross country season, both the girls and boys varsity teams qualified for the State Championships in Fresno, California. This year, returning athlete and now senior team captain Craig Yeomans discussed his thoughts on the current racing season and his duty as a captain. Yeomans states, “I think that a lot of our work will pay off, but we have a bunch of younger runners so I am not certain that we will see the results we did last year. Although I feel like we have a lot of talent and a lot of unrealized potential.” Craig Yeomans and Jared Rembao are the boys team captains, along with the girls team captains, Anissa Ramirez and Grace Brock.
A majority of the team has been training very consistently over summer leading into the school year. Under the wing of coach Jay Avenmarg, the team has high hopes and goals for their success in the future of this season. Due to the loss of several older and more experienced runners, Coach Jay tends to think that people in relation to the sport will not be expecting much from the team, although they may happen to be pleasantly surprised with the team’s potential. Coach Jay says, “I am actually more excited for this season. Last season we knew going in what we had. This year, I am just not sure what will happen and I think that creates more excitement and drama. I think if things come together, we may surprise a lot of people.” Together, the cross country team is full of excitement and anticipation as the season begins to be underway, with many revealing races of the team’s potential.
By Kayla Penny
The Claw 