SANTA ROSA — It was a solid season opener for the Middletown High School cross country team, especially the boys, on Saturday during the Viking Opener at Spring Lake in Santa Rosa.
Lower Lake also was represented at the Viking, the traditional opener for the Redwood Empire”s small- and large-school cross country squads.
“I was very happy with the performances of some of my boys,” Middletown coach Mitch Tucker said. “Our frosh-soph boys finished eighth (as a team). That was pretty nice.”
The Viking, which is 2-mile event, is broken down into several different divisions. One of them, for frosh-soph boys, featured 109 runners, and Middletown sophomore Jeromy Dedmon placed 13th overall in 11:41. Two of Dedmon”s teammates, freshman Chris Nance and sophomore Russell Rosenthal both finished in 12:45, with Nance edging out Rosenthal for 49th place.
“They battled it out the whole way,” Tucker said of Nance and Rosenthal. “They had quite a race.”
Also for Middletown, freshman Jarrod Rudy placed 65th in 13:12 and Kris Grantham was 107th in 16:09.
For Lower Lake, sophomore Jeremy Parks edged out Rudy for 64th place in 13:10, and sophomore Bryan Mucks was 93rd in 14:41.
Rory McLeod of Santa Rosa had the top time at 10:37 and Wyatt Landrum of Liberty High was just a second back at 10:38.
In the senior boys” division, Lake County”s top finishers were Chris Whitting, who placed 48th in 12:54, and Lower Lake”s Jeff Wilder, who was 67th in 13:54.
Blake McDowall of Montgomery won the race in 10:08 and Nick LaPlant of Tamalpais was the runer-up in 10:42.
In the junior boys” division, Lower Lake”s Cameron Dudding was the top Lake County finisher in 14:09, good for 62nd place. Middletown”s Sheridan Graves was 75th in 19:11 and Lower Lake”s Laban Cox was 76th in 19:15.
James Fazzio of Castro Valley won the race in 10:34 and Mathew Humphreys of Antioch was second in 10:43.
Girls
In the 106-runner-strong junior/senior division, Middletown”s Kayla Welton was 78th overall in 15:55 and Lower Lake”s Kate Lyons came in 82nd in 16:12.
“That”s pretty good for her first time out,” Tucker said of Welton, who also plays for the Middletown soccer team but is helping out the cross country squad as well.
Lower Lake”s Monica Torrey finished 91st in 17:27 and Middletown”s Rebecca Swanz was 101st in 18:43.
Britney Escamilla of El Molino topped the field in 12:08 and Healdsburg”s Sarah Sumpter was second in 12:16.
In the frosh-soph girls” division, Rebecca Rosenthal of Middletown was the first Lake County runner across the finish line in 16:18, good for 55th place. Freshman Thea Olson, also of Middletown, finished 65th in 17:01, while Lower Lake”s Jamie Dawson was 73rd in 18:23. Lower Lake”s Anna Sutherland was 78th in 19:13.
Freshman Jacque Taylor of Casa Grande won the race in 11:40 and Emily Cozine of Santa Rosa was second in 12:31.
“Almost all of them improved their times a little bit,” Lower Lake coach Laura Hutchinson said of her returning runners. “They were pretty happy.”
Lower Lake”s newer runners were a bit intimidated by the large field, according to Hutchinson.
“I told them not to worry about it and just use it (the race) as a practice,” Hutchinson said.
The annual Lake County Meet featuring all of the county”s teams takes place Wednesday at Highland Springs Reservoir south of Lakeport.
