ASTI — Heat and hills proved to be no sweat for John Dedmon of Middletown High School on Wednesday.
Dedmon held off two St. Vincent runners on a unusually warm October day to win the 3-mile varsity boys” race during a five-team Coastal Mountain Conference meet at Asti, which is located just south of Cloverdale.
Also participating in Wednesday”s race were Clear Lake, Cloverdale and Laytonville.
Varsity boys
Dedmon completed the Asti course in 18 minutes flat, 10 seconds ahead of Brendan Van Ross of St. Vincent and 13 seconds better than third-place finisher Albert Filice, also of St. Vincent.
“He really ran well,” Middletown coach Cia Dedmon said of her son”s performance. “He ran well in the hills, felt good when he went out there. It”s a great place to run.”
Fourth place went to Clear Lake”s Tyler Hayes in 18:41, which easily beat his previous best at the Asti course.
“He did a great job,” Clear Lake coach Peter Stanley said.
Travis McCaffrey, who is the entire Laytonville team, rounded out the top five in 18:58.
Middletown”s Chris Nance also cracked the top 10, finishing a solid ninth in 20:10 as the Mustangs beat Clear Lake 23-34 and Cloverdale (incomplete) in team scoring.
Other top Lake County finishers in the boys” field were Clear Lake”s Leif Tisell in 20:35 (12th), and Middletown”s Jarrod Rudy in 22:27 (16th) and Francisco Sandoval in 22:28 (17th)
Varsity girls
In the varsity girls” race, Cloverdale runners Elizabeth Valdez (25:07) and Clara Peterson (25:50) finished 1-2, but the third-place finisher was somewhat of a surprise as Clear Lake”s Charnee Vincent beat out teammate Tayler Whipple for the first time this season, crossing the line in 25:54.
Whipple ended up fifth in 26:37.
“Tayler has been our No. 1 girls” runner all season and that”s the first time Charnee has beaten her,” Stanley said. “She had the best race of the day for us outside of Tyler.”
Middletown”s Tasha Gibbs claimed ninth place in 28:20.
Finishing just outside of the top 10 were Clear Lake”s Stephanie Rasmussen (11th in 29:36) and Middletown”s Thea Olson (12th in 30:20). Clear Lake”s Zenze Manley was 15th in 31:28.
Frosh-soph boys
Clear Lake”s Brandon Holt held off a late charge by teammate Erik Hagberg to finish fifth in the JV boys” race. Cloverdale runners placed first through fourth and Holt (24:21) and Hagberg (24:22) came in fifth and sixth, respectively.
“Brandon held about a 100-yard lead (over Hagberg) most of the race,” Stanley said. “But Erik made a nice move the final 100-150 yards and Brandon held him off there at the end.”
Clear Lake hosts Cloverdale, Fort Bragg, Calistoga and Sonoma Academy next Tuesday instead of Wednesday beginning at 3:30 p.m. at Highland Springs. The meet was originally scheduled for Wednesday but was moved up a day so that it wouldn”t conflict with Halloween. Middletown returns to action next Wednesday at Anderson Marsh State Park in Lower Lake, where Lower Lake, Willits and Santa Rosa Christian also will be in action.
