SANTA ROSA — Forty-one cross country schools and more than 750 runners participated in the Viking Opener on Saturday at Spring Lake in Santa Rosa.
Overall winners were Erik Olson of Novato among the boys and Jacque Taylor of Casa Grande among the girls. Olson completed the 2-mile course in 9 minutes, 54 seconds, edging out Rory McLeod of Santa Rosa High School by six seconds. Taylor led the girls in 11:17, finishing well ahead of Suzy Rozga of Santa Rosa in 12:03.
Upper Lake High School was the only Lake County high school that attended the meet and the Cougars were well represented in the many races that took place.
Mike Dolan led Upper Lake in the boys” frosh-soph race, finishing 31st in 11:59. Charlie Coburn was next in 12:23 (41th place). Running in his first race, freshman Brandon Lovrin finished 59th in 12:40, and Bruce Tucker came in 107th in 17:07.
In the frosh-soph girls” race, Jennifer Delk led the Cougars with a 59th-place finish of 18:20. Teammates Mary Tucker and Emma Johnson finished 80th and 81st, respectively.
In the boys” open race, Ben Mullin placed 12th overall in 12:27 and received a ribbon, Fwee Chao was 14th in 12:37, and Cameron Beighle was 68th in 17:24.
“We competed against some of the best runners in the state,” Upper Lake coach John Woods said. “Castro Valley and Casa Grande were here, amongst others and we were competitive. Our team is young, with a small group of experienced leaders and a large group of never-quit beginners. These kids have a lot of heart and are a real pleasure to work with.”
Upper Lake returns to action Wednesday when the annual Lake County Meet takes place at Anderson Marsh State Park in Lower Lake at 3:30 p.m.
