WILLITS — The crown jewel of Upper Lake High School fall sports turned in a powerful performance on Thursday during the Coastal Mountain Conference cross country championships on the 2.87-mile Brooktrails course near Willits.
— The varsity boys, led by sixth-place finisher Michael Dolan, posted a second-place finish behind powerhouse Santa Rosa Christian in the overall conference standings, however, the Cougars finished first in the North division of the CMC to win a pennant.
— The frosh-soph boys” squad did the varsity one better, edging out Cloverdale, 27-28, to win the overall conference championship behind the first-place time of Alex Rogers.
— Marina Sharp placed eighth out of 93 runners in the girls” race.
— Upper Lake coach John Woods was named the CMC Coach of the Year.
All in all, not a bad day for Woods and the Cougars, who should also make some noise in Division V on during the North Coast Section Championships on Nov. 21 at Hayward High School.
“It was a good day,” Woods said. “I can”t think of a thing that wasn”t good. Watching the kids, especially the seniors, walking around with that pennant, it was special.”
Varsity boys
In the varsity boys” race, Justin Watkins and Brandon Hicks of Santa Rosa Christian finished 1-2 with times of 15 minutes, 47 seconds and 15:55, respectively. Next in line were Jonathan Edens (16:06) and Evan LaBruzzo (16:19) of Rincon Valley Christian, Valle Rogers of Willits (16:26) and Dolan (16:29).
“I figured we could beat everyone there but Santa Rosa Christian, so I told my guys not to go out after their top two runners (Watkins and Hicks). I didn”t want them to burn themselves out. I told them to chase everybody else,” Woods said.
Other top finishes by Lake County runners were Christian Cisneros of Upper Lake, 15th in 17:17; Charlie Coburn of Upper Lake, 16th in 17:23; Tyler Murray of Lower Lake, 18th in 17:27; Andrew O”Meara of Upper Lake, 19th in 17:32; and Jarred Rudy of Middletown, 20th in 17:33.
“Dolan, I can”t say enough about him,” Woods said. “Christian Cisneros also had a great day. He came out for the team a little bit late, but he worked hard to get into shape.”
The top 15 runners earn All-Conference honors.
Kyle Donald was Clear Lake”s fastest runner at 44th overall (18:48).
Donald and teammate Erik Hagberg (46th in 18:52) were vying for the honor to be Clear Lake”s first runner to reach the finish line, according to coach Peter Stanley, who said Donald began to pull away on the third and final loop.
“Kyle was unbeatable from there,” Stanley said.
Santa Rosa Christian finished with 58 points, Upper Lake had 91 and Rincon Valley Christian was third with 96.
Girls
Katy Lee of Sonoma Academy breezed to the finish line in 18:23 to win the girls” race for the team-champion Coyotes, who had 33 points to Santa Rosa Christian”s 53 and Cloverdale”s 96. Kiana Herold of Sonoma Academy was the runner-up in 19:19, Noelle Hosler of Santa Rosa Christian was third in 19:33, Cloverdale”s Whitney Edens came in fourth in 19:43, and Arin Guillory of Santa Rosa Christian (19:53) rounded out the top five.
Sophomore Miriam Lane of Middletown was Lake County”s top finisher at seventh (20:05) followed by Sharp in eighth (20:36).
“She did awesome,” Woods said. “How much she”s improved over the course of the season is amazing.”
Kelsie Lawson of Clear Lake finished 19th (21:28) and teammate Jessica Henson was 21st (21:46).
“Kelsie did it again,” Stanley said of Lawson”s second straight race in which she led her teammates to the finish line.
“It was a battle between her and Jessica and they were battling back and forth most of the way,” Stanley said. “Kelsie got her on the last loop.”
Chloe Rojas, who was 35th in 22:47, also turned in a strong performance, according to Stanley.
Frosh-soph boys
Even with their top runner — Chris Cisneros — competing in the varsity division on Thursday, the frosh-soph Cougars were still able to win the team title.
“Alex and company came through,” Woods said of race winner Rogers, who crossed the finish line in 18:39, nine seconds ahead of runner-up Darin Marcucci of Cloverdale and 11 seconds in front of third-place finisher Sam Lomakin of Middletown.
Upper Lake”s Jared Wade was sixth (19:11) and teammates Gage DeHeer (19:32), Cory Rodriguez (19:36), Russell Dickinson (19:41) and Jordan Austin (19:48) placed eighth, ninth, 10th and 12th, respectively.
“He moved up and had a great run,” Woods said of DeHeer. “Two other guys who did real well were Will Foger (19th in 21:01) and Daniel Van Meter (23rd in 21:15).”
Alex Rein was Clear Lake”s top finisher at 21st (21:06) and teammate Cody Scully was 24th in 21:19.
On being named CMC Coach of the Year, a very humble Woods, who created the Upper Lake cross country program from scratch only a couple of seasons ago, said he was “honored” and “enjoying the moment.”
While the NCS Meet on Nov. 21 in Hayward is open to anyone who wants to attend, Clear Lake”s Stanley said the Cardinals would not be participating.
“My kids are moving on to basketball and wrestling,” he said. “It”s been a good year.”
The Cougars will be there. Count on it.
