MIDDLETOWN — Upper Lake”s Charlie Coburn just missed setting the course record while winning the varsity boys” race Wednesday during a four-team Coastal Mountain Conference cross country meet at the 3.05-mile Middletown course.
It was a good day all around for the Cougars, who beat Middletown in head-to-head scoring in the varsity boys”, varsity girls” and junior varsity boys” divisions.
“It was perfect running weather,” Upper Lake coach John Woods said of temperatures in the mid-70s. “Because of the way we finished at the end, we would have eked out a win against Sonoma Academy had we been scoring against them and that”s important because we”ll meet them down the line in sections.”
Coburn crossed the finish line in 17 minutes, 22 seconds, just four seconds off the course record. He finished a comfortable 21 seconds ahead of Jax Reiff of Sonoma Academy (17:43) and 33 seconds ahead of Sonoma Academy”s Jacob Gaynor (17:55).
Upper Lake”s Chris Cisneros (18:03) came in fourth.
Also cracking the top 10 for the Cougars were Nick Davison, sixth in 18:49; Jordan Austin, ninth in 19:17; and Cory Rodriguez, 10th in 19:20.
Alex Rogers of Upper Lake came in 11th in 19:23 and Sam Lomakin had the best Middletown time at 20:46, good for 15th place.
Upper Lake beat Middletown 15-40.
Girls
Katy Lee of Sonoma Academy dominated the varsity girls” race with a winning time of 18:56.
Middletown”s Rose Lynch came in sixth overall at 24:28 to lead the Lake County contingent of runners. Upper Lake”s Brittany Benner was seventh in 25:05.
Rounding out the top 10 were Jessica Orozco of Upper Lake, eighth in 25:27; Amber Ramponi of Middletown, ninth in 25:52; and Amanda Martin of Middletown, 10th in 26:40.
Upper Lake edged Middletown 26-31.
“Our girls are doing so much better this year,” Woods said. “The improvement, you can see it weekly. The girls are getting excited.”
“As a coach, I”m super happy because the kids are getting faster,” Middletown coach Eric Olson said. “It”s always nice to see the times improving like they are.”
On Lynch”s strong effort, Olson said, “Rose has been a joy.”
JV boys
Eli Baker of Sonoma Academy won the JV boys” race in 19:49. Daniel Van Meter led Upper Lake, placing third in 19:56, just two seconds behind runner-up Sebastian Kochinke. Finishing fourth, fifth and sixth were Upper Lake”s Jared Wade (20:03), Brandon Lovrin (20:35) and Giovanni Bautista (21:23).
