ST. HELENA — Chloe Rojas finished third overall and the Clear Lake High School varsity girls” cross country team improved to 5-0 in the Coastal Mountain Conference standings with a victory over the Lower Lake Trojans on Wednesday at Bothe State Park in St. Helena.
The rain held off until all the races were complete and Clear Lake coach Peter Stanley said the Cardinals ? girls, varsity boys and junior varsity boys ? had ideal running conditions on a challenging 3-mile course that was cross country in its truest form.
“It was a neat course,” Stanley said. “Instead of going up a paved path, it was a wide trail through the redwoods. You had to go over a log and there was a stream that was 1 foot deep and 8-feet wide with rocks.”
The only way to cross the stream without getting wet was to negotiate the rocks, one at a time, according to Stanley.
“It”s a fun course, people like it,” Stanley said.
Clear Lake”s girls beat an incomplete Lower Lake squad (fewer than five runners) while the Clear Lake boys beat Lower Lake 23-32. The Cardinals had the only complete team in the frosh-soph boys” division.
Girls
Julia Eyer of St. Helena easily won the varsity girls” race in 19 mintues, 41 seconds. Noelle Hosler of Santa Rosa Christian was next across the finish line at 20:31 and Rojas followed her at 22:10. Kelsie Lawson of Clear Lake placed fourth in 22:23 and Valleria Cisneros of St. Helena rounded out the top five in 22:29. Andreina Guedez of Clear Lake was sixth in 22:40.
“Chloe re-established herself today,” Stanley said of the team”s No. 1 runner status, which has gone back and forth between Rojas and Lawson this season. “Her and Kelsie are going to be rivals all the way.”
Guedez continues to close the gap on both of her teammates, according to Stanley.
Boys
Clear Lake not only beat Lower Lake in head-to-head scoring, but the Cardinals ran so well that they would have beaten St. Helena had the two teams scored against each other. They also would have come within five points of a strong Santa Rosa Christian squad.
“We did good,” Stanley said of the bunched finish of Clear Lake runners Brice Beare, Mike Bradley and Erik Hagberg, who ended up seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively.
Beare, a freshman, finished in 19:20, Bradley was next at 19:34 and Hagberg clocked in at 19:53.
“Our top guys were within 30 seconds,” Stanley said.
Matt Gatton missed the meet but Travis Thorn moved up from the JV squad and was Clear Lake”s fifth finisher at 21:03, good for 14th place. Andy Garzoli placed 12th in 20:19.
Lower Lake”s Ian Smith placed sixth overall in 18:55 to lead the Trojans.
Brandon Hicks of Santa Rosa Christian won the race in 16:40.
Frosh-soph boys
The top five finishers in the frosh-soph boys” race were all from Clear Lake, led by Cody Scully in 21:41. Connor Disney (21:45), Jose Estrada (21:47), Brandon Disney (22:45) and Jess Woodward (23:10) rounded out the top five.
“Connor had a real nice finish, sprinting past Jose,” Stanley said. “Jose is moving up and working hard.”
Clear Lake scores against Upper Lake in the final CMC regular-season meet next Wednesday in Santa Rosa. The CMC Championships follow on Nov. 10 at Cloverdale.
