ANGELS CAMP –The Upper Lake frosh-soph girls” cross country team brought home a third-place trophy from the 44th annual Frogtown Invitational held Saturday at the Calaveras County Fairgrounds in Angels Camp.
Approximately 3,000 runners from both small and large schools competed in the event, which features 2-mile (frosh-soph) and 3-mile (JV, varsity) courses. The course is a tough one, featuring two steep and dusty hills to negotiate ? both going up and down. The weather also turned very warm.
Markie Stifter led the Cougars in the frosh-soph race, finishing seventh in 16 minutes flat. Also for Upper Lake, Brittany Benner came in 14th in 16:42, freshman Bianca Cruz finished in 16:45, Courtney Aceves clocked in at 17:39, Yamileth Plata was next at 18:16, Savanah Fecht finished in 18:40 and freshman Lyla Seevers had a time of 19:50.
In addition to the third-place trophy, the Cougars received individual medals and meet T-shirts.
In the JV boys” race, Giovanni Bautista received a medal for his seventh-place finish of 20:48.
In the varsity girls” race, Tonya Bennett had the best time for the Cougars at 27:51, Jessica Orozco was next at 28:26, and Angel Taylor finished in 29:13.
In the varsity boys” race, Alex Rogers led Upper Lake at 19:50, followed closely by Nick Davison (20:04) and Jared Wade (20:19). Cougar runners Brandon Lovrin and Jordan Austin showed almost a minute of improvement over 2010, finishing in 20:47 and 20:56.
“It was very hot and humid at race time and it was difficult for the varsity to have to wait through the heat and then race,” Upper Lake coach John Woods said.
In the freshmen boys” race, Jesse Noble led the Cougars at 17:07, Arthur Wilkie finished in 18:33 and John Jensen completed the course in 20:53.
It”s the third straight year the Cougars have brought home some sort of team trophy from the meet.
While the race took place on Saturday, Upper Lake used Friday as a travel day and took a trip to Big Trees State Park, where the team held a short workout before settling into Angels Camp.
Upper Lake competes in a Coastal Mountain Conference meet along with Calistoga, Clear Lake, Willits and St. Helena Wednesday in Cloverdale. The Cougars hit the road next Saturday to participate in the Clam Beach Invitational at McKinleyville.
