ASTI — With temperatures reaching into the high 90s on Wednesday afternoon, the Upper Lake and Clear Lake cross country teams went for a little run in the sunshine — 3 miles to be exact — during a Coastal Mountain Conference meet near Cloverdale.
Also taking part were the host Eagles, Willits, St. Helena, Calistoga and Mendocino. All three Upper Lake teams — varsity boys, girls and JV boys — beat incomplete Calistoga teams. Clear Lake also scored against Cloverdale, losing in the varsity boys” and girls” divisions but winning in JV boys.
Upper Lake”s varsity boys would have outscored every team in the field had they gone head-to-head, according to coach John Woods, who said he was impressed with his team”s effort given the hot weather.
“I can”t say enough about my top five,” Woods said. “They were pretty much faster than everyone else. I know they weren”t really happy with their times, but the conditions were pretty tough down here today.”
Varsity boys
Joe Carrillo of Cloverdale, who is in a class by himself in the CMC, won the race going away at 16 minutes, 20 seconds. Chris Orr of Willits was the next runner to finish at 18:44 and was followed by Cloverdale”s Axay Patel at 19:33.
A wave of Upper Lake runners hit the finish line next, beginning with Nick Davison at 19:39, Gage DeHeer at 19:47, Jared Wade at 19:54 and Alex Rogers at 19:57. The Cougars” fifth finisher, Cory Rodriguez, was 12th in 20:22.
Clear Lake”s top runner was Jake Blue, who was 15th overall in 20:42. Teammate Brice Beare was 19th in 21:41.
Upper Lake also had the 13th and 14th fastest runners in Chris Cisneros (20:32) and Jordan Austin (20:35).
Davison, Rogers and DeHeer have taken turns being Upper Lake”s No. 1 man this season, which is a good sign, according to Woods.
“That”s a real good thing,” he said. “And Chris Cisneros will probably be up there before too long. He”s not 100 percent yet.”
Girls
Just as in the varsity boys” race, there was quite a spread between the top four finishers in the girls” race won by St. Helena”s Julie Eyer in 22:16. Mendocino”s Erin Thomas was nearly three minutes behind her in second place at 24:54, Madi Oliver of St. Helena came in third in 25:51, and Yari Sanchez of Cloverdale was fourth in 26:47.
Lake County runners came in fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively, with Upper Lake”s Courtney Aceves finishing in 26:56, Clear Lake”s Tamara Rojas next at 27:26, and Upper Lake freshmen Bianca Cruz at 27:37.
Upper Lake”s Brittany Benner rounded out the top 10 at 28:33, teammate Markie Stifter was 12th in 29:02 and Clear Lake”s Kelsie Lawson was 13th in 29:12.
“That”s the first time Aceves has been first for our team,” Woods said of his sophomore, a first-year runner. “She”s been working really hard in practice.”
Cruz, who is a long way from reaching her potential, according to Woods, also turned in a strong showing.
“Personally I”m really proud of the entire team,” Woods said.
JV boys
Anthony Rink of Cloverdale won the JV boys” race in 20:21. Josh Tate of Clear Lake came in second in 20:53, Upper Lake”s Brandon Lovrin was third in 20:53, and Upper Lake”s Giovanni Bautista was fourth in 21:27.
“Lovrin and Gio did a good job,” Woods said. “They both put their all into the race.”
“Tate surprised everyone again,” Clear Lake coach Peter Stanley said of his top JV finisher.
Stanley said Hodges, who has been with the team just a couple of weeks, also ran a solid race.
Both Clear Lake and Upper Lake will compete in the Clam Beach Invitational on Saturday in McKinleyville, where both teams should get a break from the hot weather.
“Between Frogtown on Saturday and today, we”re looking forward to some cooler weather,” Woods said. “As long as it doesn”t rain,” Stanley added.
