WALNUT — Upper Lake”s varsity boys placed fifth in an elite field in Division V and Bianca Cruz had the best individual finish among the Cougar runners participating in the Mount Sac Invitational on Friday at San Antonio College in the Southern California community of Walnut.
The Mount Sac Invitational, a 3-mile race, is one of the top high school competitions in the country and brings together runners from throughout the United States.
“Some of the teams we finished behind were from Alabama, Arizona and New York,” Upper Lake coach John Woods said of his varsity boys” squad in the Division V field, which consisted of two heats.
“We were in the faster heat,” Woods said.
Gage DeHeer was the top Upper Lake runner, finishing 37th in the 132-man field at 18 minutes, 48 seconds. Alex Rogers was 41st in 18:54, Jared Wade came in 46th in 18:57, Nick Davison was 54th in 19:12, Cory Rodriguez was just a second behind Davison in 55th place at 19:13, and Daniel Lovrin was 58th in 19:32.
The separation time between Upper Lake”s first and fifth runners was only 26 seconds, among the best at the meet, according to Woods.
“That gives us something to build on,” Woods said.
There were 19 scoring teams in Division V while 30 teams overall were represented by at least one runner.
While the Upper Lake varsity boys had the best team finish among the Cougars, Cruz clocked in at 23:30 to place 31st out of 190 runners in the combined Division IV-V race for freshman girls. Lyla Seevers also ran and was 171st in 32:05.
In the sophomore girls” division, Upper Lake placed in the middle of the pack out of 15 scoring teams and was led by Brittany Benner”s 70th-place time of 25:12 in the 188-runner field. Courtney Aceves was 74th in 25:18, Markie Stifter was 88th in 25:56, Yamaleth Plata was 111th in 26:46, Savanah Fecht was 121st in 27:55 and Savannah Koppenhaven was 175th in 31:48.
“I think they were the most nervous of our runners,” Woods said. “They realized they weren”t in Upper Lake anymore.”
Races at Mount Sac start every eight minutes and there are multiple races going at any one time throughout the day.
“It”s really something to see,” Woods said. “It was a good experience for our runners.”
In the varsity girls” race, an incomplete Upper Lake team, competing in Division V, was led by Tonya Bennett, who placed 48th overall at 24:34. Jessica Orozco was 76th in 26:27 and Angel Taylor was 102nd in 30:30.
In the junior varsity boys” division, Giovanni Bautista led an incomplete Upper Lake team with a 39th-place finish out of 184 runners. He finished in 19:54. Also for the Cougars, Michael Herringshaw was 169th in 25:05 and Larry Stacy was 181st in 28:45.
In the freshman boys” race, Jesse Noble was first across the finish line for Upper Lake at 22:51, good for 96th place. John Jenson came in 139th at 27:01 and Arthur Wilke was 142nd in 27:30.
After Friday”s racing, the Upper Lake team spent Saturday at the Magic Mountain Amusement Park.
“It”s a good recruiting tool,” Woods said of the trip to Magic Mountain. “And it”s a good reward for our runners who did so well.”
Upper Lake resumes its Coastal Mountain Conference schedule Wednesday against St. Vincent at St. Helena.
