ST. HELENA — Tonya Bennett of Upper Lake High School won the varsity girls” race on Wednesday afternoon as the Cougars went head to head with St. Vincent during a Coastal Mountain Conference cross country meet at the 3.15-mile St. Helena course.
Coming off a solid outing Friday at the Mount SAC Invitational, Bennett topped the field in 24 minutes, 24 seconds, finishing nine seconds ahead of her closest pursuer, Madi Oliver (24:33) of St. Helena.
Upper Lake”s varsity girls easily beat St. Vincent in team scoring, 15-50. St. Helena also defeated Clear Lake 22-36.
Bennett wasn”t the only winner from Upper Lake on Wednesday. Brandon Lovin won the junior varsity boys” race in 21:52, holding off Clear Lake”s Josh Tate, who ran the final quarter-mile with only one shoe.
It was the first time Clear Lake and Upper Lake have run on St. Helena”s new home course and Clear Lake coach Peter Stanley said he was impressed.
“It”s the women”s PUC (Pacific Union College) cross country course and it”s at about 1,800 feet in elevation,” Stanley said. “There are piney woods, meadows and pastureland. It”s beautiful, it”s really pretty. You feel like you”re up in the mountains.”
The course itself is one big loop, according to Stanley, with a couple of short and steep up-and-down climbs. The course is packed dirt with lots of rocks.”
Varsity girls
Bennett, freshman Bianca Cruz, Brittany Benner and Markie Stifter all finished in the top 10 for Upper Lake. Cruz was third in 25:17, Benner was eighth in 28:27 and Stifter placed 10th in 28:48, eight seconds ahead of 11th-place finisher Angel Taylor of Upper Lake.
For Clear Lake, Kelsie Lawson led the way with a fourth-place finish of 25:33. Teammate Tamara Rojas (26:55) was two spots back in sixth place.
“Kelsie ran well and Tamara finished only two places behind her, so I was happy about that,” Stanley said.
Varsity boys
Rafael Rios (19:49) and Grant Jeffcoat (20:03) placed 1-2 in the varsity boys” race while leading St. Helena to a 18-41 win over Clear Lake. Upper Lake”s Chris Cisneros (20:24) and Alex Rogers (20:47) finished 3-4 as the Cougars beat St. Vincent 15-48.
Clear Lake”s Brice Beare came in fithth (20:51) while Upper Lake”s Jared Wade (20:53), Nick Davison (21:03) and Gage DeHeer (21:12) placed 6-7-8. Another Upper Lake runner, Jordan Austin, was 10th in 21:59.
Clear Lake was without its top runner, Jake Blue, who had a personal commitment and was unable to attend.
“Brice ran his usual strong race,” Stanley said. “St. Helena had a very good varsity boys” team but Upper Lake was the class of the varsity.”
JV boys
Lovrin finished first in the JV boys” race in 21:52, seven seconds faster than the one-shoed Tate (21:59).
“He lost his shoelace and then the shoe,” Stanley said of Tate, who completed the course wearing a sock on the shoeless foot. “That course is pretty rocky, too.”
Giovanni Bautista of Upper Lake came in third at 22:43 and was followed across the finish line by Clear Lake”s Kenyon Donald (23:26) and Christian Vander Jagt (23:46).
Clear Lake beat an incomplete St. Helena squad while Upper Lake defeated an incomplete St. Vincent team.
Clear Lake returns to action next Wednesday in Fort Bragg while Upper Lake hosts Roseland Prep.
