POINT ARENA — The community of Point Arena pulled out all the stops in welcoming cross country back to town.
Hosting their first meet in more than 50 years, the Pirates went head-to-head with the Upper Lake Cougars in a meet on Wednesday afternoon. St. Vincent also was invited but didn”t show up.
“They really missed out,” Upper Lake coach John Woods said of St. Vincent. “It”s one of the nicest courses I”ve been on. They (Point Arena race officials) were really organized and knew what they were doing.”
The 3-mile out-and-back course took place along the Mendocino County coast near the Point Arena Lighthouse. Competitors ran on the bluffs overlooking the ocean, which wasn”t so easy on the return leg as they hand to contend with wind gusts up to 30 mph, according to Woods.
Nearly 60 people from the Point Arena community attended the race and a Point Arena student played the Star Spangled Banner on his electric guitar, Jimi Hendrix-style. Point Arena”s cheerleaders were there to root on the runners and a Mendocino County deputy sheriff fired a starter pistol to open the racing.
“My kids had the time of their life,” Woods said. “Point Arena did a great job hosting that meet.”
Zach Sneathen won the varsity boys” race in 18 minutes, 4 seconds.
“If the wind hadn”t been blowing I think he would have been around 17:15,” Woods said.
Max Hantche of Point Arena came in second in 19:18, Upper Lake”s Matt Willard was third in 19:40, Josh Riboli of Point Arena was fourth in 19:43, and Arthur Wilkie of Upper Lake was fifth in 20:58.
In the varsity girls” race, Yamileth Plata of Upper Lake crossed the finish line first in 24:31. Point Arena”s Mathilda Chidlaw was second in 25:22 and Upper Lake”s Bianca Cruz (25:36), Courtney Aceves (26:00) and Savanah Fecht (28:39) rounded out the top five.
