HIGHLAND SPRINGS >> Chalk up another one for Mother Nature.
Rain overnight Tuesday into Wednesday made a mess of the 3.1-mile Highland Springs cross country course, forcing Clear Lake High School coach Peter Stanley to opt for Plan B.
“I was very disappointed we couldn”t use our regular course,” Stanley said of a four-team meet between the host Cardinals, Middletown, Lower Lake and Kelseyville on Wednesday afternoon. “I spent five hours if not more chalking the course (last weekend). “I wondered what the rain did and so I ran half the course. My marks were mostly gone.”
Added Middletown coach Sarah Carlisle, “We tied to walk the course and you couldn”t see them (chalk marks).”
“If we had used our normal course a lot of people would have gotten lost,” Stanley said.
As a result of the wet weather, Stanley shifted to what he calls his “rain course” at Highland Springs. What is usually the finish line became the starting line and runners sprinted up the road that leads to the entrance of the park at Highland Springs Road. They turned around there and headed back the way they came, a distance of 2.7 miles.
Lower Lake”s runners didn”t seem to mind one bit. Scoring against Kelseyville, the Trojan varsity boys and girls both logged victories. Led by race winner Everardo Chavez, the boys beat Kelseyville 22-35. The girls, led by Aleia Milano, won 27-32. Middletown”s varsity boys and girls beat Clear Lake head to head while the Clear Lake junior varsity boys edged Middletown 27-28.
Boys
Chavez, always near the front in races this season, grabbed the win this time around in 15 minutes, 15 seconds. He finished a healthy 16 seconds ahead of Middletown”s Joe Swehla (15:31), who beat out a trio of teammates for second place. Justin Hingston was third in 15:40, Jake Olson ran fourth in 15:48, and Diego Munoz was fifth in 15:50.
“Jake had a huge PR today, it was great for him,” Carlisle said. “Many of our runners had personal bests today.”
Roberto Lozano (15:54) of Kelseyville finished sixth and Clear Lake”s Owen Lawler was seventh in 16:13.
“That was a true surprise,” Stanley said of Lawler running No. 1 for the Cardinals, a spot normally reserved for either Alex Beare, who finished eighth in 16:21, or Solano Dominguez, who missed the meet because of illness. “It”s fun to see those guys trade back and forth.”
Middletown”s Tanner Tarelli (16:45) and Jonny Nance (16:46) rounded out the top 10.
Middletown defeated Clear Lake 17-44.
Girls
Milano continues to run away from her competition this season. The Lower Lake freshman didn”t mind the change from trail course to pavement, winning in 18:16 and finishing well ahead of runner-up Tori Roderick of Middletown (19:40).
“It was fun watching her run,” Stanley said. “She”s a good one.”
Starting with Roderick, eight of the nine runners following Milano across the finish line were either from Middletown or Kelseyville.
Middletown”s Tiyanna Meese came in third (20:27) while Kelseyville”s Laurel Weller (20:49) and Yareli Lozano (20:56) rounded out the top five. Middletown runners Michelle Williams (21:04) and Abby Murphy (21:28) were sixth and seventh, respectively, Kelseyville”s Bailey Couey (21:55) came in eighth, and Middletown”s Natalie Jekel (22:13) was ninth.
Lower Lake”s Katelyn Farrell (22:16) completed the top 10. Clear Lake”s top runner, Mariela Soto, was 11th in 22:25.
Middletown defeated Clear Lake 15-44 in head-to-head scoring.
JV boys
Clear Lake”s one-point victory over Middletown was largely due to the contribution of new runner Takumi Mitchell, who joined the team only a couple of weeks ago. He finished third overall in 18:17, well behind winner James Stalker (17:13) of Middletown and runner-up Lucas Plesia (17:21) of Lower Lake.
“He”s a freshman, a nice kid and he asked me if he could come out for the team (earlier this month),” Stanley said. “It was a real surprise how well he did.”
Another surprise was Clear Lake”s Hunter Daily, who came in fourth in 18:33.
“Hunter has moved up, improved and gotten better each week,” Stanley said.
Jack Shrive of Middletown finished fifth in 18:39.
“The JV boys battled it out and there were a lot of close finishes,” Carlisle said. “I”m proud of how they did.”
