HIGHLAND SPRINGS >> Roberto Lozano is used to finishing behind teammate Andre Williams. He’s also made it a habit of finishing third overall in most of the races he’s run for the Kelseyville Knights this season. That changed on Wednesday afternoon.
While the freshman Williams was busy winning his eighth race in as many tries during a Coastal Mountain Conference cross country meet at the 3-mile Highland Springs course just south of Lakeport, Lozano kept his sights on Williams the entire way and didn’t let anyone else squeeze between them. Williams covered the challenging 3.0-mile course in 19 minutes 12 seconds while Lozano nailed down second place with a time of 19:45.
Between Williams, Lozano and teammates Kevin Sanchez (sixth in 20:39), Jack Farris (10th in 21:07) and Justin Perez (13th in 21:17), the Knights handed previously undefeated Clear Lake its first dual loss of the season, 22-33, while also moving into a first-place tie atop the CMC standings.
Middletown, led by a fourth-place finish from Diego Munoz (20:15), beat St. Helena 23-36. Pacific Union Collegiate also participated in the meet but as a non-scoring team.
Joining Williams as race winners on Wednesday were PUC’s Bianca Martinez (23:32) in the girls’ division and Clear Lake’s Dylan Bennett (22:16) in the junior varsity boys’ division.
Varsity boys
Williams established the early lead, which isn’t unusual, and never let up while conquering the ups and downs of the Highland Springs trail course.
“It was a fun meet,” Clear Lake coach and meet director Peter Stanley said. “It’s a challenging course.”
Rainfall in the early morning hours forced Stanley to re-chalk the course, which requires 50 to 60 pounds of white flour.
“I was the only person in the state praying it wouldn’t rain,” said Stanley, who chalked the course last weekend in preparation for Wednesday’s meet.
Stanley and Monica Vanoven, a parent of one of the Clear Lake runners, each chalked 1½ miles of the course Wednesday morning and fortunately no more rain fell, which meant the trail course remained in play.
According to Stanley, the rain made the course firmer and more runner friendly by settling any dust, not that Williams needed additional help.
“Andre’s time is probably the fastest since I’ve been around,” Stanley said of the Highland Springs course. “He is the third best runner I’ve seen (overall) in my time here.”
And he’s only a freshman.
Kelseyville’s team performance was every bit as good as Williams’ individual effort.
“Lozano ran a great race and Sanchez was up higher than I’m used to seeing him,” Stanley said. “They were just too strong today. They are a really good team.”
Clear Lake’s Alex Beare led the Cardinals with a fifth-place time of 20:26 while teammates Brandon Dickey (seventh in 20:53) and Hunter Daily (ninth in 21:06) also cracked the top 10.
“Alex, Brandon and Hunter all ran well,” Stanley said. “We ran well as a team today but Kelseyville ran great.”
The only non-Lake County runner to crack the top 10 was St. Helena’s, Jesus Blanco, who was third in 19:56.
Girls
PUC’s Martinez and runner-up Tiyanna Meese of Middletown (23:51) were the only two runners in the girls’ field to crack the 24-minute barrier.
Clear Lake’s Meghan Beare was next across the finish line in 24:21 and was followed by Emma Payne of PUC (25:12) and Grace Southern of Middletown (25:13).
Also finishing in the top 10 were Middletown’s Kailei Foltmer (sixth in 25:52) and Natalie Jekel (seventh in 26:08), and Kelseyville’s Laurel Weller (10th in 26:21). Bailey Couey of Kelseyville was 11th in 26:24.
Kelseyville beat Clear Lake 23-32 in team scoring while Middletown defeated St. Helena 17-44.
Stanley said Clear Lake’s Jordan Peters, who was 21st overall in 28:55, ran a strong race for the Cardinals.
JV boys
Dylan Bennett rallied from a tough outing the week before to win the JV boys’ race by 15 seconds over Middletown’s Aidan Isaia (22:31).
Bennett, an asthma sufferer, didn’t experience any difficulty this week, according to Stanley.
Three other Middletown runners — Jay Stalker (23:13), Brenden Steele (23:31) and Caden McDowell (23:34) — rounded out the top five. Clear Lake’s Sereno Dominguez was sixth overall in 23:37.
Clear Lake beat an incomplete Kelseyville team (fewer than five runners) while Middletown defeated an incomplete St. Helena squad.
Clear Lake and Kelseyville return to action next Wednesday at St. Helena, and Middletown visits Willits.
