SANTA ROSA >> The Kelseyville High School varsity boys’ cross country team has been a work in progress all season.
And the progress it has made is nothing short of championship caliber.
Kelseyville turned in another in a string of strong performance on Thursday during the Coastal Mountain Conference Championships at the 3.0-mile Spring Lake course in Santa Rosa, clinching the North Central League I title in the process. Each of the first two NCL I runners to cross the finish line were Knights, led by freshman Andre Williams in 16 minutes, 54 seconds and senior Roberto Lozano in 17:30.
Apart from Williams and Lozano, the anchors of the Kelseyville team throughout the 2015 campaign, sophomore Kevin Sanchez came in fifth in 18:14, sophomore Jack Farris was 13th in 19:12, and freshman Justin Perez was 14th in 19:13. The team’s other freshman, Jeffrey Amendola, came in 21st in 20:02.
Other Lake County runners cracking the top 10 were Middletown senior Diego Munoz, fourth in 17:57, Clear Lake’s Brandon Dickey, seventh in 18:36, and Middletown’s Tanner Tarelli, ninth in 18:52.
In NCL I team scoring, Kelseyville ran away from the competition with 35 points to Middletown’s 66 and Fort Bragg’s 68.
Girls
Amelia Wirt of Fort Bragg won the NCL I girls’ race in 20:14, finishing ahead of runner-up Tiyanna Meese of Middletown (20:40) and Meghan Beare of Clear Lake (20:59). Lower Lake’s Aleia Milano, who had some of the fastest individual times during the dual-meet season, missed the meet with a knee injury.
Grace Southern of Middletown also made the top 10 with a ninth-place finish of 22:39.
In the NCL II race, Upper Lake’s Cristal Nieves came in 17th in 24:58.
JV boys
Dylan Bennett of Clear Lkae won the NCL I junior varsity boys’ race in 19:23, 11 seconds ahead of Oscar Hernandez of Fort Bragg.
Middletown’s Aiden Isaia was fourth in 20:12 and Clear Lake’s Nate Falkenberg was fifth in 20:56.
Most of Lake County’s runners return to action a week from today in the North Coast Section Championships at Hayward High School. The NCS meet is the qualifier for the CIF State Championships on Nov. 28 at Woodward Park in Fresno.
