FORT BRAGG >> Jack Shrive led the Middletown varsity boys while Grace Southern led the Middletown girls to close Coastal Mountain Conference wins over the Kelseyville Knights on Wednesday at the 2.9-mile Bald Hill course in Fort Bragg.
Several other teams, including Clear Lake, participated in the meet although the Mustangs scored only against the Knights.
The difference in Middletown’s 29-30 win over Kelseyville in the varsity boys’ division was Shrive’s ability to slip ahead of Kelseyville’s No. 3 finisher, Jeff Amendola. That proved pivotal as the four other scoring members of the Middletown team – Dimitri Inbrunetti, Jack Farres, Donald Elder and Aiden Isaia – finished in a tight pack to give the Mustangs the narrowest of victories.
“Jack picked it up and was able to pass one of their runners,” Middletown coach Sarah Carlisle said. “It was a tough race.”
Shrive finished fifth overall in 21 minutes, 11 seconds. Inbrunetti was the next Middletown runner to cross the line at 21:54 and was followed by Farres (22:14), Elder (22:52) and Isaia (23:26).
Andre Williams III of Kelseyville came in first at 18:10, easily outdistancing the field. Also for the Knights, Justin Perez, was fourth overall in 21:19 while Amendola finished in 21:25.
Solano Dominguez of Clear Lake, the winner at last week’s Lake County Meet, followed up that strong effort with a third-place finish in 20:13. Teammate Charlie Adams was fourth in 21:25.
“He showed that last week was not a fluke,” Clear Lake coach Peter Stanley said of Dominguez.
Fort Bragg defeated Clear Lake 37-56 in head-to-head conference scoring.
Girls
Carlisle said she didn’t expect Middletown’s girls to have as much trouble with Kelseyville as they did, winning 27-30.
“After the county meet last week I didn’t expect it to be as close,” Carlisle said. “I expected that we would win by a larger margin. Our times weren’t as good as they were last year here but there were a few who stepped it up.”
Two of those were Southern (23:52) and Kamrin Williams (24:35), Middletown’s top two finishers. Southern was third overall and Williams seventh. Also for Middletown, Savannah Creager crossed the line in 26:29; Jessica Zell was next at 26:53 and Natalie Jekel finished in 27:31.
Fort Bragg’s Amelia Wirt won the race in 22:21. Kelseyville’s Laurel Weller placed fifth in 24:24 and teammate Yareli Lozano was sixth in 24:32.
Rainy Vanoven had the best time for Clear Lake, placing 16th in 27:54.
JV boys
Neither Kelseyville or Middletown had complete junior varsity boys’ teams (at least five runners). That didn’t stop Steven Harvey (24:59) and Caden McDowell (25:00) of Middletown from waging an all-out battle for team bragging rights.
“Harvey won by a hair,” Carlisle said. “They were neck and neck.”
Cole Saiz placed fifth in JV race at 24:06, the best Lake County time. Teammate Ethan Scuderi-Schulman was 11th overall in 25:27.
“It was a good race for him,” Stanley said of Saiz. “He pushed it hard.”
Complete individual results and team scoring were not available at press time.
Clear Lake and Kelseyville return to action next Wednesday at Highland Springs. Middletown is also home next Wednesday against Cloverdale. That race will take place at the Double D Ranch, the Mustangs’ home course until the Valley Fire of September of 2015. The course sustained serious damage but will once again host cross country.
“It’s really nice to be going back there,” Carlisle said.
