KELSEYVILLE >> Since making its debut a week ago, the newly configured Kelseyville High School cross country course has received plenty of positive reviews. Hardly a straight run over flat terrain like so many courses, the 3-mile layout features plenty of ups and downs, including a climb up the lower portion of Mount Konocti before runners head back down toward the finish line.
The course has certainly been a hit for the three runners who have won their respective divisions there each of the last two weeks, including Wednesday’s four-team Coastal Mountain Conference meet between host Kelseyville, Clear Lake, Cloverdale and St. Helena.
A week ago, Kelseyville’s Andre Williams III (varsity boys) and Bailey Couey (girls) along with Clear Lake’s Ethan Scuderi-Schulman (junior varsity boys) finished first and set course records in the process. The same three runners won again on Wednesday, each bettering his/her course-record time from the previous week — Williams III in 17 minutes, 14 seconds (13 seconds faster), Couey in 23:04 (four seconds faster) and Scuderi-Schulman in 22:40 (58 seconds faster).
Rain, some of it heavy, pounded the course Monday and Tuesday, leaving some muddy patches and soft footing in areas. In a couple of the more mud-prone areas, runners had the option of following the standard course path or making a slight detour along an alternate path that offered better footing but also added seconds to your time. Most elected to take the standard path and only one runner paid a price as he took a tumble but got up and continued on with no apparent ill effects.
The start/finish line area was slightly altered so that runners spent almost no time on the muddy track at Mountain Vista Middle School, but instead ran inside the track on the grass.
Varsity boys
Williams usually doesn’t have much competition in the CMC ranks but Cloverdale’s Padon Collard pushed him along on Wednesday, staying within a length or two of the Kelseyville sophomore until the climb up Konocti began. Williams took charge at that point and pulled away.
Collard still ended up with a solid finishing time, taking second in 17:40. The next runner, Kelseyville’s Justin Lopez, didn’t cross the finish line until more than a minute later at 19:12. St. Helena runners John Baker (19:35 and Jordan Reilly (19:36) rounded out the top five.
The next five finishers were Kelseyville’s Jeffrey Amendola (19:42), Clear Lake’s Charlie Adams (19:47), Cloverdale’s Emmett Lawson (20:02), St. Helena’s Nichols Przybylinski (20:14) and Cloverdale’s Jacob Elliott (20:56).
Other top local finishers were Clear Lake’s Ethan Wynacht, 13th in 21:10, and Clear Lake’s Hunter Daily, 15th in 22:18.
In team scoring, St. Helena edged out Kelseyville 28-29 while Cloverdale beat Clear Lake 25-31.
Girls
Couey set the early pace and never backed off, gradually adding to her lead as the race progressed. She finished 25 seconds ahead of teammate and runner-up Laurel Weller (23:29) while a third Kelseyville runner, Yareli Lozano, was next across the finish line at 23:53. Each of the next three placers were Cloverdale runners – Julie Edwards (24:13), Katie Edweards (24:22) and Frederike Tschernich (24:27).
Other top-10 finishers were Andrea Hernandez of St. Helena, seventh in 24:38; Bailey Huggins of Kelseyville, eighth in 25:45; Rainey Vanoven of Clear Lake, ninth in 25:59; and Griselle Herrera of St. Helena, 10th in 26:49.
Kelseyville runners Kia Kohler (27:41), Nicole Stevens (27:55) and Brianne Henry (28:12) finished 13th, 14th and 15th, respectively.
In team scoring, Kelseyville defeated St. Helena 18-43 and Cloverdale beat a Clear Lake team that was incomplete (fewer than five runners).
JV boys
The first eight finishers and nine of the top 10 in the JV boys division were Clear Lake runners as the Cardinals had the only complete JV team. Scuderi-Schulman obliterated his winning time from a week earlier, improving by nearly a minute. Early race leader Jacob Lopez, who took a tumble at one point, ended up second in 23:28. He was followed across the finish line by teammates Brandt Mason (23;43) Jaron Mertle (25:07), Chris Lasher (26:07), Diego Tejeda (27:18), Jared Scott (29:02) and Jordan Peterson (29:12.
Kelseyville’s Jared Colfax broke up the Clear Lake string with a ninth-place finish of 30:02. Quintin Scott of Clear Lake was 10th in 31:07.
Kelseyville travels to Willits next Wednesday for a four-team meet with St. Helena and Cloverdale while Clear Lake, Middletown and Fort Bragg visit Lower Lake. All of the Coastal Mountain Conference teams return to Anderson Marsh State Park (Lower Lake’s home course) again on Nov. 9 for the conference championships.
