HAYWARD >> Not nearly enough precipitation fell Saturday morning to rain on the 3-mile-long victory parade of one Andre Williams III of Kelseyville during the North Coast Section Cross Country Championships at Hayward High School.
The sophomore didn’t finish first in the 194-runner-strong Division V boys race that is the qualifier for the CIF State Championships this coming Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno, but it felt like a win nonetheless as Williams secured one of five available at-large berths into the state finals. He is the youngest Lake County runner to reach the state meet.
“It’s pretty cool, kind of surprising,” Williams said. “Reaching state has been one of my goals this season. I have a white board in my room where I write my goals and I look at it every day. It inspires me.”
Williams placed eighth overall in the Division V field at 15 minutes, 44.8 seconds. He earned the fourth of five available spots into the state meet that are reserved for runners who are not members of the top five scoring teams in Hayward.
The overall winning time went to Cooper Teare of St. Joseph Notre Dame of Alameda in a blazing 14:47. His team placed second overall behind champion Lick-Wilmerding of San Francisco.
Individual state qualifiers were Brian Schulz of El Molino (15:15.8, second overall), Eli Horwitz of Stuart Hall (15:25.8, third overall), Isaac Teuscher of Head-Royce (15:36.8, sixth overall), Williams and Rincon Valley Christian’s Wes Methum, who was ninth overall in 15:45.7, nine-tenths of a second behind Williams.
Tight races between Williams and Methum are nothing new. They finished 1-2 at the Coastal Mountain Conference Championships on Nov. 9 at Cache Creek Winery in Clearlake Oaks. Methum held a slim lead until Williams passed him in the final 20 yards for the win. Methum ended up two seconds behind in second place.
Asked about his strategy for the sectional race, Williams said it was to keep the runners from Santa Rosa’s Sonoma Academy in sight at all times.
“They run around my speed,” Williams said.
Williams did just that or so he thought, locking onto the green and white uniform of a runner in front of him only to find out later on that it was the green and white uniform of Head-Royce’s Teuscher, not a Sonoma Academy runner.
“I went out too fast and toward the end of the race I was getting a little tired,” Williams said. “But I had a kick at the end.”
Williams had enough left to punch his ticket to Fresno. He said he was pleased with his time on the Hayward course, which he completed in 15:45.11 in October at the Mariner Invitational.
“It wasn’t much of a PR, about a second, but it was a PR (personal-best time),” Williams said.
While rain fell on the Hayward course overnight Friday into Saturday and it was muddy on the hillier sections of the course, according to Williams, he said the weather was really a non-factor as far as he was concerned.
“Weather just doesn’t affect me,” Williams said. “It was slippery in some parts, but not too bad.”
Tell that to Rincon Valley’s Methum, who fell to the ground within the first 200 meters of the race. Williams said he had a perfect view and did the only thing he could at the time.
“I had to jump over him,” Williams said.
Methum made a complete recovery to earn the final at-large berth into the state meet.
“We ran together pretty much the entire race,” Williams said.
While Williams isn’t the favorite to win the Division V race at the state meet, he wants to accomplish two things in Fresno where many family members and friends will be in attendance cheering him on.
“I want to PR and have fun,” he said. “I know I’m not quite fast enough to win, but I want to run my best time of the season.”
Andre’s mom Andrea, his biggest fan, will lead the Williams rooting section in Fresno.
“I think she was more excited than I was,” Williams said of qualifying for state.
Williams was one of 15 Lake County runners participating in the Division V race. The next highest finisher was Williams’ Kelseyville teammate, sophomore Jeff Amendola in 99th place (18:26.4). Clear Lake sophomore Charlie Adams came in 101st in 18:27.5 and Hunter Daily of Clear Lake was 128th in 19:21.1. Middletown’s Dimitri Imbrunett was 131st in 19:26.1.
In the Division V girls race, junior Bailey Couey of Kelseyville led a Lake County contingent of 14 runners by placing 59th out of 166 in 21:02.6. Another Kelseyville junior, Laurel Weller, was 76th in 21:35.6. Middletown senior Samantha Creager was 79th in 21:44.8, Middletown sophomore Grace Southern was 84th in 21:54.4, and Kelseyville junior Yareli Lozano was 85th in 21:57.2.
