LAKE COUNTY — It will be a fairly quick turnaround for Lake County’s high school cross country teams when the 2021 Coastal Mountain Conference fall season opens Sept. 8.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the fall 2020 season was delayed until the late winter/early spring of this year, with meets taking place between Feb. 24 and April 14 and no postseason. There were few complete boys and girls teams (minimum of five runners) because of the uncertainty if any season would take place, which contributed to a decline in participation. Among Lake County schools, only cross country powerhouse Middletown ran complete boys and girls teams.
Like other fall sports, cross country officially opens the 2021 season Monday with the first day of practice, which takes place less than four months after the spring 2021 season ended. North Central League I teams such as Clear Lake, Kelsyeville, Lower Lake and Middletown all have home meets back on their schedule in a league that adds Roseland University Prep (Santa Rosa) to its lineup for the fall season.
Beginning Sept. 8, there will be three NCL I meets each Wednesday afternoon at different venues. Each host school will be joined by two visiting teams.
Among Lake County teams, Middletown is scheduled to host the most meets — Sept. 8, Sept. 22 and Oct. 6 — while Kelseyville (Sept. 22, Oct. 13), Clear Lake (Sept. 29, Oct. 13) and Lower Lake (Sept. 15, Oct. 6) are scheduled to host two meets apiece.
All regular-season meets begin at 3:30 p.m. The CMC Championship meet takes place Nov. 10 at a site to be determined and will be divided into junior varsity boys, varsity girls and varsity boys races. The North Coast Section Championships and CIF State Championships, both canceled during the late winter/early spring 2021 season, will return for the fall season barring any last-minute COVID-19 developments.
Upper Lake, Lake County’s lone NCL II cross country program, will compete against Sonoma Academy, Calistoga, Credo, Point Arena, Technology, Mendocino, Roseland Collegiate Prep and Victory Christian. The NCL II regular season consists of four meets held every other Wednesday starting Sept. 8. All of the league’s schools will compete at these meets.
Meet hosts in 2021 are Sonoma Academy on Sept. 8, Upper Lake on Sept. 22, Calistoga on Oct. 6 and Technology on Oct. 20. All meets begin at 3:30 p.m. NCL II schools also participate in the CMC Championships on Nov. 10 when league winners will be crowend in the NCL I and NCL II.
No league winners were recognized in 2020 because many schools weren’t allowed to cross county lines owing to COVID-19 restrictions.
