This cross country season, the top runners in Coronado are racing in some of the most competitive races statewide. With intensive summer training, these elite runners kick off their season with the Vaquero Stampede. This invitational meet was held last Saturday at Lindo Lakes Park, and being an earlier meet in the season, it is shorter than a typical three-mile race. “There were three divisions with Division I reserved for the larger/faster schools,” says Coach George Green. “We’re not large, but our varsity girls’ team ranks among San Diego’s best, so we entered the fast heats.”
The distance of all races was 1.65 miles, with the exception of the Junior/Senior Boys’ race, which was 2.15 miles. Running in the first race of the day were the Division I Frosh/Soph girls. Three sophomores on the varsity squad ran in this heat, finishing within ten seconds of each other. Abigail Hundley finished in sixth place, with a time of 9:52; followed by Sofia Van Arsdale in eighth, clocking 9:56; and Jessie Ehret in ninth finishing in 10:02. New this year to the team, Brynn Bartenstein and Allison White finished in 58th and 74th places, respectively, out of 158 finishers.
Senior Madden Hundley (pictured at top of article) was our only entry in the Division I Junior/Senior Girls’ race. She placed eighth out of 95 runners, finishing with a time of 10:03. “If it weren’t for SATs on Saturday, we would have had more upperclassmen in the race, including last year’s Western League Athlete of the year, Teresa Perez,” comments Coach Green.
In the boys’ divisions, mostly new runners entered the Division I Frosh/Soph Boys’ race. The top finisher being Cole Hutcherson; he placed 31st out of 218 finishers, with a time of 9:32, at his first high school cross country meet as a freshman. Landon Mullins followed in 42nd, Gio Navarro in 60th, and Conor Youngblood (89th). Other finishers in this race were Will Leonard, Andrew Borgie, Jack Schiaffano, and Leo Zhang.
From the boys’ varsity squad, Cole Mullins and Connor Jaynes competed in the Division I Junior/Senior race. Jaynes finished in 32nd place, clocking 11:31, followed by Cole Mullins in 42nd, who clocked 11:54.
“The rest of the boys’ varsity squad elected to train through this one to prepare for the Bronco Invite coming up on September 8th,” says Coach Green.
Upcoming Meet:
Saturday, September 8 – Bronco Round-Up at Kit Carson Park in Escondido, CA
