The Titans had a successful road trip to the San Francisco Bay area for the Crystal Springs Invitational in Belmont hosted by Junipero Serra High School. The consensus among the athletes was that the famous Crystal Springs course (2.95 Miles) was challenging but also fun, especially after the end of the hill that starts Mile 2. Little did we know heading into the weekend that this would also be a trip down memory lane for Coach DiConti who competed at Crystal for the Kenny Western Regional as a senior in High School and still holds the 7th best time on the course.
The fog cleared just in time for the start of the races. All non-varsity boys participated in the Boys JV race and placed 14th with a team time of 1:42:11. Kyle McCall led a tight pack with a 79th place finish in 20:18, and Timothy Wong continued to improve with a 20:19 (80th) performance. Grant Holt came close behind at 20:21 (83rd), and Jonathan Chen also improved with a 20:27 (89th). Ethan Deshaies clocked 20:46 (100th) and Tom Moffat had a great negative split to hit 20:50 (103rd). Like Staub, Crystal was a great opportunity for these young runners to get experience in crowded race conditions.
The Varsity Girls went off next and Sarah Linton (20:52, 35th) led the team to a 5th place finish with a team time of 1:46:53. Angela Wang (20:56, 39th) and Carlin Koch (21:05, 42nd) were close behind. Kelly McCrary had her best race of the season, coming through in 21:17 (50th). Fiona Harrigian (22:43, 89th) and Sana Karimi (22:46, 91st) came off injury for their first race of the season, and Cara Roberts was close behind with 22:53 (94th) coming back from recent illness. The top 4 runners had a 25 second spread, and adding in Alejandra’s time in JV as 5th would have given just over a minute spread. Good to see the Girl’s team coming together heading into the second half of the season.
John Judge led the Men’s Varsity team to a 6th place finish (1:26:10) with a time of 16:33 (19th). Girish Balaji had his best race of the season with a 16:41 (30th), definitely earning the sandwich and fries for lunch. Eric Lew continued his steady improvement (17:07, 42nd). Charlie Perry was solid with 17:27 (51st), completing the less than 1 minute spread between the top 4. Justin Castleman clocked 18:22 for 101st place.
The Larriva-Latt sisters and newcomers Katherine Chen and Leslie Su wrapped up the day in the JV Girl’s race. Alejandra had her best race of the season, coming through with 21:58 and a 4th place finish. Jade clocked 23:16 (28th), and Katherine (28:04, 174th) and Leslie (28:12, 177th) finished their first races of the year.
Too bad this course is a six hour drive away and the meet is held on SAT weekend. It would be nice to visit more frequently than every 4 years. Thank you to Coach Mundo and Coach DiConti for organizing and leading the trip, as well as Alison McCrary for coordinating social activities. Ruth Roberts, Steve Holt, Stephanie Perry, Emelyn Judge and Karen Harrigian enjoyed the bus ride and made sure everyone was accounted for.
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