Toro Park will host the 2014 Central Coast Section Championship meet. Following the Earlybird Invitational last week, Palma hosted the Chieftain Invitational today under fairly ideal conditions for most of races.
The most competitive team race of the day included 3 of the top girls' teams in CCS. The victor turned out to be WCAL competitor St. Francis (Mt. View) as they packed their top 4 in the top 13. Leading the way for the Lancers was sophomore Julia Bounds who finished in 4th place. Gunn HS finished in 2nd place behind individual winner, Gillian Meeks. The Titans will remain quite competitive this season following the graduation of superstar runner and multi state champion, Sarah Robinson. The 3rd place team was fellow WCAL team, Archbishop Mitty, who despite the loss of one of their top runners during the race, finished a very competitive 3rd place. Division IV and league rivals Niki Iyer of Harker and Lizzie Lacy of Menlo finished in 2nd and 3rd place respectively to renew their competitive races from last season.
The King City boys, one of the top Division IV teams in CCS, showed their early fitness by taking the varsity race over Willow Glen and St. Francis (Mt. View). Edgar Bonilla led King City with a 3rd place individual finish. Willow Glen was led by 2nd place finisher, Hassen Hassen. St. Francis was also led by a top 5 individual finisher as lead runner, Xander Olivero, finished in 5th place. Jose Pina of Lincoln, San Jose, powered away from the field and finished in a very impressive 15:43 in the last race of competition.
Look for the above teams and athletes to claim state meet qualifying spots in November. Results can be found here.