Peattie, Coles set the standard at Crystal Springs



BELMONT -- Colin Peattie kept on rolling and Maddie Coles continued an impressive sophomore campaign as many of Northern California's top runners competed at the 45th annual Crystal Springs Invitational on Saturday (October 12) at the Crystal Springs course.

Peattie, a junior at San Jose Bellarmine College Prep, set a personal-best on the 2.95-mile course, breaking 15 minutes, which is good enough to make the so-called "Wall of Fame" at the course. Peattie won the Championship Varsity Boys race in 14 minutes, 56.7 seconds. Concord De La Salle's Patrick Curulla was second  in 15:02.6.

"I'm super-excited," Peattie said. "It's definitely a huge goal to go sub-15 on Crystal. It's such a historical course. So I'm super-happy to have finally gone (past) the 15-minute barrier."

Bellarmine will compete at Crystal Springs next month for the West Catholic Athletic League meet as well as the CIF-Central Coast Section Championships, so Peattie's dominance on the course is a big development.

"I'm excited that I have two more shots to go even faster," Peattie said.

The Bells were edged for the team title by Claremont, which came up from Southern California. The Wolfpack scored 45 points and Bellarmine scored 49. The teams had similar scoring but No. 5 Blake Bertrand finished 14th for Claremont (15:45.6) while the Bells fifth runner, Aiden Theochung was 19th (15:50.3).

Adam Trafecanty was the top finisher for the Wolfpack, taking third in 15:06.0.

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Claremont, the defending CIF-State Division II champion, also won the Championship Varsity Girls race, led by an outstanding performance by Coles, the defending Southern Section D2 champ. She broke from the pack early and threw down an impressive 17:25.4 -- more than 53 seconds ahead of her teammate Azalea Segura-Mora, who finished second in 18:18.8.

"It was a lot taking it out fast and taking advantage of the downhills," Coles said. "I got some input from the varsity guys saying that they didn't go out fast enough and that they wished they had because they were working around people, trying to stay up with them. I decided to go and I was going my pace and I realized that it was kind of just me. So I had to make this split decision whether I would just go in the first part or whether I would just play conservative. I just decided to go for it and I just took off and I just was on my own pace."

Claremont finished with 65 points in the race, 10 ahead of Livermore Granada.

San Anselmo Sir Francis Drake's Kyla Seeley won the Varsity Girls race in 19:04.6. The junior outkicked Bella Peretti of San Jose Pioneer at the finish, winning by 1.2 seconds in 19:04.6. Granada took the team championships with 79 points, ahead of Drake (97).

Evan Franco, a senior at San Jose Branham, won the Varsity Boys race in 15:48.9 with Santa Cruz's Raymond Brookman in second in 15:57.1.

"The race was pretty good," Franco said. "I followed my fractions pretty well and I PR'd so I'm really happy with that. It was a good mid-season marker for me. I think I'm in really good shape right now so now I've got to start sharpening things and make sure I get ready for when CCS comes around."

Bellarmine won the team scoring with 92 points, well in front of San Ramon Dougherty Valley (161).

Claremont dominated the Junior Varsity Boys Blue race, taking the first five places to win with a perfect 15 points. De La Salle was next with 15 points. Senior Jason Miranda led the way in 16:12.2, with Antonia Diaz second in 16:27.7.

"It was a really fun race," Miranda said. "There were a lot of hills, but you were able to catch up with your time on the downhill. Antonio was right there with me, pushing me. My teammates were with me the whole time."

San Jose Archbishop Mitty senior Sophia Rolla won the Junior Varsity Girls race in 19:51.8. Rolla's teammates went to Clovis to compete this weekend, so Rolla was on her own. She ended up beating a string of Claremont runners -- the Wolfpack took the next eight places in the race and easily won the team title with 20 points.

"I came back from retreat so I was ready to just get out there," Rolla said.

She said she is new to running, having been a soccer player. She runs the 800 meters during track season but cross country is new to her. Archbishop Mitty is also in the WCAL.

"I wanted to feel the course," she said. "I just kind of wanted to push it. I felt I came out a little strong but I said, 'Alright.' Composed myself. Once I saw the highway over there, I said, 'OK, time to kick it. Let's go.'  I saw the 800 and said, 'That's what I do. Almost there.' "

In the Junior Varsity Boys Gold race, Bellarmine senior Zach Koverman won in 17:13.2. The Bells also took the team title with 31 points.

In the Frosh/Soph Girls race, Alyssa Horng, a sophomore at The Nueva School in Hillsborough, won in 20:28.0. Jane Partsch, a freshman at San Jose Santa Teresa, was second in 20:36.4. San Jose Lynbrook claimed the team championship with 29 points.

Bellarmine took the team title in the Sophomore Boys race with 15 points, sweeping the top five scoring places. Morgan Hill Oakwood sophomore Ellis Richardson won the race in 16:56.5. Jack Glanville of Bellarmine finished second overall but first among scorers in 17:00.5.

In the Freshman Boys race, Mountain View St. Francis freshman Jack Sloan won in 17:25.2, just edging Bellarmine's Jorge Sosa, who had the same time. The Bells once again took the team crown with 45 points.