Dublin Distance Fiesta Is Gonna Be Lit!

Mar 04, 2020

So, yeah, as the headline says, the 2020 Dublin Distance Fiesta is lining up to be absolutely lit!

Dublin coach and meet director Chris Williams reports that the meet, scheduled for Saturday, March 21, has already attracted nearly 30 more schools than last year, raising the possibility -- probability? -- of an added Friday night session of 3200s.

The precession-like execution of the Saturday lineup -- of (in scheduled order) 1600s, 800s, 3200s and DMRs -- with the winners of the elite, or "Sombrero" races competing for a coveted custom-designed sombrero (along with other swag) -- is highlighted by some of the state's elite distance athletes, already committed to the Alameda County event.

Individuals set to compete, according to Williams, include Matt Strangio and Chase Gordon (Jesuit/SJ), Colin Peattie and Nolan Topper (Bellarmine/CC), Christopher Middleton-Pearson (Dublin/NC), Isaiah Galindo (Clovis North/CS), along with Charlotte Tomkinson (Menlo/CC), Riley Chamberlain (Del Oro/SJ), Gianna Mendoza (Presentation/CC), and Alexandra Klos (Vista del Lago/SJ).

Strangio, who last year at the DDF put down his 3200-meter PR of 8:47.97 -- CA No. 2 and U.S. No. 3 for 2019 -- is a State Meet champion for 1600 and 3200 on the track as well as a two-time State divisional cross country champion and Nike Cross Nationals All-American. His teammate, Gordon, was runner-up in the 800 at State and here last spring. Both are seniors. Peattie, a junior, was runner-up to Strangio in the 1600 at State last spring and this fall qualified, along with Topper, also a junior, to compete at the Foot Locker National Cross Country Championships.

Check out the 2019 Boys 3200 Final

Middleton-Pearson and Galindo, a pair of seniors, both qualified to run at NXN in December. Tomkinson, also a senior, was runner-up at State in the 800 last season but missed the bulk of her senior XC season because of injury. She ran 2:10.61 to win here last March.

Check out the 2019 Girls 800m Final

Chamberlain, just a sophomore, is a two-time State divisional cross country champion and NXN participant. Mendoza, a senior, is the CCS Division 2 champion who placed third at State in XC. Klos, a sophomore, came out of soccer to emerge as one of the elite girls XC runners in CA, winning a both Sac-Joaquin Section and XC Division II titles and running at NXN.

The DDF, which features a DJ providing an extremely chill experience throughout, is a meet that naturally draws most of its participants from Northern California. This March, however, the DDF is drawing a very special guest from Southern California in juggernaut Great Oak, the most dominant distance program in California over the last decade.

Wolfpack runners will take the line against NorCal powerhouses like Campolindo, Maria Carrillo, Bellarmine, and Jesuit, among many already confirmed.

Foothill Technology, also distance royalty from SoCal, returns to the East Bay. FT, with 2019 State Division IV girls XC champion Brooke Secreto, will take the line at Dublin against other traditionally strong smaller school distance programs to include Crystal Springs Uplands (CC), Lick Wilmerding (NC), Lowell (SF), Menlo (CC) and San Francisco University (NC).

"It's going to be an AMAZING meet," Williams wrote in an email.