The boys team from the Newbury Park Athletic Club, which dominated the team competition at the Desert Twilight XC Festival six weeks ago, were at it again over the weekend in Indiana. (File: John Hays)
- - -
Boys cross country runners from the Newbury Park Athletic Club, extremely impressive some six weeks ago at a meet in Arizona, were equally so again Sunday at the XC Town USA Meet of Champions in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Led by senior transfer Christian Simone's sixth-place finish, NPAC went 2-4-6-8-12 in scoring for 32 points with a 30-second 1-5 split and a 15:35 team time.
Among the 14 teams from nine states that scored in the Boys Championship race, runner-up Stumptown Running TC (Portland (OR) Jesuit HS) had 97 points and third-place Saints TC (St. Charles East (IL) HS) posted 119 points.
South Temecula Track Club (Temecula (CA) Great Oak HS) was fifth with 172 points.
Texan Judson Greer was the overall winner of the Boys Championship race, covering the 5,000-meter LaVerne Gibson Championship XC Course in 15:14.1.
Simone, a transfer from Great Oak, crossed in 15:24.2, with sophomores Lex Young (15:25.1) and Leo Young (15:31.1) in ninth and 13th, respectively. Junior Colin Sahlman was 20th (15:42.1) and senior Nicholas Goldstein was 33rd (15:55.10) for the club team made up of student-athletes from Newbury Park HS.
Seniors Austin Montez, 36th overall (15:57.8), and John Worthy, 67th (16:18.5), led the South Temecula TC, followed by Scott Kiehn (16:29.1), Nathan Lennox (16:39.1) and Quinn Saville (16:53.6).
At the Desert Twilight XC Festival outside of Phoenix on Oct. 2, NPTC, led by Sahlman, put up 17 points to lead team scoring among 15 teams. STTC was third with 101 in a meet that separated competitors whose seasons were underway from those, like California, whose seasons were being delayed by the Coronavirus pandemic.
The CIF season, usually late-August through Thanksgiving weekend, has been re-scheduled for late-December through late-March.
The two-day event at Indiana State University, included multiple 5K divisions for high school athletes, as well as 3K races for middle school athletes, a 6K race for elite women, and an 8K race for elite men.
Junior Samantha McDonnell of NPAC was the top CA finisher in the high school Girls 5K Championship, crossing 21st in 18:14.7. Sydney Thorvaldson from Wyoming was the overall winner in 16:38.30.
Sophomores Kelli Gaffney, 62nd in 19:02.6, and Aishling Fabian, 63rd in 19:03.1, and senior Brianna Weidler, 69th in 19:06.2, led the South Temecula TC, which placed eighth among 14 teams from seven states.
Among other CA boys, Davis (SJ) senior Ansel Tucker was 68th (16:18.8) and Jeremy Kain (Scotts Valley/CC) was 107th (16:54.2) in the Championship 5K; NPAC senior Thomas McDonnell was third in the Boys White 5K (16:22.3), with senior Euan Houston (Amador Valley/NC) sixth (16:36.2) and sophomore Aaron Cantu (NPAC) 12th (16:40.4) in that division.
Connor Gibson (Torrance Run Club) was 19th in the Boys Blue 5K (16:41.9).
Junior Ryley Burns (Linfield Christian/SS) was 15th in the Girls Blue 5K (19:49.2), with Jessina Morales (Temecula Speed & Endurance Collective) crossing 27th (19:50.1) and Lindsey Reed (College Park/NC) 31st (10:19.6).
Riley Capuano (Los Altos/CC) was the top CA finisher in the Girls White 5K, placing 36th in 20:36.5.
In the Women's Elite 6K, Indiana University sophomore Mikaela Ramirez (Chino Hills (CA) Ayala HS) placed 14th in 21.20.0.