Ashlyn Boothby Rides Into CIF With Team Goals In Mind

It's running. Probably because it's a little harder to jump a horse after dark.

Boothby is coming to the good part of a terrific season. She won her second Santa Cruz County Athletic League championship in eight months on November 4, finishing in 17 minutes flat, more than 30 seconds better than her time in March on the Pinto Lake course in Watsonville.

Her team won its first-ever league championship, scoring 24 points. Her older sister Amber, who won the league title as a freshman and is now a junior, finished second in 18:25.

With the Central Coast Section championships on tap for Saturday at Crystal Springs, Ashlyn Boothby has her sights set on another team goal.

"I'm really pumped for CCS," she said. "I'm really excited about how the team has worked. We have our eyes set on winning CCS as a team and going to state as a team. The girls team hasn't gone to state as a team in a while."

Boothby said she hasn't run the Crystal Springs course before.

"I'm going to go out, push myself, make it hurt, and see what happens," she said.

"Make it hurt" is a line Boothby drops into conversation a lot. She also said it when she spoke about her plans for the California Interscholastic Federation championships on November 27 at Woodward Park. She told the Santa Cruz Sentinal's Jim Seimas the same thing after the SCCAL meet.

Running is a passion for Boothby. But she didn't really pick it up until middle school. Boothby was born in Boulder, Colorado, and moved to Scotts Valley when she was 9.

"As a kid, I was always pretty active running around playing games and stuff," she said. "It was elementary school PE and I would get pretty competitive about it."

Boothby's mom played the bagpipes and her first real organized competition came in Highland Dancing. She went to national competitions, where foursomes would do a routine based on historical Scottish dances.

"I think that sparked my sense of competition," Boothby said.

This fall, she has been one of the state's top sophomores. If not for a wrong turn with the lead at the San Francisco/Lowell Invitational at Golden Gate Park, she very well may be undefeated. As it was, she scrambled to place second to Georgetown-bound Cate Joaquin of St. Francis (SJ). Boothby has won every other race she has entered. That included winning her division race at the Clovis Invitational on the State Meet 5K course in Fresno. In the merge of that meet, her time ranked No. 2 among all girls in the 2023 class.

Running came into the picture after Boothby's older brother started competing in middle school. Ashlyn Boothby followed in his footsteps. In eighth grade, she joined the Los Gatos Track Club.

"That's where I really started to take up some speed," she said. "That really got me ready for high school."

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted her freshman season but when a shortened season was held in the spring, Boothby excelled. She also picked up a new hobby: horseback riding. Boothby now jumps horses, although she has only entered one competition so it's more for fun so far.

"I'm doing it more for fun," she said. "Horseback riding, I love it. I'm not as good at it. It's more of a release to me."

Right now, Boothby is running every day and riding horses three days a week. She said the running is No. 1.

"That's where my passion lies," Boothby said. "I'm really passionate about it. I don't know what I would do without running."

As the season winds down, she's excited.

"I definitely feel prepared," she said. "Obviously a little bit nervous because these races are huge."