XC SEASON IN REVIEW - SAN FRANCISCO SECTION
It's impossible to mention cross country in the CIF-San Francisco Section without focusing almost entirely on Lowell. The spotlight is warranted.
At what they call the San Francisco All-City Championships, Lowell's boys won for a 14th consecutive time and 30th time dating to 1987 while the girls won a 10th consecutive and 41st time in 44 seasons dating to 1977.
Enough said.
BOYS REVIEW
Seniors Oliver Witt (pictured), Benjamin Lester, and Paolo Canigiula went 1-2-3 with junior Bruno Bartalos and senior Jonah Waldman crossing in fifth and sixth, respectively, as Lowell put up 17 points in the section final.
At State, Witt went out in 4:48.4 and was in 18th place at the mile before fading. Lester was the first Lowell boy across the line, placing 45th among scoring runners. Bartalos was 79th, Canigiula was 89th, Witt 110th and Waldman closed out the scoring in 120th as the team placed 20th out of 25 in the Division IV final on the 5K Woodward Park course in Fresno.
George Washington freshman Parker Simons, who placed eighth in the All-City Championship, was the only other SFS boy to run at State. He placed 195th in the Division III race.
GIRLS REVIEW
Junior Jacqueline Holman (pictured) only started running cross country in August. By November she was the SFS individual champion and the section's top finisher at the State Meet, placing 14th overall in the Division IV race, 10th among team-scoring runners.
Senior Jenna Satovsky, Holman's training partner, placed second in the section final and at 19th overall at State, 13th among scoring runners.
Other scorers for the Lowell girls at the State Meet: Sophomore Lois McTrang (88th), senior Abigail Parker (114th), and junior Reese Jardiniano (118th).
Two girls from Galileo Academy of Science and Technology placed among the top eight at the section final to earn a spot on the line at State. Sophomore Noelle Kimotsuki and senior Freya Wehrheim were 145th and 179th overall in the Division I race.
Photos by DeAnna Turner and Pat Rhames