Delta League meet runners look ahead to future races
By Jeanne Kim,
Bluedevilhub.com Editor–
The Davis High cross-country team raced hard–or in some cases, easy–on Wednesday, Oct. 7 at the Delta League meet at Granite Regional Park in Sacramento.
This was an important meet for many runners, as it was the last race to help determine the final roster that will go on the team’s annual trip to the Mt. SAC Invitational in Anaheim, Calif.
The frosh/soph women were led by sophomores Ava Wittkop, Lyla Schoenig and Odessa Seng, who ran 14:26, 14:36 and 14:39 respectively on the 2.2-mile course, placing second, third and fourth overall.
“We ran this course last year and it was blazing hot and this year it was much cooler and I think that made my time faster,” sophomore Amanda Nazario said. “[This race] prepped me for Mt. SAC and allowed me to get some hills in and see who my competition will be and it will let me make it to Mt. SAC and secure my position.”
The frosh/soph men placed second to Jesuit, with freshman Eric Lengtat placing third and sophomores Jamie Moddelmog and Jeremy Fee coming in fifth and seventh.
“The race was okay; I didn’t have a great start but I kinda of made up the time and eventually like half way through I settled in,” Fee said. “I think this [race] was really significant because it shows what’s going to happen at Mt. SAC,” he added.
Although many team members ran their hardest to meet the roster for Mt. SAC, those who were invited to the Clovis Invitational on Oct. 10 were instructed by head coach Bill Gregg to dial it back a notch.
“It is an interesting day for the varsity because they are running on Saturday so both the boys and the girls ran on cruise control,” Gregg said. “They certainly were not racing their hardest. We were willing to sacrifice a little in the league standings today in order to be better prepared for Saturday,” Gregg said.
The varsity women and men ended up placing second overall in both of their races.
Senior Sarah Sherwin appreciated the low-key atmosphere of the race and felt that it was a solid preparation for the upcoming Clovis meet.
“I felt good in this race! It was really fun to go out there and run a bit slower than what my normal pace is. […] Personally, this race was more of a way to prepare for the next steps which is the Clovis race this Saturday,” Sherwin said.
The team selected a few JV men and women and the frosh/soph women, along with all of the varsity women and men to compete at the Clovis Invitational in Fresno.
“We go [to Clovis] to have a rehearsal on state meet conditions and it’s a really big meet […] and it’s going to help us continue to sort out what our top seven will be as we get near the end of the season,” Gregg added.
