DHS varsity cross country teams place second and proceeds to state finals

PHOTO: The Davis High men’s varsity team competing in their race at the Sac Joaquin Finals. (Courtesy photo: Jason DeJong)

By Julia Limburg,

BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–

On Nov. 13, Davis High’s cross country team competed in the Sac Joaquin Finals in Folsom.

The women’s varsity team placed second, the women’s JV team placed fourth, and the women’s freshman/sophomore team placed second. The men’s varsity team placed second, the men’s JV team placed fifth, the men’s sophomore team placed third, and the men’s freshman team placed second.

This meet was the last one of the season for many runners. The next meet, the California state finals, are only for the varsity teams.

This was the last race for sophomore Hilary Murcia, and she is happy with how it ended. “I think I improved a lot from my first race. On this course in the beginning of the season, I ran [about] 16 minutes, and this [time] I got 14 minutes,” Murcia said.

Senior Emily Castles is also pleased with how this race turned out. “I’ve shown a lot of improvement since the beginning of the season. […] I beat the time I had from earlier this year in this course by two minutes,” Castles said.

Though the race went well for many runners, it did not occur without challenges. “There was really dense fog there, so it was kind of hard to see,” Murcia said. “The course was muddy in some spots, so it was [sometimes] slippery,” Castles said.

The varsity teams will be working hard for the upcoming meet. “We tapered this last week, and it paid off because we made it, but now going into the state meet we’re probably going to kick up our training,” Castles said.