At golden eagle invite in Clovis, PRHS boys come in first overall and beat Madera South who are the reigning champs of the central section
The pounding of running shoes and the beeping of each watch in the background after every mile with a combined total of 8,064 miles that the team ran during the duration of summer payed off with huge win in Clovis.
Leading up to Clovis the team ran at Arroyo Grande Invitational on Sept. 2 and the Morro Bay Invitational on Sept. 9.
PRHS varsity cross country traveled two hours north up to Clovis on Sept. 22 for the Golden Eagle Cross Country Invite. Varsity boys had a very successful day coming in first and beating Madera South, the reigning champions of the Central Section, and the varsity girls coming in a respectable fifth place.
Beating the reigning champions Madera South would place PRHS as first if everything goes well next year since PRHS’ athletics are moving to the Central Section next year.
The boys varsity won the meet despite a computer glitch, which they didn’t score the fifth man and scored the sixth one, instead. This results in a higher score which is not good for cross country since it is won similar to golf: lowest score wins the meet. Paso won by 3 points but if the scoring was not incorrect, Paso would have won by 12 points.
For never running in this race before, runners were not expecting a big win that was accomplished.
“We were told by the coaches to run the course fast but not all out which means he wanted us to run the course to become familiar with it,” senior varsity runner Ian Young said.
With this hopeful future in this fall sport, there are many young men that are willing to step up to the plate when the seniors are gone. Having a strong lineup for the future with juniors Pablo Cortes, Steven Scruggs, and sophomore Damian Gavilan.
The varsity girls scored a worthy fifth place racing against many teams they have never ran against. Freshman Madi Loff had an outstanding performance, coming in 23rd; freshman Grace Chamberlain came in 29th.
“While we may not have the dynamic duo of Trad Berti and Luis Armendariz we have a tighter front five than we did last year. This is promising for the boys because it means we have a good shot on making it to CIF Finals and possibly CIF State again,” Young said.
