The Bearcats kicked off their first meet of the year at Los Osos Middle School against San Luis Obisbo High School. Both the women and men ran a 2.5 mile route (rather than the usual 3 miles they would standardly run). They ran the middle school’s grassy field, up a hill, throughout the school, and then a 400 on the dirt track after running the previously mentioned route twice.
Varsity athlete and junior, Charlotte Castelli finished second with a time of 16:12.53. Throughout the race, she was consistently within the top three but by the end of the second lap, she secured a definite second place, beating the SLO runner behind her by 25 seconds. After Castelli, sophomore Sydney Moore, senior Jaiden Anguiano, and senior Madeline Loff placed fifth, sixth, and seventh, respectively. The ladies finished with an overall score of 30 points (points are assigned via where the athletes place, so because Castelli got second place, she was assigned two points), while the Lions had 25.
The men’s Bearcat team was led by fifth-place runner and junior, Cameron LeClair. LeClair finished with a time of 13:59.64, yet battled with one SLO Lion for the majority of the race. It wasn’t until the 400 meters at the end of the race that he kicked it into gear. Because he sprinted the last 200 meters, LeClair was able to seize the fifth-place position and beat the three Lions behind him by one, three, and five seconds. A group of bearcats finished tenth through fifteenth place: including junior Diego Ortega, sophomore Tristan Poggi, sophomore Joseph Martinez, junior Manuel Cruz, and senior Ethan Short, accordingly. The Bearcats’ men’s team lost with a score of 47 to the Lions’ 16.
