The calendar may claim that fall weather is soon to come, but the heat in Fresno, California didn’t let up in time for the Paso High cross-country team to toe the line at the infamous Woodward Park; testing their fitness against some of the best teams in the central section at the Golden Eagle Invitational on Sept. 27, 2024.
The Golden Eagle Invitational is the same five-kilometer course that Paso will compete on for their CIF state prelims and finals. The team goes to this meet to get familiar with the course and get a scale of how they match up with their competitors, one of which is Matilda Torres who is currently ranked first in division 2 of the central section.
On the topic of team performance, sophomore Luke Kleinmen said: “I think the team performed very well, especially considering the extreme heat as well as the unexpected competition.”
At Woodward Park, the sun beat down on over 1000 runners all desperately trying to stay hydrated and cool down in the 96° heat. Races ran during the heat of the day from 1:15pm to 4:15pm.
The boy’s varsity team placed fifth out of 22 teams with a score of 181. Tyler Daillak (12) placed 1st with a time of 15:27, Brian Arndt (11) placed 5th in a time of 15:56, Kleinman placed 36th in a time of 17:31, Joseph Arce (10) placed 58th in a time of 18:17, and Alex Gonzalez (10) placed 81 in a time of 18:52.
Daillak’s time puts him to 13th in the statewide rankings of the 5000m.
The top girls were Jordan Hammond (12) finishing 78th in a time of 25:23, and Elliot Krames (12) finishing in 97th with a time of 26:59.
This performance marks a clear team improvement on the boys side, indicating a chance to compete for a league win.
