The girls cross country team made a strong showing at the Woodbridge Invitational at Estancia High School last Saturday. The Lady Jackrabbits finished fifth in the rated race and 19th out of 236 teams.
Freshman Melissa Tanaka ran 17:39 to finish tenth set a record for the fastest time by a Poly runner at Woodbridge. Freshman Lauren Fillipow ran 17:56 to finish in 20th, and freshman Olivia Gleason ran 18:09 to finish in 33rd. However, the entire team ran fast, setting a team time record of 90:56. Even with the addition of younger runners, Coach Nate Bershtel is confident in the team’s running maturity.
“All of the girls have around the same years of running experience. Instead of being the number four runner each race, they have the opportunity to be the number one runner at any given time,” said Coach Bershtel.
The boys cross country team also made a strong showing at the Woodbridge Invitational. The jackrabbits finished 10th in the Sweepstakes race and 14th out of 237 teams. Freshman Colby Penn ran 15:00 to finish in 39th place, senior captain Zach Ponce ran 15:08 to finish in 55th place, and senior Christian “CVaq” Vazquez ran 15:23 to finish in 81st place.
Coach Mike Fillipow was impressed with the depth the team displayed at Woodbridge. The top eight runners were within 35 seconds of each other at Woodbridge.
“Last year, we had some problems with the large gap between our number four and number five runners. This year, we have a great pack,” said Coach Fillipow.
Senior Christian Vazquez was content with the team’s performance, but insists there is still work to be done. “All in all, we made a good showing, and we can do even better. We’re going to stay consistent in our training, to give the fans a good showing,” said Vazquez. The boys will race in Moore League next Wednesday at El Dorado Park.
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