| | Published November 22nd, 2023
| Exemplary day for Lamorinda cross country teams
| | | By Jon Kingdon |  | | Acalanes team and coaches Photos Jon Kingdon |
On a dreary rainy day, running on a slippery, muddy course at Hayward High School, with the runners finishing the race covered in mud, the Lamorinda boys and girls cross country teams had a stellar day with the Acalanes girls and Campolindo girls and the Miramonte boys and the Campolindo boys all qualifying to run in the California State Meet next Saturday in Clovis, California.
Campolindo Boys and Girls
The Campolindo boys finished in second place and it was freshman Clark Gregory, finishing third overall, who was the first Cougar to cross the finish line. "Clark's been running really well for us so for him to finish in third was not a surprise," coach Andy Lindquist said. "He's been training and racing so well we figured that if he just put himself out there, he would have a great performance and he did. The conditions today were tough with the runners slipping and sliding all over the place but they definitely hung in there and did what we had to do to advance. We'll just regroup now and hopefully we can put it together a little bit more next week."
The top five finishers for Campolindo boys were Clark Gregory (3), Alex Thomasson (12), Cale Anderson (16), Paulo Trento (17) and Drew Shogan (27).
The leaders for the Campolindo girls were Shea Volkmer, Kate Kabenina and Daisy Penney. "We had a huge step up this year from them as our veteran leaders and today it was a total effort," Lindquist said.
"It was super slippery the whole time," Volkmer said. "I'm really proud of all the girls and I love how we became so bonded this year."
The top five finishers for the Campolindo girls were Volkmer (2), Kabenina (5), Penney (7), Sloan Pullen (9) and Anya Houston (21)
Miramonte Boys
It's been a magical season for the Miramonte Boys, having broken Campolindo's win streak at the DAL tournament and winning the NCS meet and Asher Patel who finished in second looked back to see how far this team had come. "Two years ago, we finished in eighth place and my personal best was less than our number six runner this year," Patel said. "We had an amazing group of runners that did not run cross country last year and this is their first season on the team. I knew we had a good team with Logan Letulle and James Jenkins but I had no idea it was all going to come together so well with our first years and freshmen doing cross country. Everything came together this year and I'm so thankful for the leadership from our head coach Andrew Lewis, Julia Hall, and Cassie Haskell."
The top five finishers for Miramonte were Patel (2), Letulle (6), Jenkins (8), Brenden Collins (11) and Breydon Collins (23).
Acalanes Girls
With the victory, it was more than just the talent of the Acalanes girls team that was responsible for their success. "This was a really special bunch of girls this year," coach Jeff Hutson said. "They're supportive, collaborative, competitive and passionate with each other."
For Olivia Williams who finished in first as she did two years ago on this course, it was particularly satisfying. "It was so nice to be with the team after cheering for them on the sidelines last year. They're all my best friends and we're all so close and it was great to race with them."
The top five finishers for Acalanes were Williams (1), Nevis Murphy (8), Anju Sekhon (18), Cathryn McCormick (23) and Cameron Powell (26). |
 | | Miramonte boys cross country Photos Jon Kingdon |  | | Campolindo's Shea Volkmer crosses the finish line Photos Jon Kingdon | | | | | | | | | |
Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA