Morgan Hill – The Live Oak cross country team competed in the
31st Artichoke Invitational in Half Moon Bay on Saturday where they
raced against 31 teams from around the state.
Morgan Hill – The Live Oak cross country team competed in the 31st Artichoke Invitational in Half Moon Bay on Saturday where they raced against 31 teams from around the state.
Head coach Dean Raymond entered his young team into the 2.33 mile event to give them one last chance to compete against runners their age in the freshman and sophomre division.
“I entered the team into this event partially as a confidence builder, partially to run against their peers, and with the hope for the team to do well,” Raymond said.
Running at the JV level sophomore Trevor Watson took 12th place out of 99 finishers with a time of 13:50.
Sophomore Greg Wong was right behind in 13th place with a time of 13:54, and sophomore Xavier Gonzalez was 30th with a time of 14:45.
Watson, Wong, and Gonzalez received a medal along with all the other top 25 finishers.
Sophomore Trevor Zandi finished the race in 14:58 for 35th place in the JV division.
At the varsity level sophomore Matt Morgan finished in 25th place among 110 finishers with a time of 13:39 to take the last medal.
“I’m really pleased with Matt,” Raymond said. “Last year he ran frosh /soph and he has really improved since then, and I’m excited for what he can do for the rest of the season.”
Junior Anthony Macadeg finished in 28th place with a time of 13.46.
The varsity boys team finished 11th overall out 15 teams.
On the girls side Raymond said that he did not bring any girls down to the JV level because they don’t have the numbers.
Despite being a smaller team, the Live Oak girls finished fourth out of 10 schools and 95 finishers.
Junior Olivia Duran had the best showing for the girls capturing 13th place with a time of 15:43, while sophomore Pauline Olsen took 21st with a time of 16:25. Both girls received a medal.
Other strong finishers for the lady Acorns were sophomores Dominguez in 48th with a time of 17:49 and Emily Mandel in 55th with a time of 17:59.
The Artichoke Invitational did not take place last year due to renovations being done to the Half Moon Bay High School campus, but this was the fifth year the Acorns have participated.
“It’s shorter than we’re used to and flatter than normal,” Raymond said. “But its a good opportunity for the runners that are the milers and half milers because it’s close to their specialty for track.”
The Live Oak boys are 2-2 in league, and the girls are 3-1 in league, and Raymond is hoping that the girls will have two more victories in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.
“They’ve exceeded my expectations because again, we are still a young team,” he said. “It seems like every week someone steps up, and this week Trevor Watson stepped up and on the girls side Emily Mandell stepped up.”
