MORGAN HILL The Sobrato High School boys and girls cross country
teams made impressive strides Monday at the Blossom Valley Athletic
League Championships at Crystal Springs in Belmont.
MORGAN HILL
The Sobrato High School boys and girls cross country teams made impressive strides Monday at the Blossom Valley Athletic League Championships at Crystal Springs in Belmont.
Junior Lance Wolfsmith finished in second place overall with a scorching time of 15:16, while the boys team captured third place, amongst 23 teams, with a team time of 84:44 for a score of 144.
The boys’ time was a dramatic improvement from last year’s time of 87:27.
The second best time for Sobrato came from sophomore Alan Rios, who finished in 16:39 to capture 14th overall and 12th in division A.
The first, third and fourth-place overall and division-A finishers were from Willow Glen High School.
“Willow Glen is powerhouse program and they have a good sense of what CCS is all about,” Sobrato head coach Dave Wolfsmith said. “Sobrato was the worst team in CCS when Lance was a freshman … the boys and girls teams … but it’s a lot of the same people in the program, so it’s really neat to see them improve and do well,” Dave said.
The Sobrato girls team finished in second place, with a score of 44, amongst 20 teams with a team time of 101:44, also an improvement from last year’s 103:35 finish.
The girls’ top runner was senior Kirsti Whitmeyer, who ran the 2.95-mile course in 19:52 for an overall sixth-place finish.
“I walked away from that meet thinking ‘I can’t wait for CCS,’ and know our girls were thinking the same thing,” head coach Dave Wolfsmith said. “I think our girls have a lot left in their tank.”
Senior Abhi Devaraj finished in seventh place overall with a time of 20:01, and junior Alex Seda finished close behind in eighth place with a time of 20:06.
“Abhi and Alex paced her (Whitmeyer),” Dave said. “I knew she was capable of this kind of time but I was just happy that she had the confidence to go out and do it.”
“For me, as a coach, I see a much better team from last year,” Dave said. “Since I’ve bee involved this is the most competitive year in the CCS.”
The Sobrato girls head into the CCS meet in second place behind Leland, which barely beat them at the league meet with a score of 51.
“During the state meet you’re going to see some of the top times coming from CCS runners,” Dave said.
Over the last 10 years there are only 13 runners who have run a faster time on the Crystal Springs course than Wolfsmith.
One of those runners is Willow Glen senior Mohamed Abdalla.
Abdalla finished in first place at this year’s BVAL Championships with a time of 14:58, 15 seconds better than Wolfsmith.
This season he also broke the course record at Montgomery Hill, in Gilroy, with a time of 14:00.
“Mohamed is running like a top national runner,” Dave said. “He’s definitely a better runner than Lance, but Lance is a better racer.
“Lance knows how good Mohamed is, but when Lance lines up he feels like he can beat anyone on any given day,” Dave said. “Lance will definitely line up at CCS to go for a win.”
Sobrato will be competing in division three in the CCS meet on Nov. 10, and it must finish within the top three to advance to state.
“There’s gonna be some stiff competition at CCS, and it’ll be a battle,” he said.
Alan Rios ran a personal record at the league meet.
“Rios is in some heavy competition for state,” Dave said.
Lance, who earned straight As during his first quarter as a junior at Sobrato, is focusing on beating Abdalla at CCS.
“Honestly, he’s beatable,” he said. “I never go and race for second place.”
Lance said he was racing to win the league title, but Abdalla was simply too fast.
“Mohamed went out like crazy … really fast … but as the race went on the gap got smaller and smaller.
“It was a windy day so the times could have been even faster, but overall I felt really strong,” Lance said.
As a team, the Sobrato boys must have their best race if they hope to advance to the state meet.
Wolfsmith is steadily training with the Sobrato team for the CCS meet, and has his sights on Abdalla.
“The training is totally different, and I’ll have a whole new game plan on race day,” Lance said. “You have to break up the course and find out what the best scenario is to take him down … strategy plays a big part in how the race ends up.
“You have to know which parts to run harder,” he said. “If he’s anywhere in reach within the last 400 meters I think I can take him.”
While the Bulldogs will be going into CCS as the underdogs, Dave is confident that his team is talented enough to turn some heads.
“League finals are great but CCS is what it’s all about,” Dave said. “And we’re using CCS as a springboard for state.”
Lance is of a similar mind set.
“I can’t wait for state because I think I have a shot,” he said. “I’m not saying that it’s going to happen, but I have a good shot.”
