Live Oak’s girls contingent of Renee Dominguez, Pauline Olsen,
Sabrina Rice, Chelsie Faulk, Ashlynn Adair and Moriah Taylor
battled to a 10th-place finish in Monday’s unseasonably balmy
Blossom Valley Athletic League Finals meet at Crystal Springs
BELMONT — Live Oak girls cross country has achieved its one goal of the year. For the third straight season, the Lady Acorns will run as a team in the Central Coast Section Championships.
Live Oak’s contingent of Renee Dominguez, Pauline Olsen, Sabrina Rice, Chelsie Faulk, Ashlynn Adair and Moriah Taylor battled to a 10th-place finish in Monday’s unseasonably balmy Blossom Valley Athletic League Finals meet at Crystal Springs, earning a spot in the Nov. 14 Division III section championship race, held at the same 2.95-mile course.
The top three teams in each division advance to state.
“They’ve been talking about making it back to CCS all season, so this is good for them,” Live Oak coach Tom Sumpter said. “Some of the seniors have gone every year.”
Those four-year runners include the Lady Acorns’ top two runners Monday. Dominguez placed 29th out of 161 girls with a team-best time of 21 minutes, 47.2 seconds, and Olsen followed in 33rd in 21:56.6.
Live Oak freshmen Sabrina Rice and Ashlynn Adair took 35th and 81st with PRs of 21:57.8 and 24 minutes even, respectively. Teammate Chelsie Faulk (22:23.9) placed 45th, and Taylor (30:13.3), a freshman, was 153rd.
Keeping with a tradition set last year, Live Oak’s boys team will send one runner to join the Lady Acorns at sectionals. Junior Adam Groen made the individual cut by clocking 18:03.6 — good for a new personal best and 41st place out of 160.
“Adam’s worked the hardest of anyone on the boys team,” Sumpter said. “It means a lot to him to be going to CCS.”
Evergreen Valley was tops in the 24-team girls field, and the Willow Glen boys defended their BVAL crown. Pioneer’s Weston Strum (15:15.5) and Leigh’s Melissa Hopper (18:51.8) won the individual titles.
