The Sobrato High cross country team shined again with a strong
performance at the Chieftain Classic at Toro Park on Saturday
Salinas – The Sobrato High cross country team shined again with a strong performance at the Chieftain Classic at Toro Park on Saturday.
The Bulldogs varsity girls team took fifth overall out of 20 schools and was led by freshman Kendra Higgins. Higgins flew through the course to finish in first place with a time of 18:58, beating her time of 19:41 from the Early Bird Invitational the previous week and upsetting Stephanie Barnett, a sophomore from Leland who was second in the Central Coast Section finals last season.
“Kendra had an outstanding race today,” coach Dave Wolfsmith said. “She knew who she was up against and focused on the race.”
Amanda Conlin, Sobrato’s No. 2 runner, had a strong race, finishing in 21:37. Amber Masoni and Abby Devarj finished together at 21:51, and Melina Silva shaved 26 seconds off her previous best time to finish in 22:23 and help the Bulldogs finish ahead of powerhouse and local rival San Benito, which took eighth.
Live Oak, led by a 19th-place finish by Olivia Duran (20:42) and a solid run by Pauline Olsen (22:17), finished in 14th place.
Sobrato’s boys varsity team upended a pair of local rivals with its 15th-place finish. Gilroy came in just behind the Bulldogs in 16th place and Live Oak was 20th.
Alex Rios paced Sobrato with a time of 17:38 to finish 32nd. Lance Wolfsmith, nursing a sore ankle, finished in 18:01.
Christian Swanson had a terrific run, beating his previous top time that he set in last year’s league championships to finish in 18:27.
Eric Matsumoto led the way for the Acorns, finishing in 82nd place with a time of 18:51. Anthony Macadaeg also had a solid run with a time of 19:14.
On the junior varsity side, the Sobrato girls had a solid performance. Kayla Sampson was the top finisher with a time of 24:07 and Ashley Grose shaved a remarkable 3:11 off her Early Bird time to record a mark of 24:16.
Live Oak’s Armando Rodriguez performed well in the boys junior varsity race, taking 50th with a time of 20:34. Sobrato’s Richard Hubbel took 57th, finishing in 20:45. Sachin Nadyanchuk was the Bulldogs’ top frosh-soph finisher with his time of 22:55.
