He
’s at the beginning of his high school cross country career and
she’s nearing the end of hers. But both Sobrato freshman Lance
Wolfsmith and Live Oak senior Cobbie Jones finished in the same
spot Saturday at the TCAL Championships at Toro Park in
Salinas.
He’s at the beginning of his high school cross country career and she’s nearing the end of hers.
But both Sobrato freshman Lance Wolfsmith and Live Oak senior Cobbie Jones finished in the same spot Saturday at the TCAL Championships at Toro Park in Salinas.
Wolfsmith and Jones both finished second, qualifying for the CCS Championships.
Live Oak senior Lisa Herrera also beat out a few TCAL runners she’d lost to during the season, said Live Oak girls’ coach Norm Dow, and took third.
“I was hoping she would,” Dow said. “I know there’s a couple people that were really a nemesis to her (during the season).”
Both the Acorn boys’ and girls’ teams qualified for the CCS meet, finishing fourth and third respectively.
“It was a great day for the girls and the boys,” Dow said. “All our people except two had PR’s (personal records) and that includes the JV.”
Sobrato sophomore Remy Birchmier finished in 23:10 for 23rd place and an at-large bid to CCS.
Though she was unable to make it a four-peat as the girls’ TCAL varsity champion, Jones ran her best time yet on the Toro Park course. She finished in 18:51, three seconds behind local rival Amanda Boyd of Hollister. Boyd’s time was 18:48.
Both runners have established themselves as two of the best in CCS. But Hollister (Division I) and Live Oak (Division II) are in different divisions this year so they won’t face each other at the CCS meet. Last year at CCS, Jones beat out Boyd for the Division I individual title by five seconds.
“Last year, (Cobbie) pretty much dominated,” said Live Oak girls head coach Norm Dow. But this year, with both girls streamlining their training for their track season specialties – the 3200m for Boyd and the 800m for Jones – Boyd has had the upper hand.
Sobrato head coach Jim Feldman was expecting Wolfsmith, who ran a 16:31, to finish in the top four or five. But in his first TCAL final meet, Wolfsmith did better than that.
“It was pretty impressive for a freshman,” Feldman said. “He almost pulled it off, he almost won the whole thing.”
Hollister junior Eddie Trujillo did win the race, with a time of 16:28. Gilroy senior Arnulfo Velasquez (16:38) and Hollister junior Rigo Vasquez (16:38) took third and fourth, respectively.
The Live Oak teams, Birchmier and Wolfsmith now have just under two weeks until the CCS Championship meet, which will be held Nov. 12 at Crystal Springs in Belmont. Live Oak will compete in Division II and Birchmier and Wolfsmith will compete in Division IV.
Live Oak’s Coach Dean Raymond said he’s happy with this year’s team and both the men and women will practice their speed in the coming weeks. He hopes for a strong showing, but worries about the Acorn’s depth.
Raymond is also worried about next year’s team with Jones, Lisa Herrera and seven seniors on the varsity squad graduating this year. He’s hoping for a good year from freshman Olivia Duran, who ran in the top three for the women’s team, and juniors Josh Levy and Eric Matsumoto. He’s also hoping to see some the runners from Britton Middle Schools Cross Country team which won their sectional meet earlier this month.
“I hope some of them and other freshman will come out for the team,” Raymond said. “They have four choices (for fall sports) in high school. Some of them doing cross country now may not do it next year and some of them will be at Sobrato, not Live Oak.”
Top Local Finishers
Women
Cobbie Jones Live Oak 18:51 (2)
Lisa Herrera Live Oak 1 9:12 (3)
Olivia Duran Live Oak 20:14 (8)
Remy Birchmier Sobrato 23:10 (23)
Amber Masoni Sobrato 24:56 (33)
Joelle Jenkins Live Oak 25:20 (35)
Maureen King Live Oak 25:35 (38)
Kristen Kuwatani Sobrato 26:15 (40)
Vanessa Santoya Live Oak 26:50 (41)
Kayla Nishimatsu Sobrato 31:11 (43)
Men
Lance Wolfsmith Sobrato 16:31 (2)
Andrew Taylor Live Oak 17:30 (14)
Eric Matsumoto Live Oak 17:37 (17)
Josh Levy Live Oak 17:41 (20)
Kenny Benner Live Oak 17:51 (23)
Mondo Medina Live Oak 18:06 (25)
Justin Mikykusu Live Oak 18:18 (28)
Nolan Zandi Live Oak 18:30 (30)
Chris Swanson Sobrato 18:40 (33)
Casey Schenkelberg Sobrato 19:48 (41)
Will Cambra Sobrato 21:28 (43)
Richard Hubbell Sobrato 22:31 (44)
