For Hollister’s Amanda Boyd and Live Oak’s Cobbie Jones,
Saturday was supposed to be a day of redemption at the California
Interscholastic Federation’s Cross Country Championships.
Fresno – For Hollister’s Amanda Boyd and Live Oak’s Cobbie Jones, Saturday was supposed to be a day of redemption at the California Interscholastic Federation’s Cross Country Championships.
At the Central Coast Section Championships two weeks ago, Boyd was recovering from strep throat and Jones had a mild asthma attack early in the race. The seniors looked forward doing better at the state meet.
But at Woodward Park Saturday, the veterans didn’t have the races they hoped they would and both were puzzled as to why they didn’t.
After her race, Boyd searched for answers about her own performance.
“I have no idea,” she said, shaking her head. “I felt good before the race. I started OK and then the front pack pulled away.”
The senior ran a time much slower than she expected to. Her time of 19:42 was middle-of-the-pack in the Division I race. After a season of improved times from her junior year (her first year of cross country), the finish did not top last year’s finish at the state meet, where Boyd finished 26th with a time of 18:57.
“I’m super upset,” Boyd said. “I don’t know what to do.”
Though the Hollister star’s high school cross country career is over, she still has track and field to look forward to. Boyd was a state qualifier in the 3200 last spring.
Jones finished 50th out of 188 runners in the Division II race with a time of 19:36 in her fourth and final state championship appearance.
By Jones’ standards, it was a poor performance. As a junior, she finished in 18:40 for 18th in the Division I race.
“It’s just been a rough cross country season,” Jones admitted after the race. “It really makes you appreciate the times when you are strong.”
Jones came down with a chest cold a week ago, the beginnings of which is believed to have triggered her asthma problems at CCS. But the UCLA-bound runner didn’t feel that had anything to do with her race Saturday.
“My breathing felt pretty good. It wasn’t my body. I was just not going anywhere,” Jones said. “It’s hard to describe, but that’s how I felt. I couldn’t counter attack.”
Jones will also be back for track and field season. She finished sixth in the state in the 800 last spring.
“I just have to reassess myself this winter,” Jones said. “I’m hoping to have a better track season. But I wanted to have a good cross country season. It was rougher than expected.”
Shannon Murakami of the Southern Section’s Saugus High won the Division I girls’ race in 17:43. Kauren Tarver of the Southern Section’s Serrano High repeated as the Division II champ with a time of 17:36.
Boys’ Race
Fresno – Though he didn’t meet his personal goals, Sobrato’s Lance Wolfsmith walked away as the top freshman finisher in the boys’ Division IV race.
In his first CIF state meet, Wolfsmith took 64th out of195 runners with a time of 17:12.
The freshman had a goal of finishing in the top 15-20 runners, which is where he was positioned after a blazing 4:55 first mile. But the speed of the field and the lingering effects of a cold caught up with Wolfsmith as the race wore on.
“It was hard. I went out a little too fast,” said Wolfsmith, the Bulldogs’ first-ever state qualifier in any sport. “The first mile makes race hard. It wears you out for the rest of the race.”
After he ran the Woodward Park course earlier in the week, Wolfsmith knew the hills wouldn’t be too challenging. He expected the flats to be the difference makers in the race, and they were.
“The hills aren’t the hard part,” he said. “But everyone just blasted it on the flats.”
Sophomore German Fernandez of the Sac-Joaquin Section’s Riverbank High ran away with the Division IV title with a time of 15:14, which was over 35 seconds faster than the time of runner-up Chad Hall of Big Bear (Southern Section).
Even two re-starts couldn’t slow the first-mile pace of the Division I boys’ race.
Although he was expecting a quick start, three-time state qualifier Eddie Trujillo of Hollister struggled to keep the pace. The junior, the only runner from the ‘Baler boys’ team to qualify, finished 135th out of 198 runners with a time of 17:09.
“The first mile was pretty fast. Then I fell apart,” Trujillo said. “Today seemed a lot harder because my legs just gave up.”
The starting-line drama didn’t help. The race was re-started twice because of runners falling in the first 100 yards.
“Everyone was getting pretty mad and frustrated,” Trujillo said. “We just wanted to take off and get running.”
The Division I title went to senior AJ Acosta of the San Diego Section’s El Camino High who ran a 15:15.
