Allen, Shimabukuro improve upon times at section meet
FRESNO
Both Courtney Allen and Rachel Shimabukuro were pleased with their times on Saturday at the CIF State Cross Country Division I Championships, but not necessarily their places.
Allen, a senior at San Benito High, clocked an 18:59 at state and finished in 47th, while Shimabukuro, a junior, recorded a 19:35 and crossed the finish line in 102nd place.
There were 190 recorded times in the Division I race, which took place at Woodward Park in Fresno, and Alex Dunne of San Clemente earned the state title in 17:27.
“It was a pretty good race. It was tough,” San Benito girls coach Josh Morales said. “It was fast. I think they were expecting it. But some of the races, the winning times were 17 minutes.”
For Allen and Shimabukuro, each of their times was more than 20 seconds better than the time they posted at the Central Coast Section Championships two weeks ago, where Allen ran to a 19:21 and Shimabukuro a 19:59.
Considered to be a far faster course than Salinas’ Toro Park, however, much was made of the first mile at Woodward Park, where the state’s elite runners try to push the pace right from the start.
Allen actually ran a 5:34 split time on her first mile, Morales said, and was sitting in the top three as a result.
“I told her to stay in the top 10. She felt good and she was in the top three,” Morales said. “She was leading the pack for the first mile. But it hit her.
“It was tough.”
While Allen competed last year at the state finals where she finished in 93rd place in 19:34, it was Shimabukuro’s first trip to the state finals, and she’ll have another chance to return next year.
Although she is a junior, Shimabukuro returned to running this year after taking two years off from the sport. She missed her personal best time at CCS by five seconds, where as at state, she managed to shatter it by 19 seconds.
“It’s her first year running,” Morales said. “She didn’t know what to expect there. Hopefully, next year she’ll do a lot better.”
Other harriers competing from the CCS included Gilroy’s Kathleen Miller (34th, 18:40) and Carlmont’s Jessie Petersen (9th, 18:01) and Justine Fedronic (5th, 17:50).
Gilroy finished in 16th with 378 points, while Carlmont was 11th with 301 points. Dana Hills took the state crown with 65 points.
