Suffering and Success: Trojans race at WACC Championship
Racing for the WACC League Championship, the CVHS Cross Country teams ran at Hayward High School on a three mile long course. Held on Nov. 9, the teams saw varying placements, with many personal victories and unfortunate losses.
Contestants for the championship were divided into Foothill and Shoreline. CVHS was part of the Foothill division, racing against five to eight schools.
The girls varsity team placed second out of six schools, scoring 47 points. The first five runners to finish placed in the top 15. In third, Piedmont scored 61 points, while Berkeley placed first with a score of 21.
Freshman Iliana Nierengarten Iliana Nierengarten finished first of the team and placed second in the race with a time of 18:25. “I tried a different tactic: I went out kind of slower, and then I picked it up the second and third mile,” said Nierengarten. “I wound up getting into second place, which I’m pretty happy with.”
“I think the race went quite well. I got a PR (personal record) so that was good,” said senior Anna Dughi. Second of the team to finish, Anna Dughi finished with a time of 19:24 in eighth place.
Senior Maya Dughi placed tenth as third of the team to finish with a time of 19:50, setting a personal record. “I think it was good; the team ran very well together, and my splits were consistent,” said Maya Dughi.
The boys varsity team scored 99 points, placing fifth out of six schools. “Not our best performance–we got fifth overall,” said boys varsity captain Levi Friesen. “But we’re saving for [North Coast Section Championships]; we’ll win then.”
Training for the varsity teams differed greatly. The boys varsity team did not taper (gradual reduction of training) up to the race while girls varsity did. “We didn’t taper at all: we didn’t have any easy practices. We kind of pushed hard all of last week so our muscles were a little tired,” said Friesen.
Senior Maddeux Lim was first of the team to finish, placing ninth overall with a time of 16:23. “My morale was high in the beginning, but we didn’t really taper for the race,” said Lim. “I just could’ve done better.”
“I was really, really in my head, but still pushed through, and didn’t do too horribly,” said Friesen. Friesen placed second in the team and 15th overall with a time of 17:02.
Sophomore Ben Galli finished as third of the team and 17th overall with an incredible personal record of 17:10.
The varsity teams will advance to race at CIF NCS Championships on Nov. 23, hopeful to advance further into CIF State Championships.