The cross-country team placed 18th of 22 in the CIF State Cross-Country Championships at Woodward Park in Fresno, Nov. 27.

That was one notch higher than last year’s team placement of 19th in Div. V.

Coach Nick Domich said that he was satisfied with the team’s improvement, given the graduation of last year’s top runner, Marco Siragusa.

Prior to the race in Fresno, the team placed first of four in the Div. V CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Championships at Folsom High School, Nov. 13, for the second straight year.

Senior Sarah Mancina and freshman Darby Bosco placed fourth and seventh, respectively, in the varsity girls’ race, qualifying for states individually.

“The competition wasn’t very strong,” Domich said.

At championships, there was both happiness and disappointment.

Seniors Alex Graves, Daniel Edgren, Chris Thompson and Damien Blake, sophomore Donald Hutchinson and Bosco all achieved personal bests at the statewide race.

Blake and Graves had the fastest times of the boys, placing 94th and 95th out of the 184 runners. Blake finished in 18:08 and Graves in 18:09.

“The times on the boys’ team were really close to each other this year, so I think that really helped our score,” Mancina said.

Mancina placed 99th out of 169 with a time of 22:22, and Bosco placed 134th with 23:49; both beat SJC champion Emily Potts of Victory Christian.

“We show up and do a good job after sections, unlike some teams who think they are just done (after sections),” Domich said.

However, some of the runners struggled during the race.

Junior Wei Dai and sophomore Jacob Frankel both had worse times than they did at sections, and Dai placed last.

“I didn’t feel well throughout the race, and I couldn’t speed up,” Dai said.
Frankel said he could have done much better and wasn’t very content with his time.

In the past, it was difficult for fans to know where their racers stood in the statewide race.

But this year a large television monitored the race, and changes in leaders were announced.

“My dad said it was really helpful when he was watching the race,” Frankel said.

Even though the team placed 18th, the team and the coach said they are proud with the overall turnout of the season.

“It’s more about the team’s individual times than its placement,” Domich said.