SCCAL’s banner day in Belmont
SV’s Kain, Boothby claim individual and team wins; Santa Cruz boys, Aptos girls also capture titles
BELMONT >> It was a banner day for Santa Cruz County at the Central Coast Section Cross Country Championships on Crystal Springs’ 2.95-mile course Saturday: two individual champions and four team champions.
Duke University-bound senior Jeremy Kain became Scotts Valley’s first boys individual champion and sophomore Ashlyn Boothby became the Falcons’ second girls champion — the first since Vanessa Fraser in 2012.
Both runners led their teams to titles. The Falcons (Division IV) and Santa Cruz (D-III) won boys’ team titles. It’s the Falcons’ second CCS title, with the last one coming in 2013, and the Cardinals’ first.
The Falcons’ girls won their first section title in D-IV and Aptos (D-III) won their 16th, the last coming in 2017.
“It was really cool to see how well our league did,” said Todd Hoffman, the Falcons’ first-year head coach. “Santa Cruz and Aptos ran in D-III, before us. That just set the tone.”
Former Falcons coach Gretchen
Schmitt returned from out of the area to cheer on her former students. After seeing videos of several Falcons stating their disdain for Crystal Springs, which is hilly and exposed to the sun, following the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League championships, Schmitt suggested Hoffman have the kids trick themselves into liking it.
Throughout the week, Hoffman routinely asked the runners what their favorite course was. They had to respond, “Crystal Springs.”
“They tried to make it sound sincere,” he said.
Apparently, they liked it Saturday. “I think it really helped,” Hoffman
said of the drill, before giving Schmitt credit on her contributions. “She’s a major reason this happened. It was her win too.”
Some of the top teams and individuals in each of the five divisions qualified for the CIF State Cross Country Championships at Woodward Park in Fresno on Nov. 27.
Boys
SCOTTS VALLEY WINS D-IV >> Scotts Valley (44) placed three runners in the top-8 and the SCCAL champion Falcons snuck past Menlo (45) for the D-IV title. Kain, the three-time SCCAL champion, won in 15:26.8. His finish was the sixth-fastest out of the 504 runners who qualified in all the divisions.
Senior Ryder Brabo (15:57.9; fifth), junior Aiden Boothby (16:24.4; eighth), senior Austin George (17:07.0; 15th) and junior Jonah Verinsky (17:13.2; 18th) also scored for the Falcons.
Kain outkicked Menlo junior Justin Pretre (15:29.7) and freshman Landon Pretre (15:31.9) to the finish line.
“It was a nail-biter,” said Hoffman, of the team finish, noting he kept refreshing the live race standings he was viewing on his smartphone.
Monte Vista Christian junior James Ponzio took seventh in 16:23.6 to qualify for state as an individual and lead the Mustangs (174) to seventh.
Soquel senior Jack Spencer (17:09.0; 16th) and junior teammate Brody Staley (17:25.7; 20th) posted top-20 finishes in D-IV. San Lorenzo Valley senior Marco Evans (17:36.4) was 25th.
SANTA CRUZ WINS D-III >> Santa Cruz placed three runners in the top 10 and won the D-III title with a score of 68. Saint Ignatius (69) of the West Catholic Athletic League was second and North Monterey County (103) was third.
There’s chatter that Santa Cruz is on the verge of becoming a state power with Mission Hill Middle, under the direction of coach and world-class distance runner Kim FitchenYoung, feeding dozens of talented runners into coach Greg Brock’s Cardinals program. Clearly, the Cardinals wanted to start adding to their lore now.
Freshman Eli FitchenYoung took third in 16:23.3, junior Jim Ratliff was fifth in 16:38.6 and junior Will Trowbridge was 10th in 17:00.2 to lead the Cardinals. Sophomore Kees Van Der Meer (17:17.4 5; 19th) and junior Aidan Cinque (17:54.4; 35th) also scored for Santa Cruz.
Junior Trent Nosky (16:43.9; sixth) and sophomore Evan Niles (17:21.8; 20th) paced the Mariners (238), who finished ninth. VARGAS SECOND IN D-V >> St. Francis senior Julian Vargas (15:37.4) finished second to York senior Michael Julian (15:15.4) in the 65-runner Division V race.
Sophomore Spencer Koontz (16:44.4) took seventh and led Pacific Collegiate School (126) to seventh place. Crystal Springs Uplands (39) won the team title.
Vargas and Koontz both qualified for state.
D-I >> Watsonville (524) took 18th in the D-I race, which was won by Carlmont senior Aidan Dimick in 14:58.9. Senior Sebastian Abonce led the Wildcatz (18:07.7; 84th).
Girls
SCOTTS VALLEY WINS D-IV >> Sophomore Ashlyn Boothby and junior Amber Boothby finished 1-2 in the D-IV race to lead Scotts Valley to the section title. Ashlyn won in 18:15.3 — the fourth-fastest time in any division, which totaled 423 runners — and Amber finished in 19:07.7.
The Falcons (35) placed all of their scoring runners in the top-20. Junior Rafaela Putnam (20:01.2; eighth), and seniors Megan Wu (20:28.5; 12th) and Greta Feague (21:00.9; 17th) also scored for the SCCAL
champion Falcons.
Sacred Heart Prep (41) was second and Carmel (64) was third.
SLV junior Haven Finley took 14th in 20:49.1 and qualified for state as an individual and classmate Colleen Murata (20:55.5) took 15th.
APTOS WINS D-III >> Aptos placed its five scoring runners in the top 20 to win the D-III title with a score of 45. Notre Dame (85) of San Jose was second and Sacred Heart Cathedral (90) of San Francisco was third.
Soquel sophomore Suki Kasmi (19:56.2) finished second to Capuchino senior Myla Brignardello (19:47.5) to qualify for state as an individual and pace the Knights (105) to a fifthplace finish.
Mariners junior Brooke Willoughby (20:02.2) took fourth, sophomore Rachel Hoops (20:23.0) was seventh and Malia Moreno (21:13.2; 13th). Seniors Mairin Mullen (21:16.4; 17th) and Annie Eikemeyer (21:21.9; 19th) also scored.
Senior Maya McCain (21:29.7; 22nd) and junior Julia Snelling (21:30.8; 23rd) posted top-25 finishes for the Knights.
MARHEINEKE PACES MITTY IN D-II >> Santa Cruz resident Evie Marheineke (18:21.5) posted the sixth-fastest time of all the female runners and took third in the 109-runner D-II race to lead Archbishop Mitty (113) to third. Pioneer’s Bella Peretti (17:47.8) and Saint Francis (45) of Mountain View won titles.
D-V >> St. Francis sophomore Monserrat Ramirez took sixth (20:19.9) in the D-V race and qualified for state. Castilleja junior Samira Kennedy won in 18:20.7.
PCS junior Sophie Mateja (21:32.4) took 16th and led the Pumas (164) to seventh.
D-I >> Watsonville (335) took 13th in the D-I race, which was won by Palo Alto junior Elizabeth Fetter (17:58.7). Wildcatz’s freshman Katelynn Ruiz took 26th out of 119 runners in 19:54.0.