This gesture may have gotten two Escalon cross country runners disqualified – but coach Rick Heflin said he “will take that every time” in light of what his JV girls did. The young Lady Cougars, Trista Matthews and Isabel Marcelo-Villarruel, flank a Ripon runner, holding her hands as they helped her along the Trans-Valley League course. The Ripon girl was having an asthma attack, said Heflin, and his runners made sure she got to her coach for assistance. Touching another runner on the course means disqualification but Heflin said he was proud of the decision his runners made and the photo, taken at the first TVL Meet on Sept. 5, went viral.

Photo Courtesy Of StanCo Distance