The Escalon High Cross Country team attended the Sierra Invite this past Saturday, Aug. 19 for their first official race of the season. The grade-level two-mile course took runners on a winding trail, through an oak forest and plenty of ups and downs.
The freshman girls kicked things off with a strong showing. Kylie Fast finished third in her race with a time of 13:12 and Victoria Calderon finished 16th with a time of 14:46.
Sophomore Theo Harp had a great showing, running the course in 14:37, over two minutes faster than his time last year, and is set to show some big improvements this year after a solid track season last spring.
Nate Millard (11:34) and Lauren Rodriguez (14:31) led the juniors for the team. Both showed big improvements from their last time on the course and are poised to be an integral part of the top three on varsity this upcoming season.
Senior Andrew Morales ran the team’s fastest time of the day finishing in 11:32.
“Overall, it was a great opening day. It was the first chance for our team to get a taste of competition with other schools. I definitely saw some runners step up and start to find their racing legs,” said head coach Michael Bower. “It also helps for new athletes to have an understanding of what we are training to do. The hills, the turns, the competition ... each piece is something we can work on so that when the important races are upon us, we are ready.”
The coach added that the squad includes plenty of newcomers who are eager to learn and contribute.
“We have a lot of new faces this year. We currently have 37 kids on our roster, a few more are finalizing their paperwork, and of those kids 17 are running their first high school cross country season,” Bower noted. “Even with the new faces, I don’t think I have coached a team that has had this much chemistry and laughter this early in the season. It is a really great group of kids who are willing to work hard and make friends.”
That chemistry was on full display when the Cougars ran a team scrimmage race on Tuesday, Aug. 15. Running in the evening, on a day that reached over 100 degrees, the cross country team ran a 4k (2.5 mile) race around the Dent Elementary neighborhood.
“The Purple and Gold race is a way for us to build in some team challenges among our athletes and help our new athletes get a taste for how a cross country meet works,” Bower explained.
The boys were led by senior Andrew Morales (14:21), senior Jose Calderon (15:08) and junior Daniel Bagadiong (15:19). The girls were led by freshman Kylie Fast (17:12), junior Lauren Rodriguez (18:39) and freshman Victoria Calderon (18:59).
There was a two-way tie for the second place team, with the winning team eking out the win by a single point. The winning team was made up of senior Marcos Grajeda; junior Charlotte Shaddix; sophomores Maddy Fahey, Ariella Partida and Matix Trimble; and freshmen Connor Jones and Jenn Barrera.
“With the groups that close and some new faces showing up after, it should be great to see how these teams progress over the season and who will take the win for Purple and Gold 2 in October,” the coach said. “Given the heat, they handled themselves super well. I saw them get excited. Returners led warm ups. And athletes of all experience levels pushed for just a little bit more. It was also great to see the camaraderie after. Our team is known for cheering loud and proud and they certainly showed it.”
After a tough week of racing and navigating the heat, the cross country team will enjoy a couple of weeks to focus on training. Their next race is the Trans-Valley League, TVL 1, at River Bluff Regional Park in Ceres on Wednesday, Sept. 6. The JV girls race is at 3:30 p.m.; JV boys race at 4 p.m.; Varsity girls race at 4:30 p.m.; and Varsity boys race at 5 p.m.
