Freshman Cross County Team Qualifies for Sectionals

Benicia's freshman boys cross country team grabbed sixth place at the sub-sectional meet on November 6, 2010 and now advance to the sectionals in Folsom.  The Panthers also advanced Nick Strohl in the individual competition.  Strohl, a freshman, runs on the varsity squad.

The Sac Joaquin Sub-Section Meet for Cross Country is the first stop in the post season for the Panther cross country team and began the process of selecting the fastest runners in California.  The meet is always held in Angles Camp on the first Saturday of November.  By qualifying at this meet, runners advance to the Section Meet which is held on November 13 at Bella Vista High School in Folsom. 

Runners who qualify at the Section meet will run in Fresno, CA, at the State Championship Cross Country meet.  The last time Benicia was represented at this championship meet was two years ago when  Coach Julie Moore took two runners, seniors Jesus Prieto and Sarah Tusting.  Tusting now runs cross country for the UC Davis Aggies.

The day started for the Panthers at 5:00 a.m. when 34 Benicia runners began their two and a half hour journey to the Sub-Section Meet at Angles Camp.   The first race was the Boys Freshman only race at 9:30am. The Benicia team did a pre-race  course tour at 8:15am.  Course conditions and the weather were perfect. 

At 9:30am the Benicia Freshman Boys team stood on the line to start the two mile race.  They'd lost their number two runner, Daniel Hein, to a leg injury two weeks earlier. Freshman Nick Strohl was moved to the varsity boy's team earlier in the season so the team had some challenges.  There were 73 runners and ten teams in the race.  The first six teams and ten individuals advance onto Sections. 

First to cross the line for the Panthers was Sam Love in 14th place with a time of 13:17.  He was followed by teammates Francis Samonte 36th in 14:23, Andrew Jacobs 41st in 14:36, Andrew Cumpas 42nd in 14:46, Matthew Slocombe 49th in 15:04, and Gabriel Nourot 51st in 15:13. 

The next race was the Freshman/ Sophomore Girls two mile race with 105 runners.  Benicia didn't have a full team of five in the race, only three. Diana Quinn who finished 49th in 16:50, Rachael Sloane 70th in 17:38, and Alison Harris 88th in 18:51. 

The Panthers had six runners in the Junior Varsity boys three mile race.  This race was the biggest of the day with 266 runners in the race.  Anthony Andrade was the first finisher for Benicia in 7oth place with a time of 19:38.  He was followed by teammates Jordan Core in 104th place in 20:28, Aaron Lee 113th 20:39, Philippe Garcia 189th 22:54, Gus Costa 19oth 23:04, and Elisha Nunes 236th 24:28.

It was now time for the Benicia's Boys Varsity team, who had just came off of their third league championships the week before.  The team lookd to be in good position to make it to the sectionals but the morning of the meet their number two runner and team captain Oliver Wolken fell ill.

There were 193 runners  and 34 teams entered in the race.  For the first mile Oliver's illness wasn't having a noticable effect. But at the halfway point in the race he was hurting. "His face had so much pain as he passed by me," said Coach Moore.  

As the runners headed up the final hill and in the last half mile of the race freshman Nick Strohl passed Sophomore Scott Yip and led the way for the Panthers.   Strohl finished in 54th place in  17:46 with Yip  just ten seconds behind him in a time of 17:56 in 60th place. 

The next finisher for Benicia was Sophomore Jackson McNutt.  McNutt had to step up his game because of Wolken's illness.  He finished third for the Panthers in 102nd place in 18:45.  He had been running in the seventh position for the Panthers.  Senior Grant Friesen was next in 104th place in 18:47, and rounding out the top five was senior Josh Badger.  Also finishing for Benicia were senior Cole Friesen, junior Trevor Theobald, Wolken who finished 128th place and seniors Anthony Carrillo and Justin Collins. 

 The highlight of the race for Benicia was an unexpected section qualifier.  Freshman Nick Strohl, made it to the Section meet as an individual.  "Wow!," said  Coach Moore. "It is so rare that a freshman makes it as an individual in a varsity race to the section."