Live Oak and Sobrato runners advance to CIF Cross Country State
Championship Meet
Belmont – Both Live Oak and Sobrato have advanced runners on to the California Interscholastic Federation Cross Country State Championship.
At the CCS Cross Country Championship Saturday at Crystal Springs, Live Oak senior Cobbie Jones and Sobrato freshman Lance Wolfsmith both qualified as individuals.
Jones, who signed a letter of intent to run at UCLA Friday, went out to defend her CCS individual title that she won in the Division I race last year. Because of its decreased enrollment, Live Oak competed in the Division II race Saturday.
And it turned out a little different that Jones would have liked.
The senior had a mild asthma attack shortly after the first mile and fell from second to eighth during the last two-thirds of the race, most of which she said she didn’t remember afterward.
“I just started feeling really tight in my chest and short on air…I just tried to finish,” said Jones, shaken up and still short of breath after the race. “I don’t know, I don’t remember most of it.”
After the first mile, Jones trailed leader Jessica Van Ausdall of Aptos by a seconds. But as the Live Oak star began to have trouble breathing, she dropped back, eventually finishing in eighth place with a time of 18:48, 22 seconds slower than the time she ran at the Crystal Springs Invitational in early October. Still, Jones was the third of five individuals to qualify for the Nov. 26 state meet in Fresno.
Missing the cut for a return trip to the state meet was Acorn senior Lisa Herrera. Her time of 19:17 put her in 14th place, two places out of qualification.
“It was a disappointing race for her,” said Live Oak coach Dean Raymond.
Van Ausdall ran away with the Division II title with a time if 17:59. Leland freshman Stephanie Barnett took second with an 18:13.
Aptos easily took the team title with the fourth fastest girls’ team time ever at Crystal Springs. Los Gatos and Palo Alto also qualified for state. As a team, Live Oak finished tenth.
In his first CCS Championship, Sobrato freshman standout Wolfsmith also qualified for the state meet. He took fourth in the Division IV boys’ race with a time of 16:16 – the same time he ran in the Crystal Springs Invitational. Wolfsmith was the second individual and the only freshman runner to qualify for state. Monta Vista Christian’s Wes Buntman won the Division IV race with a time of 15:49.
Like the girls, the Live Oak boys also took tenth. Senior Andrew Taylor had the best finish for the Acorns. He came in 45th with a time of 17:23.
“It was a good season,” Raymond said. “It’s not as talented a team as last year, but they race well together. They earned what they deserved.”
Race Notes
San Benito’s Amanda Boyd (2nd, 18:35) and Eddie Trujillo (6th, 15:59) qualified for the state meet. The San Benito girls missed qualifying as a team by one spot, finishing behind Carlmont (46) and Monta Vista (73) in third place (118). The ‘Balers’ Rigo Vasquez finished in eighth with a time of 16:01, missing individual qualification by one spot. The San Benito boys’ team took fourth behind Carlmont, Serra and Bellarmine.
-Gilroy senior Arnulfo Velasquez (11th, 16:07) headed up the Mustangs’ seventh place finish.
