GHS Cross Country competed in their first league meet of the season on Sept. 21 at Pinto Lake in Watsonville, taking firsts as teams and individuals.
Thursday’s event kicked off with the varsity boys race where the Mustang boys took first as a team led by Noe Serafio (first with a time of 17:06 minutes) and Elias Chavez-Hernandez (second, 17:21).
Teammates Chris Chavez (fifth, 17:30), Alberto Bedolla (eighth, 18:02), and Lucas Bundros (12th, 18:15) also smashed their previous 3-mile times to help earn the team a low score of 28 points for a win.
Next the Gilroy Mustang varsity girls sang their team chant “Gilroy girls are gonna fly!” before stepping to the starting line. And fly is what they did. Maddie Eastus lead the squad with her third place finish of 19:56.
She was quickly followed by the rest of the squad who finished as a pack with Aphrodite Ayala (fifth, 21:03), Marissa Galvan (sixth, 21:22), Serenity Rodriguez (eighth, 21:40), Briseida Perez (ninth, 21:44), and Marianna Bundros (10th, 21:52).
The girls also earned first place as a team with their low score of 31.
The esults continued with the JV and Frosh Soph squads. The highlight came from the JV girls team who earned a perfect team score of 15 to take first as a team.
Angelina Gonzalez (first, 21:19), Anna Turk (second, 22:56), Isabella Cordich (third, 23:24), Dariana Rodriguez (fourth, 23:31), and Regina Perez (fifth, 23:32) deserve special recognition for this phenomenal feat.
Two freshmen boys stole the show in the JV and Frosh Soph boys races by taking firsts in their races as well (Anthony Rodriguez 19:58 and Arturo Perez 18:46).
Coaches Art and Cathy Silva were extremely happy to see every athlete tackle the hills and push it on the flats to battle the clock for their best times possible.
On the sportsman side of the competition, Dominic Esposito who coached and encouraged his teammate Angelina Gonzalez as she competed in her first race. His positive, energetic words helped her battle through fatigue to take first.
Secondly, Regina Perez and Anthony Rodriguez volunteered to help their teammate Sam de Groot search the 3-mile course for his lost timing chip. Finding it saved the team a $25 replacement fee.
