Gilroy’s girls cross country team posts top overall grade point
average in Central Coast Section
Gilroy – Speed and brains aren’t a bad combination.
The Gilroy girls’ cross country team had both. Not only did the Mustangs have the highest grade point average among all Central Coast Section girls’ cross country teams, their overall GPA of 3.9545 was better than any fall team in any sport. Their weighted GPA was a lofty 4.14.
“And it’s not like these girls are taking easy courses,” said GHS coach Cathy Silva, who presented the individual GPAs with the courses the girls were taking.
There were courses such as Advanced Placement calculus, statistics, English, Honors English and Honors Global Studies. Five girls had GPAs of 4.0 or better.
“It’s a pretty nice accomplishment,” senior Megan Litle said. “Running cross country takes dedication. To run (distances), you have to be mentally strong. It’s mental as well as physical. It’s fitting we have a high GPA.”
Not bad for a team that excelled on the running trails as well, qualifying as a team for the Central Coast Section meet.
“I’m not sure if I was more excited about us making CCS or winning this award,” junior Kristina Schmidt said.
Leading the way gradewise was Litle, whose 4.67 GPA included four Advanced Placement courses, Digital Design and Drafting. Litle, No. 1 in the senior class and already with a scholarship offer from Rensslear Polytechnical Institute, is waiting to see if she will be accepted early at her first choice, Harvard.
Schmidt had a 4.5 that included three Advanced Placement courses, Pre-Calculus and Spanish III. She is No. 2 in the junior class.
Sophomore Christine “Bubbles” Bobula boasted a 4.14 accum that included one AAP course, three Honors courses and Pre-Calculus. Sophomore Kathleen Miller not only qualified for the state meet Saturday in Fresno, but stayed on top of her academics as well. Her 4.0 GPA included three Honors courses and Pre-Calculus. Bobula and Miller are Nos. 1 and 2 in the sophomore class.
Freshmen Anne Donahoe and Brandie Rodriguez were also 4.0 students. Donahoe had four Honors courses. Freshman Paty Hernandez, with a 3.66 GPA, had two Honors courses.
“They’re fantastic girls as well as fantastic students,” said Silva, a mathematics teacher. “Last year we lost out by 1-100th of a point to Santa Cruz. They monitored each other’s grades to make sure that didn’t happen again.”
It didn’t despite that the top overall grades were posted by girls cross country teams through CCS. Menlo School was second at 3.7872 and Cupertino was third at 3.78740.
“We helped each other as a team a lot,” Rodriguez said, referring to academics as well as running.
Scholar-athletes from the various schools are presented with a team trophy and individual certificates of commendation.
