With winds whipping by their bodies and questions swirling
inside their heads, athletes from the Gilroy varsity cross-country
teams competed in the 34th Annual Stanford Invitational on
Saturday.
With winds whipping by their bodies and questions swirling inside their heads, athletes from the Gilroy varsity cross-country teams competed in the 34th Annual Stanford Invitational on Saturday.
Many runners didn’t know what to expect, facing some of the finest runners the state has to offer. Fortunately for the Mustangs, the girls’ team stood out from the pack, erasing any doubt that it should be included among the area’s elite.
The team took 10th overall out of 36 Division I squads, while also scoring high enough with its times to take second among all CCS schools. The boys had a tougher time at the event, taking 32nd out of 49 teams.
“We had no expectations on what we were going to do,” coach Art Silva said. “We just wanted (the girls) to be up there in CCS because that’s our goal – to go to state. Last year, we weren’t quite there.”
This year, the female Mustangs should not only be in CCS, but have an excellent opportunity of moving on to compete for a state title. The top two teams from the section advance and Gilroy currently is ranked second behind Saturday’s team Invitational winner, Carlmont High School.
“It would be awesome,” said Jessica Hopf, who led the Mustangs Saturday by taking 25th overall in 19 minutes, 42 seconds. “We made CCS last year and it would be a great experience. We’ve been building up the team since last year and state is the next big step.”
What has allowed the girls to take steps towards a run at state has been a team approach on and off the race course. Hopf, Kathleen Miller (19:44, 26th) and Paty Hernandez (20:01, 35th) generally stay together for an entire race before seeing who can finish the final 400 yards the fastest. The same goes for runners such as Brandie Rodriguez, Christine Bobula, Anne Donahoe and Kristina Schmidt.
“We had to go out fast and we had to stay together (Saturday),” Rodriguez said. “We always have to have a buddy with us.”
“We only pass each other at the end,” Donahoe added.
Schmidt, the lone senior on the team, agreed that pack-running helps build individual confidence while improving the overall results.
“It’s not so intimidating when you’re running with a teammate,” she said.
With 253 runners competing in the girls’ race at Stanford, there were plenty of athletes jockeying for position.
“They’re not very big,” Silva said. “It gets a little rough. But actually, it was a clean race (Saturday).”
What makes the girls’ squad even more remarkable is many of the athletes have a grade point average that comes close to matching the team’s 4-0 record in the Tri-County Athletic League this season. Last year, the team was crowned 2006-07 CIF State Academic Champions for its sport, boasting a cumulative GPA of 3.9545.
“It’s hard when you don’t have so much time for homework, but when we run we talk about school a lot,” Donahoe said. “It’s a big part of what we talk about and we really do help each other with a lot of stuff.”
While some of the runners say schoolwork isn’t too difficult on top of running, others disagree.
“No, it’s not easy at all,” Hernandez admitted.
Regardless of how hard it is, the focus for all of the athletes and coaches is to get the job done inside and outside of class.
In addition to her coaching duties, co-head coach Cathy Silva is a math teacher at GHS and often tutors her athletes.
“I’m the knucklehead that keeps them on track, on the track,” Art Silva said. “(Cathy) keeps them on track in the classroom.”
The girls will have two tough tests over the next week, as the runners will compete in Woodward Park in Fresno on Saturday before returning home to take on TCAL foes, Notre dame, Palma and Salinas in Toro Park on Monday.
Results
Varsity Girls – Division 1 (36 teams and 253 runners total)
10th team out of 36 division 1 teams; 2nd team in CCS
soph, Jessica Hopf, 25th, 19:42
jr, Kathleen Miller, 26th, 19:44
soph, Paty Hernandez, 35th, 20:01
soph, Brandie Rodriguez, 97th, 21:31
jr, Christine Bobula, 150th, 22:23
soph, Anne Donahoe, 179th, 22:50
sr, Kristina Schmidt, 197th, 23:14
Varsity Boys – Division 1 (49 teams and 344 runners total)
32nd team out of 49
sr, Derek Pesta, 78th, 17:09
sr, Agustine Serafio, 177th, 18:00
soph, Matt Sosa, 178th, 18:00
fresh, Timothy Williams, 218, 18:17
soph, Juan Velasquez, 236, 18:27
soph, Daniel Apuzzo, 281, 18:58
soph, Wesley Thielges 311, 19:47
