Bearcat cross country teams run against San Luis Obispo Tigers in Los Osos
–The Paso Robles High School Bearcat Cross Country teams traveled to Los Osos Saturday to compete against the San Luis Obispo High School Tigers. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, all the cross-country meets are held on school campuses. The San Luis Obispo High School campus does not have a course, so the run was held at Los Osos Middle School off South Bay Boulevard in Los Osos.
The girls ran at 9 a.m. under clear skies with a cold breeze. The runners lined up at the starting line and removed their facial masks only a few minutes before the start of the race. SLOHS Senior Grace Rubio led from the outset. Grace finished the 4,000-meter course in 15.41.01. Rubio is the daughter of former Cal Poly distance running legend Joe Rubio.
Bearcat Junior Charlotte Castelli stayed close and finished second in 16.12.53. The Tigers took the next two places, and then Bearcats Sydney Moore, Jaiden Anguiano, and Madeline Loff finished 5th, 6th and 7th. Moore is a sophomore. Anguiano and Loff are both seniors. Junior Sophia Berry completed scoring for the Bearcats, finishing in 10th place overall. Senior Mya Castelli finished just out of the scoring in 13th.
The Tigers won the team competition 25-30. The Bearcats had strong performances from a number of younger runners including freshman Kalani Gaviola, and sophomores Kelsey Hammond, Chloe Medvedoff, Pixie Camacho, and Christine Brennan, which bodes well for the future.
In the boys’ race, the Bearcats were outnumbered sixteen to six. In the first lap, six Tigers jumped out in front, followed by five Bearcats. As the race wore on, the fastest Tigers held on, and it looked like they might capture the first five places.
Bearcat Junior Cameron LeClair, center, sprinted into 5th position.
Their sweep was broken up, however, by a strong kick by Bearcat Junior Cameron LeClair. His gutsy sprint to the finish gave Bearcat fans in attendance something to cheer about, and they did. LeClair took fifth in 13:59.64, less than a minute behind the overall winner from San Luis Obispo, Lewis Westwood, 13:05.59.
The Bearcats finished 10th-14th: Diego Ortega, Tristan Poggi, Joseph Martinez, Manuel Cruz Cavero, and Ethan Short. Senior Ethan Short finished 14th out of 22 runners in the boys’ race. The first five Bearcats across the finish line were sophomores or juniors. The final team score for the boys was Tigers 16 and Bearcats 47.
The next Bearcats race is next Saturday morning, Feb. 27, at Righetti High School in Santa Maria.
Comments
