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FOLSOM — The road to state competition for Bear River's girls cross country team wasn't without its share of bumps and unexpected occurrences Saturday, but without a doubt the path was cleared.
With its third place finish at the Sac-Joaquin Section Cross Country Championships in Division IV, the Lady Bruins will return to state competition in Fresno for the third year in a row. The state meet is set for Nov. 27 at Fresno's Woodard Park.
Bear River was led, like it has been all year long, by senior Breanne Mitchell, who took second place, clocking in at 19 minutes 24 seconds.
But perhaps the race at the Willow Hills Cross Country Course adjacent to Folsom High School was clinched with the performance of the Moe twins, Seaera and Harla. Both came up big finishing in ninth place and 26th place respectively.
And again, there were some unexpected occurrences.
Hughson's Becky Hobby got off to a quicker start than Mitchell said she anticipated and Seaera Moe said she accidently tripped a fellow competitor at the beginning of the race.
“It got me going more,” Moe said of the trip. “It helped me focus more.”
That focus led Moe to a 20:57 finish.
Mitchell, who has won numerous races this year, hung near the front as she usually seems to do and made a key move at the end.
“I thought I was going to get third but I passed the girl from Summerville in the last half mile,” said Mitchell, who finished 17 seconds behind the leader.
Harla Moe put on a strong finish at the end of the race to pass competitors including one just before the finish line. She finished with a time of 21:53.
The Lady Bruins needed it all as they held off Escalon by only four points for the final qualifying spot for state competition. Riverbank took first and Bret Harte took second.
“We tried to win the section flag (Saturday),” Seaera Moe said right after finishing.
After seeing the posted results, the girls didn't stop to say much during the cool-down post-race run.
“We're excited for state,” Seaera Moe said, as she and her fellow runners continued onward.
Nevada Union's boys finish fourth
NU's boys team thought they had an outside chance to qualify for state competition and they, by in large, were satisfied with their fourth place performance Saturday but it wasn't enough to advance.
Dominic Castro-Wehr led the Miners, finishing 18th with a time of 16:56. Simon Lambert, who typically led the boys team this season was five seconds behind Castro-Wehr with his 20th place finish.
“Our goal was to get to state,” Castro-Wehr said. “We wanted to give it a shot and everyone feels that we did that. We knew we were the underdogs.”
“All in all, it was an awesome season,” said Castro-Wehr, who came close to qualifying for state individually.
Other top NU runners included Thomas McAtee who finished 24th and Sam Asher (32).
In other races, Robert Sekerek took 23rd place and David French (28) in the sophomore boys race. Also, Walker Davis finished 12th in the junior varsity race and Brennan McGee took 48th in the freshman race.
Miner girls battle through
being sick
Nevada Union's girls team took eighth place Saturday with three of its top runners not feeling well.
The girls were led by Rachel Brink, who took 31st place, clocking in at 20:31. She was followed by Sara Marshall (50) and Lauren Arnett (55).
“It wasn't the big end of the year finish that I wanted,” said Arnett, who had a fever the previous day but said her temperature was below normal Saturday.
In the end, girls head coach Sara Freitas was pleased.
“Overall we did the best with what we had,” Freitas said acknowledging Brink, Marshall and Arnett weren't feeling well.
“The goal was to make it to the section meet. So everything after that is gravy,” Freitas said.
In the freshman-sophomore girls race, Elena Bilheimer won a medal with her ninth place finish. She clocked in at 14:06.
“Elena was pretty excited about that,” Freitas said.
In other races, the Miners fielded a junior varsity team that notched a third place finish and was led by Brooke Robinson (17).
Bear River boys put on impressive finishes
As individuals, a first place finish in the boys Division 4 sophomore race, a fourth place finish in the freshman race and a 28th place finish in the varsity led the young Bruins.
Alex Coffman took first with a time of 12:09 to claim the sophomore boys Division IV crown. Gerry Williams took fourth place in the freshman boys race.
Junior Jordan Halleib, who finished with a time of 18:53 in the varsity race, said he thought he had an outside chance to reach the state meet going into Saturday's race. But the course, featuring many rolling hills, slowed him up more than he expected.
“The hills are tough,” Halleib said. “I've never run this course before.”
Forest Lake Christian runner
finishes in top 20
In the first year of the Falcons cross country program, Travis Clough finished 16 in the Division V varsity boys race. He clocked in at 20:39.
Contact Sports Writer Greg Moberly via e-mail at gmoberly@theunion.com or by phone at 477-4234.
With its third place finish at the Sac-Joaquin Section Cross Country Championships in Division IV, the Lady Bruins will return to state competition in Fresno for the third year in a row. The state meet is set for Nov. 27 at Fresno's Woodard Park.
Bear River was led, like it has been all year long, by senior Breanne Mitchell, who took second place, clocking in at 19 minutes 24 seconds.
But perhaps the race at the Willow Hills Cross Country Course adjacent to Folsom High School was clinched with the performance of the Moe twins, Seaera and Harla. Both came up big finishing in ninth place and 26th place respectively.
And again, there were some unexpected occurrences.
Hughson's Becky Hobby got off to a quicker start than Mitchell said she anticipated and Seaera Moe said she accidently tripped a fellow competitor at the beginning of the race.
“It got me going more,” Moe said of the trip. “It helped me focus more.”
That focus led Moe to a 20:57 finish.
Mitchell, who has won numerous races this year, hung near the front as she usually seems to do and made a key move at the end.
“I thought I was going to get third but I passed the girl from Summerville in the last half mile,” said Mitchell, who finished 17 seconds behind the leader.
Harla Moe put on a strong finish at the end of the race to pass competitors including one just before the finish line. She finished with a time of 21:53.
The Lady Bruins needed it all as they held off Escalon by only four points for the final qualifying spot for state competition. Riverbank took first and Bret Harte took second.
“We tried to win the section flag (Saturday),” Seaera Moe said right after finishing.
After seeing the posted results, the girls didn't stop to say much during the cool-down post-race run.
“We're excited for state,” Seaera Moe said, as she and her fellow runners continued onward.
Nevada Union's boys finish fourth
NU's boys team thought they had an outside chance to qualify for state competition and they, by in large, were satisfied with their fourth place performance Saturday but it wasn't enough to advance.
Dominic Castro-Wehr led the Miners, finishing 18th with a time of 16:56. Simon Lambert, who typically led the boys team this season was five seconds behind Castro-Wehr with his 20th place finish.
“Our goal was to get to state,” Castro-Wehr said. “We wanted to give it a shot and everyone feels that we did that. We knew we were the underdogs.”
“All in all, it was an awesome season,” said Castro-Wehr, who came close to qualifying for state individually.
Other top NU runners included Thomas McAtee who finished 24th and Sam Asher (32).
In other races, Robert Sekerek took 23rd place and David French (28) in the sophomore boys race. Also, Walker Davis finished 12th in the junior varsity race and Brennan McGee took 48th in the freshman race.
Miner girls battle through
being sick
Nevada Union's girls team took eighth place Saturday with three of its top runners not feeling well.
The girls were led by Rachel Brink, who took 31st place, clocking in at 20:31. She was followed by Sara Marshall (50) and Lauren Arnett (55).
“It wasn't the big end of the year finish that I wanted,” said Arnett, who had a fever the previous day but said her temperature was below normal Saturday.
In the end, girls head coach Sara Freitas was pleased.
“Overall we did the best with what we had,” Freitas said acknowledging Brink, Marshall and Arnett weren't feeling well.
“The goal was to make it to the section meet. So everything after that is gravy,” Freitas said.
In the freshman-sophomore girls race, Elena Bilheimer won a medal with her ninth place finish. She clocked in at 14:06.
“Elena was pretty excited about that,” Freitas said.
In other races, the Miners fielded a junior varsity team that notched a third place finish and was led by Brooke Robinson (17).
Bear River boys put on impressive finishes
As individuals, a first place finish in the boys Division 4 sophomore race, a fourth place finish in the freshman race and a 28th place finish in the varsity led the young Bruins.
Alex Coffman took first with a time of 12:09 to claim the sophomore boys Division IV crown. Gerry Williams took fourth place in the freshman boys race.
Junior Jordan Halleib, who finished with a time of 18:53 in the varsity race, said he thought he had an outside chance to reach the state meet going into Saturday's race. But the course, featuring many rolling hills, slowed him up more than he expected.
“The hills are tough,” Halleib said. “I've never run this course before.”
Forest Lake Christian runner
finishes in top 20
In the first year of the Falcons cross country program, Travis Clough finished 16 in the Division V varsity boys race. He clocked in at 20:39.
Contact Sports Writer Greg Moberly via e-mail at gmoberly@theunion.com or by phone at 477-4234.
