Enterprise, Chico victorious at North Section XC Championships Michelle Johnson, Domenic D'Acquisto repeat as individual titlists

By John Ryan/Redding Record Searchlight amended by Tom Cushman Thursday, November 13, 2008

Enterprise's sophomore Domenic D'Acquisto wins his second straight North Section Cross Country Championship, pulling away from his teammate Zach Kaylor over the final mile to win in 15:42.

COTTONWOOD, CA - Domenic D'Acquisto and Zach Kaylor tag-teamed the Northern Section cross country championship field and the Hornets' Nos. 3, 4 and 5 runners turned in another steady performance to land Enterprise it's first section North Section boys cross country title since 2001. Kaylor pushed D'Acquisto. D'Acquisto pulled Kaylor and all the while they co-navigated the brutal, sun-baked 3-mile Cottonwood course faster than anybody else in the section on Thursday. D'Acquisto won his second individual title in 15 minutes, 41.94 seconds. Kaylor took second in 15:52.37 to handily beat out Pleasant Valley's third-place runner, Dustin Gibbs (16:37.86). West Valley senior Michelle Johnson breezed to her second straight section crown in 18:32.76. "I definitely didn't look at it as just something to get over with," Johnson said of her approach to being the overwhelming favorite. "I was here to race and I knew that anything was possible." Which kind of completes the full-circle turn Johnson's career has taken. She's gone from a wide-eyed promising young talent to a sophomore and junior star driven to fulfill her potential and write her own legacy into the Eagles' storied distance-running program. "My freshman year I was kind of like every freshman, I was like, 'Oh wow I'm in a race,' and that just kind of carries you through," Johnson said. "Then sophomore and junior years I was like 'Oh what do I do, I want to make this perfect,' and I focused on all the wrong parts." This year she told herself not to think about it. "I'm just going to run and do what I do best," she said. Following in Johnson's footsteps, and maybe in line to pick up the mantle next season comes a slew of underclassmen led by Lassen sophomore Tiffany Heflin. Heflin took second (18:50.17) and Chico freshman Kody Atkins grabbed third (19:13.00). West Valley sophomore Corissa Storms finished fourth (19:30.65). Foothill senior Julia Walker rounded out the top five (19:35.92). Chico took the girls North Section cross country title to unseat two-time defending champ Mount Shasta. The young but talented Panthers were led by Atkins, Leah Arreguin (10th, 20:05), their only senior scorer and Analy Nava (14th, 20:35). Enterprise followed in second, while the Bears nipped West Valley for third. Despite this drop in the overall standing Mt. Shasta still won the D-V title. Joanna Beem (19th, 21:02.73), Kirsten Bree (24th, 21:25.07), Cynthia Laiacona (26th, 21:26.53) were Mt. Shasta top finishers.

Enterprise's girls second place overall landed the Hornets the D-III title thanks to Delanne Bartlett (7th, 19:50.93), Jerri Spence (11th, 20:13.54), Melissa Mcrea (15th, 20:36.68), Breanna Winstead (17th, 20:55.34). West Valley, despite a woeful lack of depth, took fourth overall and first in D-IV buoyed by Johnson, Storms very high finishes. American Christian's Stephanie Rasmussen took eighth (19:51.42) and teammate Bethany Rasmussen grabbed 12th (20:25.56). U-Prep's Lauren Galligan took 20th (21:17.53). On the boys side, Enterprise was easily the deepest team in the mix. The Hornets knocked off Pleasant Valley, last year's section champs. The Vikings still reclaimed the D-II title over a determined Chico team, but Pleasant Valley couldn't catch Enterprise's baby scooters. Sophomores Austin Lamkin took 15th (17:14.28), Trevor Hope took 19th (17:27.00) and Nathan McFarlane took 31st (17:56.36). D'Acquisto thinks those three still have better times in them when the team heads Nov. 29 to Woodward Park in Fresno. "Think they're going to really show up at the state race," he said. D'Acquisto thinks he and Kaylor have better splits to run, too. "I had plans for the miles I was going to run and my first mile and two-mile were perfect," D'Acquisto said. "I wanted to run sub-five on my third mile but came a little off, oh well.

The 2008 edition of the girls NSCIF XC Championships is underway with the Wheatland's Jessica Carpenter (609) the early leader. WV's Michelle Johnson (691) would go on to win her second straight section title and fourth time under 19 minutes at this meet.

Yreka won the boys D-IV in placeing fourth overall behind third-place Chico. Redding Adventist took fifth overall and won D-V prompted by tough showings from Kevin Penington (22nd, 17:39.95), Eric Ghelfi (23rd, 17:40.76), Andrew Penington (26th, 17:51.32) and Brandon Hanley (35th, 18:09.56). On the JV side of the ledger, Chico girls outdistanced Pleasant Valley 28 point to 61 points, despite the Viking putting their best runners in the shorter race. The Viking's turned the tables on the Panthers in the JV boys race, by holding on for a seven point victory over their crosstown rivals.