Zach Kaylor, Tiffany Heflin win at NSCIF Cross County Championships Enterprise and Chico claim team titles in dominant fashion

By Leland Gordon/Redding Record Searchlight Thursday November 12, 2009

Enterprise's Zach Kaylor runs a strong final mile to win the North Section Cross Country Championship going away in a fine time of 15:34.

COTTONWOOD, CA - Zach Kaylor is the 2009 Northern Section boys' cross country champion, once again taking full advantage of the opportunity presented to him. Enterprise High teammate Domenic D'Acquisto was relegated, by a gimpy ankle, to being a role player in the Hornet's team effort. That was the top story from Thursday's Northern Section Cross Country Championships at West Valley High, where the Hornets turned in the best team effort on the male side to win the overall title and a berth to the CIF State Championships. There was plenty of wonder coming into the meet about D'Acquisto's ankle, the one he sprained in the Eastern Athletic League championships and forced to abort the race. D'Acquisto, after a cautious opening mile, began to ratchet up the pace during the second mile before reinjuring the same ankle and forcing him to relinquish the lead. Kaylor made sure to finish the job after his teammate's fall "woke him up." The senior, immediately took control of the race and expanded what was a small lead over Chico's Dan Parker to win going away in 15 minutes, 34 seconds on the challenging three mile course. "We were right in a pack. Starting up the second hill I said it was time to make my move and I thought Zach will make his move and we'll see if (Dan) Parker responds," D'Acquisto recalled. "I went, and the next thing I knew, I went into a trench. It twisted all over again. Just sharp pain right as I hit the ground. "I limped up the hill and told myself at the top 'It's now or never. It's my last chance to get our team to state.' Every step was a shot of pain through my whole ankle. I just had to catch as many people as I could to help the team." Help the team he did, combined with his teammates' stellar finishes, Enterprise racked up meager 52 points and surprisingly easily out distanced a strong Chico team that ended up with 94 points despite placing two runners in the top five. "Everybody stepped it up. We kept our composure and our third, fourth and fifth guys picked up the slack," Kaylor said. "We won the section with Dom going down." While D'Acquisto was down, he was hardly out. After the fall that cost him nearly twenty places, he roared back to take seventh in 16:31, realizing his team would need him to finish if they were to avoid the dissappointment of the previous week when his non finish handed Chico the EAL title.

Chico's Dan Parker, despite seeing a few second deficeit to Kaylor expand to over 20 seconds in the closing mile, still managed to be the only other runner on the day to break 16 minutes (2nd, 15:57). The rest of the top ten was filled out by Yreka's Kevin Jorgensen (3rd, 16:14), who moved from seventh to third over the final mile. He was followed by Pleasant Valley's Dusty Gibbs (4th, 16:21) and Chico's Tom Dowdin (5th, 16:25). Hayfork senior Scott Minor was sixth (16:29), Corning's Fredy Carrillo took eighth (16:42) while University Prep's Daniel Johnson, despite paying the price for a fast early race, held on to ninth (16:51). West Valley senior Forrest McBride was the last finisher under 17 minutes in placing tenth. The race was noted by the absence of Shasta's top runner Tony Moore. The girls' side featured no such drama, as Lassen's Tiffany Heflin blasted out to a huge lead and held on for a comfortable win in a time of 18:53. Behind, what was a large pack at the mile, was narrowed down to two after the field crested Elliot's Revenge. University Prep's Kim Micheletti and West Valley's Hannah Dorman locked horns for the remainder of the race, in an outstanding battle for second place. Short of a tie, they finished about as close as battling competitors can, with senior Micheletti (19:07) getting the edge over the upstart freshman Dorman by .22 seconds. It was only Micheletti's fourth race of the year, but she made a major impression. "I've never pushed it that hard before. It felt good," a happy, though winded Micheletti said after the race. "On the last left turn I tried to cut toward the left so (Dorman) couldn't have a chance to get around. Once we hit the track it was just using my soccer speed." That soccer speed was the difference. The section girls team title was never in doubt. Even with top runner Kody Atkins having a less than stellar day, the Panthers margin of victory (60) over second place University Prep was greater than the number of points they scored (57). In addition to Atkins' 4th place finish, Chico was led by Amanda Costa (8th, 19:54), Azure Grant (14th, 20:19), Heather Waldorf (15th, 20:20) and Analy Nava (26th, 20:55). University Prep's best team place ever, in addition to Micheletti's fine performance, was bouyed by two other teammates placing in the top 15, Sarah Maron (11th, 20:07), Lauren Galligan (13th, 20:12). Shasta's Lora James was fifth (19:34.54) to earn the Wales import a state berth as an individual. "I felt really good, just up for it," she said. "I wanted to get in the top 10. I didn't think I'd get near fifth." Filling out the rest of the race's top ten were West Valley's Corissa Storms in 6th (19:36), Oroville's Sarah Brandt 7th (19:51), with Durham's Morgan Schell (19:57) edging American Christian sophomore Stephanie Rasmussen to claim 9th the last runner to break twenty minutes.

A newspaper can only fit a certain amount of information in any one addition, and an event like the NSCIF Cross Country Championships deserves much more coverage (hence the reason for Chico Running). Because the North Section is so small, only two races (one boy, one girl) are needed in cross country to determine state selection. Afterward, teams and individuals are divided into divisions to determine who goes to state. Because it can be a little daunting to figure out who is going to state from the North Section, those teams and individuals that have earned state berths have been listed below. However don't take it as the gospel, as some kids may opt not to go and changes may happen, either because I didn't get the complicated formulas or because there are conditions I don't know of. According to West Valley coach Scott Fairley, "a record number of varsity boys (199) participated with a near record number in the girls race. The Enterprise boys team ran the 2nd fastest team time in course history (dating back to 1992) at 83:37 while Chico's girls ran the 9th fastest team time." GIRLS Division II (Only Chico and PV) Team: Chico (Kody Atkins, Amanda Costa, Azure Grant, Heather Waldorf, Analy Nava) Individuals: Gabrielle Finley, Kelsey O'Sullivan, Melanie Hickman (All from PV) Division III Team: Enterprise (Dalanne Bartlett, Malissa McRae, Zoe Kaschke, Tammey Kramm and Amanda James) Individuals: Lora James (Shasta), Lily Brose (Red Bluff), Annie Stratton (Paradise), Emily Stein (Foothill) and Breanna Brown (Foothill). Division IV Teams: Oroville (Sarah Brandt, April Griffin, Molly Finn, Christina Ferretti and Courtney Johnson) and West Valley (Hannah Dorman, Corissa Storms, Cassie DeBonis, Autumn Serota and Misty Jensen). Individuals: Tiffany Heflin (Lassen), Katie Anderson (Lassen), Ericka Linch (Sutter), Brooke Feranna (Central Valley) and Avery Roberts (Gridley). Division V Teams: U-Prep (Kimmy Micheletti, Sarah Maron, Lauren Galligan, McKenzie Hoffman, Alette Romac) and Mt. Shasta (Callie Toews, Lisa Shinohara, Ellen Sampson, Janelle Jaegel and Kirsten Bree). Individuals: Morgan Schell (Durham), Stephanie Rasmussen (American Christian), Carli Marengo (Colusa), Mimi Rinzler (Colusa) and Brit March (Etna).

The NSCIF Championship boys race is underway with the leaders rounding the first turn.

An aggressive start gives Lassen junior Tiffany Heflin what turns out to be an insurmountable lead at the mile

BOYS Division II Team: Chico (Dan Parker, Tom Dowdin, Patrick Franco, Ryker Heberle, Chas Burton). Individuals: Dustin Gibbs, Payton Laurie, Marc Steiner (All PV). Division III Team: Enterprise (Zach Kaylor, Domenic D'Acquisto, John Collins, Austin Lamkin and Isaiah Boles). Individuals: Ryan Teesdale (Foothill), Devin Shoop (Red Bluff) and Garrett Cloney (Foothill). Division IV Teams: Oroville (Russell Brandt, Russell McGregor, Jose Zavala, Dillan Geltz and Jordan Wright) and Corning (Fredy Carrillo, Jose Torres, Herminio Miranda, Daniel Crooks and Rafeal Hernandez). Individuals: Kevin Jorgensen (Yreka), Forrest McBride (West Valley), Wyatt Roberts (Gridley), Eric Neill (Yreka) and Eli Rameriz (Lassen). Division V Teams: Trinity (James Cahill, Chris Watanabee, Sean Taylor, Brian Carr and Justus Ownbey) and U-Prep (Daniel Johnson, Michael Ward, Jacob Armelino, Mason Dion and Nathan Hernandez). Individuals: Scott Minor (Hayfork), Jeff Krantz (Redding Christian), Ross Cervantes (Colusa), Eric Ghelfi (Redding Adventist) and Kyle Fales (Durham).

Chico's Kody Atkins pulls away from Shasta's Lora James and West Valley's Corissa Storms inside the closing quarter mile to take fourth.

Chico's second runner on the day, Amanda Costa uses gritty determination to pass then pull away from American Christian's Stephanie Rasmussen and Durham's Morgan Schell.