Yreka boys pull the upset, win state Neill, Williams lead Miners to improbable victory in Fresno

By By Dan Murphy Siskiyou Daily News - November 26, 2011 supplimented by Record Searchlight staff, Mike Kennedy/DyeStatCal & Tom Cushman/Hay Bale AC

The 2011 boys division IV California cross country champions, Yreka. Back row:Tim Williams, Matt Wood, David Neill, Clayton Bunn, Kris Wilson, Eric Neill and Christian Wichmann. Front: Recent alum Kevin Jorgensen, Jari Robberson, head coach Pam Borg, Stacey Willison and Brady Svilich.

FRESNO -- Yreka, ranked just fourth in the state and representing the Northern Section, placed three runners in the top 31 to defeat top-ranked Salesian (Los Angeles), 131 to 170 to win the Division IV boys title. Don Bosco Tech (Rosemead), ranked No. 2, was third at 171 and third-ranked San Lorenzo Valley (Felton) was fourth with 182 points. The Miner boys were led by Eric Neill, who finished with the top North Section time at Saturday’s elite meet (15:51) and No. 2 Tim Williams (16:11). Yreka, strong early start, gave the Miners a huge lead at one mile with 99 points followed by San Lorenzo Valley with 174 and Don Bosco with 176. By 2.1 miles Yreka's impressive lead shrunk slightly as Don Bosco closed to within 47 points (115-162) with San Lorenzo Valley at 180 and Salesian, now in fourth at 186. Salesian made a good run over the final mile to make up 24 places and jump from fourth to second and just nip Don Bosco. The state championship season for Yreka’s boys cross country team started in the remote hills of Oregon at a summer racing camp and ended in November with a big trophy in Fresno.

Actually, the seed for victory was planted at last year’s state meet, coach Pam Borg said. “It all started 12 months ago with the boys deciding on the way back from the 2010 state meet, that they were going to be in the top 8 this year. They trained through the summer running over 400 miles, went to running camp and dominated the competitions, ran double-day workouts for two months, mentally preparing themselves and honing their racing strategies over 3 months to reach their goal.” Coach Borg’s observations of Saturday’s race: • Williams led the race for through the first mile at a quick pace of 4:48 with Eric, Clayton Bunn, David Neill and Christian Wichmann not that far behind as they all came through at or under 5:00. We were leading the team scoring at the mile and the 2.1 mile mark. • Eric looked strong and was in 5th place with 800m to go. • Clayton battled up the hill with a huge pack next to him, while David was 20 places behind. Christian was closing the gap as our 5th man. As they ran by I was trying to count places of the other teams and realized that we had to have gotten one of the top 3 spots. • (After the race) I got a call from assistant coach Brady Svilich who was at the results area, and he told me we had won...No. 1...first place! I let out a scream and shouted to the boys that they won! It was great, we all started jumping around and hugging each other. It was so unbelievable to all of us. Then, we find out that it wasn’t even close-we crushed them! • We walked over to the awards stand and waiting for our shining moment to get up on the stage and receive our State Championship trophy. It was amazing. I got to introduce each of the boys and thank our parents and community for supporting us. Then it was picture time...lots of pictures with family members and supporters. Also we had a lot of NAL coaches coming up and congratulating us for the "upset" of the day. Top-ranked John Lawson of Sir Francis Drake (San Anselmo) was among the early leaders before taking the lead at 2.1 miles, passed in 10:35, and going on to win in 15:20. No. 6-ranked Kyle Bueckert of Maranatha (Pasadena), who was always in the top five during the race, finished second at 15:40 and Daniel De La Torre of La Salle (Pasadena), ranked No. 2, was third at 15:42 and No. 3-ranked Will Wilde Botta of The Bishops’ School (La Jolla) was fourth at 15:44. More facts about Yreka’s showing at the California State Cross Country meet, in which Yreka won the Div. 4 boys state crown: • Eric Neill moved up from 30th to 8th on all time section list at Woodward Park with his 15:51 • Timmy Williams, although he ran a faster time in 2010, his 16:10 this year still ranks in the top 25 all time for North Section seniors at the meet. • Clayton Bunn is 8th on the all section sophomore list with his 16:32 • Yreka's team time at North Sections was an all time best on the West Valley course, topping the mark Enterprise set just last year. • Yreka's team time at State was also an all time best for the North Section. While the state meet has only been around since 1987, this year's Yreka team must certainly rank amoung the top cross country team ever produced in the North Section (Lassen late 60s-early 70s & mid-late 80s, Chico mid-late 70s) • Yreka is the first North Section boys team to ever win state in cross country

Yreka's state crown was led by Eric Neill (left), seen here with a mile to go, on toward at 8th place finish (15:51) Tim Williams (center) shown here leading during the first mile of the race, ran a solid 16:10. Clayton Bunn (right), only a sophomore, closes out the race well to be the Miner third runner in the top 31.

FRESNO - It was a photo finish Saturday at the CIF state cross-country championships in Fresno where West Valley's Jenna Storms finished in 18th place to barely edge out teammate Hannah Dorman, who captured 19th place, out of 194 runners in the Division IV girls race. Storms, a freshman, and Dorman, a junior, both had times of 18 minutes, 57 seconds. "It was a great race for them," West Valley High School cross-country coach Scott Fairley said. The West Valley girls placed 19th out of 24 teams. The Yreka girls team was 23rd, led by Dakota Cash in 73rd (20:09). Central Valley freshman Abby Murch was 82nd (20:20). In Division IV, the Yreka boys team won the state title, led by eighth-place finisher Eric Neill (15:51) and in 21st place, teammate Tim Williams (16:10). West Valley's Ryan Stockton came in 104th at 17:21 in the boys race. Central Valley's Austin Murch (16:56) was 68th. Individual results for the rest of the West Valley girls were: 173rd Teagan Perry (22:47), 177th Angelina Smith (22:57), 179th Kaylyn Stirton (23:02), 181st Jessica Rodriguez (23:03) and 191st Rayleen Quinonez (24:08). Etna junior John Whelan (15:53) came in seventh in the Division V boys race. Top-ranked runner Billy Gaudreau of St. Margaret's of San Juan Capistrano finished first (15:28) out of the 182 competitors. Also in Division V, Jeff Krantz (16:58) of Redding Christian was 36th. Mason Jacobs-Dion (18:46) of U-Prep was 131st. The Mount Shasta boys team came in 20th place. U-Prep finished in 15th place as a team in Division V girls. Individuals in the race were American Christian's Stephanie Rasmussen (19:46) in 26th place. Etna's Becky Travis (21:38) came in 97th. D-III girls runner and Shasta freshman Megan James (19:33) finished 61st. In the D-III boys race, Foothill's Tony Meredith (16:59) was in 107th place out of 208 runners.

Nothing like racing a teammate to the finish at the state meet. West Valley's Hannah Dorman and Jenna Storms sprinting for all its worth. The upstart freshman Storm would edge her junior teammate although both came away with the same time.   One part of West Valley girls 1-2 punch, Jenna Storms dips under 19 minutes in her first state meet.

A mile into the boys Division III race, finds Chico's Andris Molina a short distance ahead of Shasta's Blake Zufall and teammate Sam Bransky. Molina would end up 132nd (17:15) Zufall 148th (17:24), and Bransky 180th (17:55)   West Valley's Hannah Dorman seen here mid race on her way to her best state finish

Yreka’s Tim Williams got off to a fast start, leading the Division IV race early at state meet, which helped spurred the rest of his teammates to also take an aggressive start to get a big lead early that proved crucial in the Miner's securing a state championship.   Chico's Nimai Buroz closing out his 2011 cross country campaign in a rush   Chris Midkiff, Chico's top runner at section and state, seen here in the D3 boys race mad dash to the finish.