CHICO, CA -- Conditions were unusually warm for early November as league schools arrived at Hooker Oak Recreation Area in Chico's Bidwell Park for Eastern Athletic League cross country championships. Entrants both the varsity and open (JV) races would have to deal with temperatures in the lower to middle 80s under sunny skies. The Chico boys, after resounding victories in the two league center meets, were the prohibitive favorite to win the boys team title with their senior leader, Charlie Giannini not having any rival for the individual title. The varsity girls race was more difficult to access as recent injuries left the Panther team chances in besting a strong Foothill contingent in doubt. Add in the unusual warmth and who knows how the freshman loaded team would react. As for favorites in taking the girl's individual title, top on the list would have to be Foothill's Payton Osborne, possessing the best 5k time on the season (& twice going under 19 min this fall). Next to consider would be defending league champion Britta Bundy winner of the second center meet and running with more confidence than earlier in the season. Dark horse candidates would be Faylinn Berkowitz, the surprise winner of the first center meet and perhaps Nahkia Clements, Chico's top runner in September, if she could overcome a recent string of injuries.
For the third home meet in a row, Charlie Giannini breezed through the spectator friendly Hooker Oak Recreation Area course, the Panther's home course since 2014, to win the boy's individual Eastern Athletic League title by 50 seconds over teammates, Jaxon Leduc (16:39) and Bretten Farrell (16:40) in his fastest (& final) time racing on the course (15:48). Not too far behind was Pleasant Valley's 1-2 punch of Kyle Johnson (16:46) and Donovan Freer (16:54). Taking sixth and the final competitor under 17 minutes was Chcio junior Alan Nava (16:55). Chico had three more finishers in the top ten (Rory Monninger-17:04, Riley Farrell-17:17 and Devan McClung-17:24) that was only broken up by Shasta's Luke Bland (17:21).
Giannini, the defending league & section champion, paced the Chico boys to their third straight league title.
For whatever reason, the varsity boys league final was considerable less competitive than either of the two league center meets were. Not that Chico was ever in any danger of losing any of them. The first center meet Chico scored 22 to Shasta's 71 and PV's 79 with three runners not from Chico finishing in the top ten. The second center meet, held two weeks ago on the Hooker Oak course, Chico won with 29 pts, over PV's 59 and Shasta's 91 and "only " placed 6 in the top ten. Today the Panther's had seven in the top ten and nine in the top 12 to win with 19 pts to PV's 62 and Shasta's 93. Foothill took fourth with 97 points, Enterprise 5th with 112 with Red Bluff last with 166. To give you a measure of Chico's depth, Kaleb Traficante who had finished as high as number two on the team earlier in the season, was the eighth Panther today.
Coming into the season, Foothill girls were favored to defend their section title. However the injection of four quality freshman into the Panthers's stable of runners changed that calculation fairly quickly. Right off the bat, Chico tied Foothill at the season opening Bill Springhorn Invitational, then at the end of September beat Foothill at Capital Cross by placing 4th to the Cougar's 6th, then topped them again last week at Flat SAC. They also bested the Cougars at both league center meets, although Foothill's very apparent lack of effort would discount those victories.
The league championship was the biggest test on the Panther's mettle as they would have to compete without the services of number two runner Nahkia Clements out due to a severe case of shin splits. Priscilla Ward was also less than 100% having run very little since the final center meet two weeks earlier due to a knee injury picked up during a club soccer match. Up front Britta Bundy and Sophie Sims were solid behind them Liberty Bronson appeared to have some issues hanging with her teammates due to a side stich but hang on she did, holding off the Baseley twins and Grace Dudley from Foothill. The final key to the three point victory was Cailin Dockendorf, using a strong second half to PR (by 18 seconds) to take eigth and teammate Una Griffith staying close to take ninth in front of Foothill's fifth runner Rize Oliveira. Needless to say, very competitive up front as only runners from Chico or Foothill finished in the top ten.
Shasta was a very distant third with 78 points, while Pleasant Valley took fourth with 105. Both Enterprise & Red Bluff had incomplete teams.
It turned out there was not much drama who would be the individual titlist in the girls race as Foothill's Payton Osborne jumped to an early lead with only Chico's Bundy willing to try and stay close. That didn't last long as the Cougar senior blistered the Panther home course by coming home in 18:42. This being a mark bettered only by Enterprise's Natalie Ulloa set during her sensational freshman campaign. Britta Bundy held on for a distant second that was followd by Chico freshmen Sophie Sims and Liberty Bronson.
In a case of the rich getting richer, Charlie's freshman brother Mario, dropping down to JV for the first time since mid September, scorched the shorter (3380m) Hooker Oak course in record time by shaving nearly 32 seconds off the mark set two years ago by Jacob Garret of Enterprise. In doing so, he drew two other teammates (Liam Sehorn & Carson Bundy) and nearly a third (Jack Harvey) under the previous record. The Chico JV boys swept the league title with a perfect 15 points by claiming the first seven places. Foothill has a distant second with 59 points.
After a slow start to the season, Chico freshman Carsen Quintero, made it two wins in a row in the JV girls race by gapping runnerup Sofie Parks of Red Bluff by nearly 40 seconds to almost match the frosh/soph record she set two weeks previous at the final league center meet. It was an easy win for the Chico JV girls as no other school had a complete team but even if they had, the Panthers by placing five in the top seven would have made it impossible for anyone else to win anyway.
