Oroville, CA -- The Butte College men's and women's cross country teams both won the titles in the four-team Golden Valley Conference
championships the Roadrunners hosted Thursday at the North Forebay Recreation Area in Oroville.
The Butte men had three runners earn all-GVC honors by finishing in the top seven, led by Eli Stillman in second place,
who covered the 4-mile course in 21 minutes, 31 seconds. Russell Brandt came in third, Kerrick Swangler placed seventh, and
rounding out the Roadrunners' showing were Nathan Inkman in eighth place and Joan Fernandez in ninth.
The Butte women had four all-GVC runners, with Sarah Brandt finishing second over 3 miles in 19:17. Lorena Reed (third),
Cristina Ferretti (sixth) and Korina Carrillo (seventh) also earned the honors, and Yvette Croteau (eighth) just missed.
When last we saw Tony Meredith in a Foothill uniform, at least around these parts, he was completing an epic comeback win in the Northern Section 3,200-meter championships. He had trailed Etna's John Whelan, who's still in high school and ranked No. 1 in the section for XC, the entire race in Cottonwood by about five or six strides.
On the final straightaway, Meredith tore past him for an incredible win.
And now at the next level, in a Shasta College uniform, the freshman has shown no signs of stopping his winning ways on his feet.
Meredith won the Golden Valley Conference championship on Thursday at Oroville Forebay, in a time of 21 minutes, 25 seconds. It's his third individual win on the year, and for those accomplishments, he was an easy choice for my College Athlete of the Week award.
The freshman Meredith also won at home this year, taking the Shasta College Invitational on Oct. 12 with a time of 22:12.72 in the four-mile race in Redding.
In his senior season at Foothill, Whelan was the section XC champ, but Meredith had the best time in a 3-mile run, in 15:07 at the Bill Springhorn Invitational at Shasta College. He went to the CIF state championships in both cross country and the 3,200 in that senior season for XC and track.
Next up, Meredith will compete in the Northern California championships, with women's teammate Molly Finn, on Nov. 3 at the College of San Mateo, in Crystal Springs.
Frosh College of the Redwoods Jazmen McGinnis ran personal record 18:29 over 3-miles to win Golden Valley Conference Championship
College of the Redwoods freshman Jazmen McGinnis set a personal record for the second consecutive week at the Golden Valley Conference cross country championships at Butte College on Thursday, finishing first overall on the 3-mile course with a time of 18 minutes, 29 seconds for the GVC title.
McGinnis led the women's team, which finished second overall as a group, while the men's team also placed second.
Both teams will advance to the NorCal regional championships in San Francisco next Saturday.
"Jazmen really had a great race today," said CR head coach Reed Elmore. "She pushed herself and had great results, which is perfect heading into NorCals and then hopefully state."
Finishing behind McGinnis for the Corsairs was Marina Sharp, who also cracked the top-5, placing fifth with a time of 20:44 to earn all-conference honors.
The top seven individual runners made the all-GVC team.
"We're getting healthy now, which is huge for us," Elmore said.
On the men's side, CR's Kevin McTague (22:08), John Schmitt (22:11) and Tyler Coley (22:13) finished fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively, anchoring the Corsairs down the stretch. "Our strategy going in was to run as a pack and we really pulled it off," Elmore said. "(Schmitt) has really established a leadership role and had us working together, which was awesome." Now the Corsairs will head to a familiar Belmont course for the NorCal Championships. "We ran the course earlier this season, which is great because now we can compare our times and see how much we've improved," Elmore said. "It's a pretty hilly course, which bodes well for us, but we've to keep our focus on working together and beating the person ahead of us."
McGinnis becomes first Corsair to win GVC title since 1997
It was just three years ago that College of the Redwoods freshman Jazmen McGinnis first got involved in long-distance running.
As a junior at Arcata High School, she didn't really play sports, but decided to go out for the cross-country team in the fall anyways under advisement from her aunt and Arcata cross-country coach James Washington.
Despite being intimidated by the competition as a beginner, it didn't take long for her to catch on.
Once she did, however, she has yet to slow down.
McGinnis, who won the Golden Valley Conference title at the Butte College Oct. 25, became the first CR runner to win the individual conference championship since Petrolia's Naomi Posh did it in 1997.
"It was pretty surprising, even for myself," said McGinnis, who set back-to-back personal records en route to the championship. "I knew I wanted to push myself, but I wasn't really expecting to do so well. I just tried to listen to everything coach told me and do my best."
At Butte College, McGinnis took first overall at the GVC championship race with a time 18 minutes, 29 seconds on the 3-mile course, for an average mile of 6:09.
"What's most exciting about Jazmen, is her future," said CR cross-country coach Reed Elmore, who is in his fourth year at the helm. "She ran fast at the championships, but she still has so much more in her in terms of her offseason training and things like that. She hasn't really tapped in to her full potential."
Her time at CR, however, got off to a rough beginning as she was hit by a car in McKinleyville while crossing the street on her bicycle back in the first week of school.
"I was in the crosswalk, but it was at night and I guess they didn't see me," McGinnis said. "And they just hit me. I had to take a week off, my side was pretty beat up, but it wasn't anything major, I was pretty lucky."
After returning to the team, she slowly but surely began to establish herself as the top runner on her team, and by the end of year, was competing at the highest level of her short career.
"I really give all of the credit to coach," McGinnis said. "(Elmore) really surprised and impressed me in terms of his coaching skill. The whole team is really supportive, which is awesome, and it's just been a lot of fun."
McGinnis, who has seen the elite level of running competition in California after advancing to the state championships in cross country her senior year at Arcata, admitted the big thing holding her back is her overall inexperience in the sport and her lack of offseason training.
This past summer, however, working with coach Elmore, she slowly built up her workouts to 60-mile weeks, which helped prepare her for the season.
"She just lacks the consistency in training," Elmore said. "But once she gets that down she'll be a threat in any race. We've got a 5-year plan for her and if she keeps at it, she should get all kinds of attention from four-year schools."
Currently, the future Kinesiology major is already getting attention from schools like Humboldt State. She says her main goal is to become a masseuse, but does not know yet where she wants to go to school.
"At this point, I have no idea," she said. "I'm just looking for the best opportunity to continue running and going to school."
Thursday's Results GVC Championship at Butte College Women (3 miles) 1. Jazmen McGinnis Redwoods 18:30 2. Sarah Brandt Butte 19:17 3. Lorena Reed Butte nt 4. n/a 5. Marina Sharp Redwoods 20:44 6. Christina Ferretti Butte nt 7. Korina Carrillo Butte nt 8. Yvette Croteau Butte nt 9. n/a 10. n/a 11. n/a 12. Beatrice Caffe Redwoods 23:48 14. Emily Wipf Redwoods 24:31 16. April Leiterman Redwoods 31:04 Men (4 miles) 1. Tony Meredith Shasta 21:25 2. Eli Stillman Butte 21:31 3. Russell Brandt Butte nt 4. Kevin McTague Redwoods 22:08 5. John Schmitt Redwoods 22:11 6. Tyler Coley Redwoods 22:13 7. Kerrick Swangler Butte nt 8. Nathan Inkman Butte nt 9. Joan Frenandez Butte nt 10. Jesse Lee Redwoods 23:12 12. Oliver Cory Redwoods 24:02 13. Jamari Spears Redwoods 24:02
