Vikings drop young talent into JV girls race for easy win
but Chico prevails in the other three at first EAL Center meet

Wednesday October 1, 2025
Photos & story by Tom Cushman

CHICO, CA -- Teams from the six schools that make up the Eastern Athletic League came to Chico's Hooker Oak Recreation Area for the first of two center meets. The two center meets, along with the league championships, are used to determine the boys & girls league title for both varsity and junior varsity. This go-around saw favorable course conditions with partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the lower 70s. Recent light rains would ensure little dust would be encountered while running on the unpaved portion of the courses.

In a surprise move for opposing teams and informed fans, Viking coaches decided to run their top girl runners, all of them either freshman or sophomores, in the shorter junior varsity race. It was a decision that made both girls races rather uncompetitive and disappointing in that two of the top girls in the section (Chico senior Taylor Wellersdick & Pleasant Valley freshman Julie Plummer) would not be in the same race. As it was Plummer was an easy winner in the girl JV race (she broke the course record by whopping 45 seconds). Behind her, her teammates took five of the next six places to win over second place Chico 16-59 with Foothill a close third with 63 with Enterprise & Shasta having incomplete teams while Red Bluff did not field a JV girls team at all.

Wellersdick pulled away late to win the varsity race by 15 seconds over teammate Molly Shewey with Panther Harper Ducale another fifteen seconds back as Chico claimed seven of the first eight places. This allowed Chico girls to win the varsity competition 17 to 46 over Foothill, with Pleasant Valley, Shasta, Red Bluff and Enterprise, in a troubling sign of the times, were unable to field compete teams (i.e. five runners).

In the varsity boys race, a tight pack up front mostly led by Chico's Kenton Girt but also containing all the main contenders including PV senior Justin Plummer (Julie's older brother), Shasta senior Micah Good as well as sophomore underclassmen Foothill's Devin Bedolla and Chico's Ian Kressin. The middle part of the race saw the pack string out as the race proceeded. Not interested in the lead until about a mile to go Plummer unleashed a powerful surge in the closing mile to come away with a comfortable win. Almost twenty seconds later Girt outkickes Good to place second. Bedolla, in the mix most of the way, is next taking fourth with Chico's Ian Kressin rounding out the top five as he out kickes crosstown rival Juan Rigby-Lugo. Chico had four more runners in the next seven places to come away with a comfortable win over their league rivals as the Panthers prevailing 34 to 63 over second place Pleasant Valley. Foothill was next with 76, followed by Shasta with 78, Enterprise with 121 and Red Bluff with 164.

In the JV boys race, Pleasant Valley's Isaac Lara gapped Devin Dana by 9 second to get the individual win but Chico came away with the team title by taking twelve of the next thirteen places to come away with the winning low score of 20 points. Runner up PV had 45, third place Foothill 78 with Enterprise 115 in fourth and Red Bluff fifth with 139. Enterprise had an incomplete team.

Next up for the Panthers and Vikings is the Clovis Invitational at Woodward Park in Fresno October 10th. For those not among the top seven, they will be headed to the West Valley Coed Invitational.