Last year, the girls’ varsity cross country team gave it their all but couldn’t win league championships. They placed 8th at CCS and as a result, it motivated the girls to do better this year.
The most promising runners this season, according to Coach Steven Muñoz, are freshman, Yaretzi Cornelio, returning sophomores, Erika Castro, Cecilia Campos, Angelica Murillo, Kelly Vaca, junior Luz Mejia, and senior Abigail Bustamante. “They’re able to compete against the fastest girls in the league,” Muñoz said.
The team got off to a great start, winning all divisions at Center Meet 1 at Palo Corona. Erika Castro led the team to victory, finishing with a time of 22:06. Muñoz sees her performance in this race as a show of her talent, “She is a strong runner and she just kind of proved that she is capable of being one of our top girls, if not, our top girl.”
In addition, the team is feeling very confident that they’ll even be able to take the league championship this year. “Our chances are very high because we’ve been winning our divisions two times in a row (Center Meet 1 and the Salinas City Championships),” Cornelio says. Muñoz agrees, “The girls have been competing great all season,” he said. “Although there have been some minor injuries or illnesses, our girls have been very competitive. At this point, they just need to all be on their A game in the same race.”
The only bump in the road was Center Meet 1, where the results of the race didn’t count due to a lockdown at Hollister, which prevented their team from competing. This may sound like terrible news but Muñoz reassures, “The girls felt a little disappointed but they still know that they can win league championships.”
At the Salinas City Championship, the team claimed their bragging rights for the second time in three years. The team was led to victory by Kelly Vaca, finishing with a time of 20:31. At Center Meets 2 and 3, the team was also led by Kelly Vaca. Vaca finished with a time of 21:10 at Center Meet 2, and 19:55 at Center Meet 3 where the team also placed third and second overall respectively.
With PCALs coming up, expectations are high for the team. Teams in the top half of the league qualify for CCS, and the girls are in the top 3. “Our girls have a very good chance of winning their first ever league title, which would also be an automatic entry into CCS,” Muñoz said.
