The Monte Vista Invitational - Home of the Eliminator!

The Center Meet at Newhall Park this year had the feel of a good size invitational, as the newly expanded league welcomed Dougherty Valley and Dublin into the mix this year.  Already one of the top leagues in Northern California, some are now calling it one of the few "super" leagues in the State.  With teams from the EBAL winning the last seven years of NCS titles in D1 (both boys and girls) the league is even stronger this season with most all of the teams dropping into Division 2.  On the girls side, Granada, San Ramon Valley and Monte Vista all have a shot at the top 5 in the state.  On the boys side, Granada and Dublin came in highly ranked, while MV carried the 17th best State ranking, all divisions, going into the meet.

As the Mustangs have done all season - it was another strong, balanced performance today, with top three finishes in 5 of the 6 races including FIRST PLACE in the JV Girls and Varsity Boys race - the latter representing a big upset by the VB's!   In meet order, the teams finished as follows:

- Frosh Soph Girls:  2nd Place (one point from 1st!!!)
- Frosh Soph Boys:  3rd Place
- Junior Varsity Girls: 1st Place
- Junior Varsity Boys: 6th Place
- Varsity Girls:  2nd Place
- Varsity Boys:  1st Place

Individual Race Victories for Josephine Lee and Karalyn Sawchuk:
There is absolutely nothing more exciting for a coach (or parent, or teammate) than when the lead runners reappear after being out on the course - and there is a red and black uniform leading the way!!   This happened twice again on Weds, as Frosh Josephine Lee emerged from the second loop with a big lead, eventually winning the FS Girls race by 29 seconds!   In the JV Girls race, teammate Jr Karalyn Sawchuk was literally all by herself as she dominated the race with a 45 second marging of victory.  Her 20:46 time would have placed her in the top half of the varsity race!  After the Mustang performances at the Nike Invite earlier this season, it's clear that Newhall Park is a favorite for the team. 
 
Josephine Lee (left) and Karalyn Sawchuk (right) claim EBAL Center Meet wins today!  

Varsity Recap:
The Varsity Boys are the big story today, as they edge new EBAL rival Dublin 57-62.   Last week at Clovis, Dublin ran the fastest time every by a North Coast Section team on the Woodward Park course.  Today however, it was the Mustangs who put together the best team performance.  Sr Tristan Miller moves up big in the last mile to grab 3rd place, just ahead of Dublins top runners.  Daniel Maneloveg is next in 6th while Nick Vomund is 10th.  Soph Matthew Kim is 4th in 18th place, while Sr Ben Smiley runs his best race of the year to nail down 5th man - 7 spots ahead of Dublin's 5th runner.  The time is by far the fastest ever for a MV boys team at Newhall, breaking the mark set just weeks ago at the Nike Invite.  The battle looms for EBAL's and NCS!

The Varsity Girls run a strong, balanced race to take 2nd today, only behind state ranked Granada.  Jr Alex Wilson is the surprise story today, as she takes top honors with her 6th place finish.  Alex has put forth an impressive season and keeps getting stronger each race.  Meredith Corda is right behind her in 7th despite suffering from being sick.  Two varsity newcomers this year - Soph Sidney Isom and Frosh Kelli Wilson - are 3rd and 4th today as they continue to race like seasoned veterans.  Audrey Coney is 5th runner in 13th place with varsity teammate Cat Kiser right there in 14th.  Granada runners take 1st, 2nd and 3rd today with their 5th in by 12th place - an impressive performance and clearly now the team to beat in the EBAL.

Full Results posted on XC Stats (as always).  Individual races posted via MileSplit.com 

CONGRATS MUSTANGS!!!