The Davis Blue Devil Cross Country girls and boys teams competed in the California State Cross Country Championships on Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno. The meet, which is the largest and deepest in the United States, consists of 5 divisions for both girls and boys, with a total of 2045 girls and boys racing across all divisions. Davis High competed in Division 1, which is the largest school category.

The Lady Blue Devils had a great day, finishing in 5th place out of 24 teams in Division 1 with 169 points. The Davis Blue Devil Cross Country girls and boys teams competed in the California State Cross Country Championships on Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno. The meet, which is the largest and deepest in the United States, consists of 5 divisions for both girls and boys, with a total of 2045 girls and boys racing across all divisions. Davis High competed in Division 1, which is the largest school category.

The Lady Blue Devils had a great day, finishing in 5th place out of 24 teams in Division 1 with 169 points. Buchanan of Clovis was first with 76 points, followed by Mira Costa 84, Trabuco Hills 120, and Santiago Corona with 124 points. Davis placed 9th out of 122 teams in the merged results across all five divisions. Their team time ranks 5th-fastest in DHS history.

In the pre-race meeting, DHS Head Coach Bill Gregg stressed the importance of being patient, aiming to run smoothly in the first half of the race and then move up in the second half. DHS Senior Avery Wolk followed this strategy perfectly, holding at 12th place at mile 1, and then moving up to 9th at 2.1 miles. She then passed three more runners in the last 200 meters to finish 6th in a field of 197 runners. Her time of 17:34 was a personal best and placed her 4th on the Davis All-Time Woodward Park best-time list (second-fastest senior ever).

Katelyn Secrest and Lily Hales-Yang paced their races with the same tactic as Wolk, with Secrest moving from 61st at mile one to a 36th-place finish in 18:15 and Hales-Yang moving from 59th to 46th overall in 18:21. Those times, which were personal bests of 20 and 23 seconds, respectively, placed them 10th and 11th on the Davis High all-time list. Kailee Mallow and Layla Wolk moved up steadily through the race, with both running personal best times. Mallow dropped 30 seconds from her previous time on the course, running 18:36 for 61st place, and now holds the 14th all-time DHS time. Layla Wolk, younger sister of Avery and the only Freshman on the varsity squad, ran a personal best by 26 seconds. Her time of 18:46 places her 19th on the all-time list and 4th-fastest Davis High freshman all-time. Finishing out the squad were Norah Feldt, who crossed the line in 76th in 18:48, and Natalia Yeager, who finished in 158th in 20:03.

On the Blue Devil boys’ side, the race did not unfold as planned. The team was ranked 9th in Division 1 heading into the meet, but finished 15th with 401 points in the 24-team field. Winning the race was Redondo Union with 101 points, followed by San Clemente, 108, Mira Costa, 117, Arnold O Beckman, 184, and 5th-place Menlo-Atherton, 191.

Usual Davis High frontrunner Elias Thronson, a projected top 5 finisher at the State Meet, was hindered by both illness and a slight hip injury that cropped up just before the Sac-Joaquin Section meet earlier in November. Thronson finished 76th in 15:53. Junior Nicolas Duquette was the top DHS finisher, passing 76 runners in the last two miles to place 66th in a personal best 15:44. That time placed him 18th on the varsity boys’ team time ranks 10th on the Woodward Park DHS top team times list. runner to cross the line. Sebastian Molina De La Rosa ran a 33-second PR of 16:23, placing him 128th and earning him a ranking of 37th on the Davis High all-time top 50 list. Cameron Pund ran a PR of 16:32, good for 143rd place and 43rd on the DHS all-time list. Finishing out the scoring for Davis High were Payton Hanks (16:47; 170th) and Deven Doctor (16:48; 174th place). Both times were personal bests for them.

The varsity boys’ team time ranks 10th on the Woodward Park DHS top team times list.



Meet Stats

Girls Division 1 Team Scores (24 total teams)

1, Buchanan (Clovis), 76; 2, Mira Costa, 84; 3, Trabuco Hills, 120; 4, Santiago Corona, 124; 5, Davis, 169, 6; Great Oak, 223; 7, San Clemente, 236; 8, Oak Ridge, 250; 9, Canyon Crest Academy, 236; 10, Clovis North, 302; 11, Los Altos, 314; 12, Wilson-Long Beach,326; 13, ML King, 336; 14, Del Norte, 382; 15, Poway, 399; 16, Clovis East, 400; 17, Menlo-Atherton, 439; 18, Evergreen Valley, 474; 19, Turlock, 504; 20, Palisades Chtr, 510; 21, Dougherty Valley, 537; 22, Calif-San Ramon, 558; 23, Berkeley, 622; 24, Taft, 646

DHS Results:

6, Avery Wolk, 17:34; 36, Katelyn Secrest, 18:15; 46, Lily Hales-Yang, 18:21; 61, Kailee Mallow, 18:36; 72, Layla Wolk, 18:46; 76, Norah Feldt, 18:48; 158, Natalia Yeager, 20:03

Facts:

* · DHS was 9th overall for all divisions in the state (out of 122 total qualifying teams in California).
* · Top 5 girls all had best times and moved up on the DHS all-time lists:
* o Avery 4th 17:34
* o Katelyn 10th 18:15
* o Lily 11th 18:21
* o Kailee 14th 18:36
* o Layla 19th 18:46
* · Avery is DHS's #2 fastest time for a senior
* · Layla’s DHS #2 fastest Frosh
* · Team time is DHS's 5th fastest ever
*

DHS XC CALIFORNIA STATE MEET RESULTS

Boys Division 1 Team Scores (24 total teams)

1, Redondo Union, 101; 2, San Clemente, 108; 3, Mira Costa, 117; 4, Arnold O Beckman, 184; 5, Menlo-Atherton, 191; 6, Trabuco Hills, 212; 7, Crescenta Valley, 219; 8, Bellarmine College Prep, 9, Poway, 250; 10, Oak Ridge, 251; 11, Dublin, 272; 12, ML King, 350; 13, Clovis North, 360; 14, Milpitas, 365;15, Davis, 401; 16, San Marcos, 406; 17, Buchanan, 459; 18, Redwood, 460; 19, Palisades Chtr, 468; 20, California-San Ramon, 514; 21, Del Norte, 518; 22, Granada Hill Chtr, 521; 23, Folsom, 556; 24, Taft, 579

DHS Results:

58; Nicolas Duquette, 15:44; 76; Elias Thronson, 15:53; 97, Zev Fox, 16:06; 128; Sebastian Molina De La Rosa, 16:23; 143, Cameron Pund, 16:32; 170, Payton Hanks, 16:47; 174, Deven Doctor, 16:48

Facts

* · Boys’ team time is #10 all-time for DHS
* · Nicolas Duquette ran a best time of 15:44 and is #18 DHS All-time
* · Sebastian Molina De La Rosa ran a best time of 16:23, 37th DHS All-time
* · Cameron Pund ran a best time of 16:42; 43rd DHS All Time.