Friendly rivals, San Lorenzo Valley High freshman Anna Maxwell and Scotts Valley High sophomore Vanessa Fraser finished third and fourth, respectively, in Division IV at the California Interscholastic Federation State cross country championships in Fresno, Nov. 27.
Maxwell finished the 3-mile course in 17 minutes, 55 seconds, followed closely by Fraser at 17:56. The winner, Cami Chapus of Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, finished the race in 17:45.
After winning the Central Coast Section Championships, the San Lorenzo Valley girls team took seventh in state and the Scotts Valley girls took ninth in their first trip as a team in school history. In total, 22 teams competed in division IV and 188 runners finished the race.
For San Lorenzo Valley, Abby Sherman finished 44th in 19:47, Jessica Jensen 77th in 20:21, Emily Lamp 93rd in 20:35 and Claire MacMillan 101st in 20:41.
“I am pleased with that, especially with a very young group of girls,” SLV coach Rob Collins said. “They have a made a huge leap since last season.”
All seven of the Cougars’ top girls are freshmen and sophomores.
For Scotts Valley, Abby Utic finished 42nd in 19:47, Twyla Hawley 94th in 20:35, Olivia Gonzalez 106th in 20:44, Krista McNulty 110th in 20:49.
It was Scotts Valley’s first trip to state, and the team will return five of its top seven runners for the fall 2011 competitive season.
For the boys, San Lorenzo Valley’s Cody Johnson, running with a sprained ankle he suffered a week and half before, finished 29th in 16:26. Teammate Landis MacMillan finished 62nd in 16:52.
In total, 204 runners crossed the finish line.
