Scotts Valley freshman Vanessa Fraser took 11th at the California Interscholastic Federation State cross country championships in Fresno to cap the 2009 season for local runners.
Fraser finished the 5K course in 18 minutes, 35 seconds, just 36 seconds behind the winner. There were 188 runners in the race, which took place Saturday, Nov. 28.
“It was really a dream season for us,” head coach Doug Chase said. “It was much more than we expected from her.”
Senior Lauren Germany also ran a strong race as the other Falcon qualifier, finishing in 48th place with a time of 19:43.
“Whatever success we had this year really begins with (twin sisters) Lauren and Kayla (Germany),” Chase said.
On the boys side, Scotts Valley’s senior runners Kyle McNulty (49th in 16:46) and Kevin Mangen (64th in 17:02) ran strong races to cap their senior seasons.
“They really earned it,” Chase said. “I was really proud of them.”
With four state qualifiers and a near miss by the girls team, the 2009 season has been the most successful in the Falcons’ 10-year cross country program, Chase said.
“We’re not going away,” he said. “We’re going to be right there again (next year).”
San Lorenzo Valley High
Senior Allan Hetke (16:36) capped his senior cross country season with a 32nd-place finish out of 200 runners as the Cougars boys team finished 13th of 24 teams overall.
“I am very well pleased, but there is still a bit of disappointment,” coach Rob Collins said.
The boys team took second in the Central Coast Section to qualify for the state meet and had high expectations because of its history against the other teams in the competition.
“We’ve beaten every school except for two of the schools,” Collins said. “We had a big gap between Allan and the rest of the guys, and we don’t normally have that.”
After Hetke, the team finished in a group in the middle of the pack. Landis McMillan (98th, 17:27), Cody Johnson (99th, 17:28), Alex Rinkert (105th, 17:31), Ben Swan (111th, 17:37), Matt Sishler (121st, 17:41) and Alejandro Torres (122nd, 17:42) were within 15 seconds of one another at the finish.
“It’s a live-and-learn experience,” Collins said. “It was unfortunate the way the season ended for us getting the flu, but they still held their own.”
