San Lorenzo Valley High senior Allan Hetke finished second in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League as his team defeated Aptos High in a tiebreaker Nov. 5 to capture the 2009 boys cross country league title.
As the runners crossed the finish line at Pinto Lake in Watsonville, the tension mounted.
Aptos star Mitch Moriarty won the race in 14 minutes, 54 seconds, followed by Hetke (15:29). Scotts Valley’s Kevin Mangen finished third in 15:31.
After totaling the times of the top five runners for each team, the score was tied at 40. However, SLV’s sixth runner, Alex Rinkert (16:42), crossed the finish line ahead of both Aptos’s fifth and sixth runners, giving the Cougars the win.
Teammates hoisted Rinkert onto their shoulders after finding out they’d won the title.
The Cougars’ championship broke a string of four consecutive SCCAL championships for the Aptos High Mariners.
SLV was the favorite going into the race, however, after its defeat of Aptos during the dual-match season.
Landis MacMillan (15:53) finished seventh for San Lorenzo Valley, Matt Shisler (16:02) finished eighth, Alejandro Torres (16:22) finished 11th and Cody Johnson (16:26) finished 12th.
The Cougars girls placed fourth in league, led by sophomore runner Sierra Wallen, who finished 13th in 19:17. Senior Emma Ussat (19:24) finished 16th, and Cailtlin Taylor (20:00) took 24th.
San Lorenzo Valley’s boys and girls teams will both run in the Division IV Central Coast Section meet Saturday, Nov. 14, at Crystal Springs in Belmont.
Falcons return to sections
For a second consecutive year — and for the second time in school history — the Scotts Valley boys and girls cross country teams qualified to compete for the Central Coast Section championship.
The Scotts Valley boys placed third in league, the same as in 2008, led by Kevin Mangen’s third-place finish in 15:31. Kyle McNulty (16:12) finished ninth, followed by teammates Andrew Brockmann (17:10), Tyler Edwards (17:14) and Sean Kennedy (17:27).
The girls team came in second, their highest finish in school history, led by freshman Vanessa Fraser’s second-place finish in 18:02. The Germany twins, Lauren (18:42) and Kayla (18:57), finished eighth and 10th, respectively, and sophomores Abby Utic (19:31) and Twyla Hawley (19:36) were 19th and 20th.
