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The San Lorenzo Valley cross country teams have proven to be the real deal as they continue to crush both opponents and records in the early 2011 season.
For the second time this season, the Cougars boys and girls teams have swept an invitational cross country meet. The teams outran the large and small school competition at the Stevenson School Invitational Relay on September 17 at Robert Louis Stevenson High School in Pebble Beach.
The top five Cougar runners Anna Maxwell, Claire MacMillan, Jessica Germany, Abby Sherman and Jessica Jensen compiled a new course record in the 1.6 mile relay, breaking a 12-year old record that had been set by the former SLV championship team captained by Alejandra Barrientos in 1999.
The young Cougars broke the old record by one second, finishing in 47:47. The team finished 3 minutes, 49 seconds better than Scotts Valley who took second in the event with a combined time of 51:37.
Both SLV and Scotts Valley were placed in the small school category but finished well ahead of the 17 other schools, many with larger enrollments. Big schools – like Clovis, Valley Christian, Leigh, Roosevelt and Lynbrook high schools all finished behind the local teams.
Maxwell ran the fastest split of the day in 8:52. The second fastest time went to Scotts Valley’s Vanessa Fraser who came in at 8:55.
“We just ran our hearts out,” Cougar Coach Rob Collins said. “The girls were tired and time lapsed from the return trip from Hawaii, but they all came out and shaved minutes off last years times and ran a really impressive race.”
The boys team consisting of brothers Nick and Jacob Hicks along with Cody Johnson, Landis MacMillan and Brandon Caldwell pounded out a first place finish with a finish in 41:39.
The boys cruised to victory beating out Wilcox High by more than 40. Scotts Valley took third in the small schools division with a final time of 44:54.
“They all ran very consistent times,” Collins said. “The way the relay worked both the lead runner and the anchor had a little farther to run. They all just ran their race and finished strong.”
Earlier this month the Cougar girls and boys shattered the course record in Hawaii as the teams both took home first place at the Kamehameha Invitational at the University of Hawaii.
