Scotts Valley junior Ava Decleve wasn’t sure how she felt after crossing the finish line at last week’s Central Coast Section championships.
At one point, it almost seemed like a blur to her.
“It was a fast race,” Decleve said. “Going into it, there were so many fast girls from the Central Coast Section. Whatever happens, happens. Anybody, I feel like, can take that race and it’s really up to who’s having a good day.”
The Falcons’ rising star had one of the best days in her young racing career by winning the 2.95-mile Division IV race in 18 minutes, 24.5 seconds at Crystal Springs cross country course in Belmont on Nov. 16.
Sacred Heart Prep senior Sophie Cheung took second in 18:35.60 and Riordan senior Eva Abbott (18:40.07) placed third in a field of 85 runners.
“Anything can happen on this course. There’s uphills, downhills and the end, you sort of just gotta go,” Decleve said. “Coming into this, I was gonna see what I have because I’ve been training hard this season. And I’d love to make [the CIF State Championships], that was my number one goal going into this.”
In the process, Decleve also helped the Falcons secure a fourth consecutive team section title with a score of 49. Mills took second place with 76 points, followed by Sacred Heart Prep (90) in third.
“I’m shocked, but I also knew my team,” Decleve said. “They’re all so strong, and so I didn’t doubt them one bit.”
Top finishers for Scotts Valley included senior Violet McCutchen (19:50.78) in 10th, sophomore Hanna Shehorn (14th; 19:56.92) and juniors Dylan Turzak (18th; 20:07.61) and Jennifer Brownfield (20th; 20:12.80). Freshman Natalia Warner (22:20.03) placed 48th and sophomore Molly Clark (24:25.05) took 72nd for the Falcons.
A team title also means the Falcons are heading back to the California Interscholastic Federation State Cross Country Championships set for Nov. 30 at Woodward Park in Fresno.
“We started in July and we just slowly worked up,” Decleve said. “You go through these months and you just see yourself progress as a team. And as myself, I could just see getting faster in workouts, seeing my teammates get faster. It sort of leads up to this moment, which is so special.”
San Lorenzo Valley sophomore Beth Gabrielson (19:54.82) earned a trip to the CIF State Championships following a 13th-place finish. Fellow teammate freshman Skyla Leggett (20:04.44) took 16th, missing the cut by just two spots.
The Cougars placed fourth as a team with a score of 102, just behind Sacred Heart Prep, Mills and champion Scotts Valley.
Other finishers for SLV included freshman Stella Sutcliffe (21:01.43) in 32nd, senior Naomi Seastrom (34th; 21:09.33), freshman Emily Petrov (38th; 21:37.35), junior Jennifer Black (40th; 21:52.15) and senior Ruby Evans (52nd; 22:36.78).
Santa Cruz senior Eli Fitchen-Young won the Division IV boys race in 14:23.5, setting a course record. He finished more than one minute ahead of Scott Valley junior Aaron Weiss (15:42.1) in second and Carmel senior Mack Aldi (15:50.02) in third.
“[Fitchen-Young’s] so fast, it’s honestly fun to watch him race,” Weiss said. “It almost doesn’t feel like you’re racing him, because he’s just that much ahead of you. It’s really cool just to be with him, especially when he’s out here setting a course record.”
Marina won its first-ever team title with a score of 74, beating both Santa Cruz (95) and Mills (96).
Weiss and Aldi both advanced into the CIF State Championships.
“Super excited,” Weiss said. “Happy that the season panned out. I was a little stressed coming into this, knew there was a couple boys that were definitely even with me, but happy how I ran it.”
Weiss said he stuck with the game plan. He came out of the gates a bit conservatively in the first mile and then attempted to negatively split the rest of the course.
“I ended up doing that, so I was pretty happy with myself,” he said.
Weiss mentioned most runners tend to gun it during the first mile, which includes a dreaded steep hill that could make or break someone’s race.
“I get a little anxious when I’m not kind of where I need to be, so just making sure that I didn’t go out way too fast,” he said. “That last half mile is really where I needed to turn it on.”
Weiss went from 10th place up to fourth with about 800 meters remaining. That’s when he turned on the jets and was able to close the gap for second place.
Other finishers for Scotts Valley included sophomore Jackson Stull (31st; 17:04.88), junior Nate McKeon (47th; 17:22.69), senior Josiah Staley (64th; 17:48.95), junior William von Haunalter (66th; 17:50.94), sophomore Joshua Adams (76th; 18:07.35) and freshman Cullen Dickenson (81st; 18:19.36).
San Lorenzo Valley sophomore Colton Ryssemus took 19th in 16:44.80, while teammate senior Cian Ryan (18:26.28) placed 83rd.
The CIF State Cross Country Championships are set for Nov. 30 at Woodward Park in Fresno.
“I see it as a whole different caliber level,” Decleve said. “It is so fast, there are amazing teams there. I feel like if I can just stick with girls that are my pace that push me even a little more than I have been, then I think no matter what I’m going to be happy with it.”
The D-IV boys’ race is scheduled at 11am, and the girls’ race is set for 12:30pm. Tickets can be purchased at gofan.co/app/school/CIF.
“I know I’m capable of much better than last year, but what that is, I’m not sure,” Weiss said. “I’ve got a week to kind of build back up a little bit, and then another week to just kind of mellow out and prepare. Really excited to see what happens, but I’m ready.”
CIF State Cross Country Championships race schedule
Boys
- Division I – 9:30am
- Division II – 10am
- Division IV – 11am
- Division III – noon
- Division V – 1pm
Girls
- Division I – 8:30am
- Division II – 9am
- Division III – 10:30am
- Division V – 11:30am
- Division IV – 12:30pm
