Sports

Every year in mid-July a group of over 30 teenagers make their annual pilgrimage to Mammoth Lakes, California for the Fall Creek Running Club’s high altitude training camp. From s’mores around the campfire to movie nights and hot springs, these kids enjoy the best that nature can offer while training for their upcoming cross country and track season.This year’s camp was held at the Shady Rest Campground from July 18 to 24 and hosted 34 teens and 12 parents.“I’d have to say getting to experience different trails and new places to train was really cool,” says first year camper Sophia Zachau, “Being able to do other things like going to the hot springs and June Lake while we were there was also nice; that way we were able to take a break from training constantly.”Brendan Fitzgerald, another camper, described his experience by saying, “Mammoth is a beautiful place with sun and flat land, a great town, lakes, hot springs, and many more things to do.”Rob Collins, coach of the Fall Creek Running Club and SLV track team, has been going on the trip since 1999. “A lot of the parents actually run it, I just show up and enjoy myself,” says Collins.The Fall Creek Track Club is not the only training group to have fallen in love with this location and all it has to offer. The Mammoth Lakes area is also the favorite training grounds of many of the nation’s top Olympic marathoners like Meb Keflezighi and Shalane Flanagan, and as many as two dozen other high school and college teams from across California.SLV alumni Anna Maxwell, one of the many returning runners, said “From dealing with the bears every night, to ghost stories and jokes around the campfire, to listening to the stories from battered and hairy Pacific Crest Trail hikers in the local volcanic hot springs; it’s all part of the experience. It’s a great place to get quality summer training in, but it is also a place that brings kids together and helps foster the team mentality that has lead the legacy of successful runners Coach Collins has produced.“Some of the campers are not even runners. Collins says, “We’ve had other kids from other sports — you don’t have to be a distance runner to do this; it’s just kind of a camping trip.”More information about the Fall Creek Running Club can be found at www.fallcreekrunningclub.org.

Scotts Valley High’s Ashley Gettleman was named the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League Golfer of the Year in 2023 by the coaches within the league. The Falcons sophomore golfer earned medalist honors in back-to-back seasons after she won the SCCAL Championship at DeLaveaga Golf Course...

In the Independent Order of Odd Fellows' San Lorenzo Valley Softball Men's Summer League two semi-final games, played last Wednesday at Highlands Park, there were two, contrasting patterns.In the first game, Mountain Mechanics jumped to an early lead and were never threatened, as they hammered the Nailers, 20-6. During the regular season, a 10-point lead would kick-in a mercy rule and the game would be over, but in the playoffs the teams must play 7 full innings (unless there are extra innings).In the evening game, between the Sharks and the Woodpeckers, the game was close until the last inning. Tied at 20-20, the Sharks scored a run at the bottom of the 7th inning, and so they will meet the Mountain Mechanics in the championship game next Wednesday, August 12, at 6 p.m. at Highlands Park.The August 12 game has a “Shakespearean-like” family’s conflict side to it. There will be a first-ever grandfather/grandson duo on the Mountain Mechanics team. Chris Currier and his grandson, Ben Knudson, will be pitched against a “Father with Three Sons” (Mark Mullins with his sons Billy, Robert and John, all former jocks at SLVHS) on the Sharks team.

Scotts Valley senior guard Kaitlin Imai describes the Falcons girls’ basketball team as a group full of hustle and always putting in 100% effort during the game, which is what has allowed them to be successful this season.  “We all want to see each other...

No matter where he stepped on the football field, San Lorenzo Valley senior Haden Woolworth had to be accounted for at all times during the 2024 fall season.  The two-way lineman played a huge role in helping the Cougars finish with a 9-1 overall record,...