It was only a matter of time before Scotts Valley junior Hanna Shehorn would have a breakout race to remember prior to closing out the 2025 fall campaign.
The Falcon standout won the Division IV girls’ race in 17 minutes, 36.9 seconds at the Central Coast Section Cross Country Championships at Crystal Springs Course in Belmont on Nov. 15.
“I mean, it feels really cool to have my name up in the gym,” she said.
Shehorn will have her name forever embroidered on a giant banner along with the rest of her Falcon teammates after capturing a fifth consecutive section team title.
Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League champion Scotts Valley finished with a team score of 52 points to edge league rival Aptos (54) for the D-IV championship.
“It feels so good that our hard work just paid off,” Shehorn said. “Aptos really gave us a scare there, but we kind of went into it knowing that we’ve trained for this. If everybody runs as hard as they can, then that’s all we can ask, and it was enough.”
Shehorn outkicked teammate senior Ava Decleve (17:46.7) in second, while Aptos senior Maya Schiro (17:48.2) took third on the grueling 2.95-mile course.
Decleve, a UCLA commit and defending D-IV champion, immediately hugged Shehorn following the race to congratulate her pal.
Scotts Valley and Aptos both advanced to the California Interscholastic Federation State Cross Country Championships at Woodward Park in Fresno on Nov. 29.
Aptos’ Kenzie Culbertson (19:11.5) and Pierce Culbertson (19:11.5) placed fifth and sixth, respectively, while Scotts Valley junior Hailey Shehorn got the chance to stand on the podium after she placed seventh in 19:12.8.
“I felt really proud of all the effort that me and the team had put in,” Hailey Shehorn said. “I came in late to the season, incredibly proud of where I’ve gotten to, and the team support has just meant everything.”
Hailey Shehorn echoed her sister saying they realized Aptos was going to be their toughest competition for the SCCAL regular season crown. Especially after the Falcons lost to the Mariners in the teams’ final duel meet of the season on Oct. 23.
“It was definitely a big motivator, especially for me,” Hailey Shehorn said. “I definitely think that everybody put in a bunch of effort coming into league and CCS so that we could take the first place title.”
Scotts Valley won its fourth SCCAL title in the past five years, recapturing it from defending champion San Lorenzo Valley.
Other top Falcon finishers at last weekend’s CCS finals included senior Dylan Turzak (20:21.1) in 24th, followed by senior Jennifer Brownfield (20:31.1) in 27th.
SLV junior Beth Gabrielson (20:37.1) placed 29th as Cougars’ lone runner, while Scotts Valley sophomores Stella Sutcliffe (20:42.3) and Natalia Warner (21:00.8) took 30th and 34th, respectively.
The front of the pack was led by Hanna Shehorn, Decleve and Schiro as the trio pulled away from the rest of the field after the first mile.
Shehorn, who won in the final dual meet of the season, said her game plan from the get-go was to stay with Schrio and Decleve before getting into her own rhythm.
“Me and Ava, we kind of synced up and we were feeding off each other’s energies,” Shehorn said. “And then once Maya dropped back a little bit, I had confidence in us that we could do it.”
Shehorn also knew what to expect on what most consider a treacherous course that features plenty of rolling hills.
“But we train on hills a lot,” she said. “I felt going into it, we kind of knew that it was going to be difficult but that we could do it.”
Indeed they did. And now Shehorn gets one more chance to race alongside her senior comrades while having fun and being appreciative for the opportunity.
“I love the hotel room stay, the night before we talk about all our goals and dinner together,” Shehorn said. “We made it this far, so hopefully we can do good at State.”
