Four runners from Country Day’s cross-country team competed in a 4-kilometer meet against 35 schools from California and Nevada on Aug. 27.
Sophomore Wyatt Hall placed the highest out of the four runners finishing 31st with a time of 15:14.9.
“Going fast in the beginning and then settling in for most of the race worked best for me, along with picking up the pace at the end,” Hall said.
The other three runners were sophomores Dylan Sullivan and Alex Zinn, and senior Grace Eberhart. Sullivan placed 98th with a time of 17:43.5, Zinn placed 104th with a time of 18:08.9 and Eberhart placed 141st with a time of 21.20.7.
To put the Cavs’ finishes into perspective, the meet’s top runner came from Rocklin High School with a time of 12:17.
Country Day’s Head Coach Joe Hartman said the team is a top three contender for the Sacramento Metropolitan League Championship when they have their full team. The championship takes place at Sacramento Adventist High School on Oct. 27.
Hartman said he is proud that the runners did well for their first meet or improved from their previous performances. The coach’s two MVPs were Hall and Eberhart.
Eberhart and Hall have dedicated hard work to cross country for a long time. Eberhart has been running since freshman year and is constantly improving, Hartman said.
“She’s a dedicated runner and won Coach’s Award,” Hartman said. “She’s the kind of athlete you want on your team because she works hard and is open to suggestions.”
Hall has only been running since freshman year but has dedicated a lot of time, including practicing in a cross-country camp hosted by Hartman at Country Day.
“If you want to become one of the top runners in the area, you have to train during the summer, and Wyatt did a lot of that at the summer camp,.” Hartman said.
Missing from this meet were the team’s best runners sophomores Andrew Burr and Ceci DeBerry and junior Aakash Arumugam, Hartman said.
Burr decided to take a break from competing and DeBerry is still coming off an injury. Arumugam is ineligible for a few meets because he had to serve a 30-day sit-out period. The California Interscholastic Federation makes any high school athlete serve a sit-out period if they transfer from another school.
Meanwhile, the team has to prepare before the league championship and has its next meet at William Jessup University on Sept. 24. This will be Arumugam’s first meet of the season since his sit-out period would be complete.
“Our biggest team goal is to win the league championship,” Hartman said. “We have a really good chance if the sophomores and juniors step up.
— By Aaryan Gandhi
