El Dorado’s cross country teams run ‘like madmen’

FOLSOM — After years of being an also-ran, the El Dorado cross country team is emerging as one of the top squads in the area.

Friday the Cougar boys earned their second straight berth in the CIF State Cross Country Division III championships, finishing second in the Sac-Joaquin Section meet at Folsom's Willow Hills course by a scant three points to perennial favorite Placer, which brought in three recruits from its soccer team. Del Oro was third, 21 points back. All three teams advance.

El Dorado's showing promises a bright future for Cougar cross country. The sophomore boys took first and the freshman boys and frosh/soph girls teams were second.

"I think everyone ran PRs on this course," coach Peanut Harms said. "They competed like madmen and four teams made the podium. For the varsity boys to take second to a powerhouse team like Placer which has won so many of these (section titles) is something."

Senior Joe Soik led El Dorado in fifth place. "I was a little sore this morning but no excuses," he said about not reaching his goal of being the individual section champion. "I love running in the rain and I ran a good race today."

Harms credits Soik for much of the team's success with his leadership by example. "Joe's consistency has had him at the top of his game all year," he said.

Teammate Nathan Rossi, who battled a bad ankle for several weeks, saved his best for last and came in 12th. "It was the best I've run all season," Rossi said. "I made my move about halfway through the race. It felt good."

Had Ian Janoska, one of the Cougars' top runners, been healthy the team might have overtaken Placer. But Matt Johnson and Ryan Gray stepped up to follow Sean Gregg into the finishing chute.

"Ryan ran a great race," coach Tena Harms said. "I've never seen him work that hard. As a team we ran the best that we could today and our (collective) time was 20 seconds faster than the league meet. Nobody crashed and burned."

The varsity boys will run again Nov. 26 at the state meet at Fresno's Woodward Park.

"The trademark of all levels of this team is that they always compete to their capabilities," Peanut said. "Tena and I are very proud — again."

El Dorado's Anne Donegan (48th-22:13) was the only varsity girl to run; Garrett Short (27th-19:45) competed in the boys junior varsity race.

Two Union Mine teams and two Golden Sierra athletes ran in the Division IV races. The Diamondbacks' team scores are listed below. In addition, D'back Dale Oglesby (19th-13:21) ran in the sophomore boys race and Jordan Caldwell (41st-17:12) competed in the frosh/soph girls event.

Grizzly senior Emily Reddish was the only Golden Sierra girl to qualify from the sub-section meet. The Griz' top runner, Gianna Poseley, was injured. Reddish is the first Grizzly to qualify all four years for the section meet at the vasity level. She took 42nd place with a time of 22:37. Grizzly Hunter Hughes (17th-13:26) competed in the freshman boys race.

Division III

Varsity boys: 1-Placer, 92; 2-El Dorado, 95; 3-Del Oro, 116

5-Joe Soik, 16:30; 12-Nathan Rossi, 17:04; 14-Sean Gregg, 17:07; 31-Matt Johnson, 17:42; 33-Ryan Gray, 17:42; 38-Spencer Wright, 18:02; 45-Ian Janoska, 18:16.

Sophomore boys: 1-El Dorado, 24

1-Gabe Hurwitt, 11:52; 2-Jason Yurgelevic, 11:59; 6-Stabler Young, 12:26; 7-Quincy Blackwell, 12:28; 8-Sawyer Haffner, 12:40; 15-Steffan Mahnke, 12:51; 34-Sam Winslow, 13:36.

Freshman boys: 2-El Dorado, 42

1-Jay Revolinsky, 12:08; 7-Michael Segura, 13:00; 8-Jackson Harris, 13:18; 10-John Capps, 13:24; 16-Casey Nyquist, 14:14; 17-Grant Seely, 14:25; 21-Brett St. Clair, 15:14.

Frosh/soph girls: 2-El Dorado, 62

3-Chelsea Chestnut, 14:10; 9-Kaitlyn Staggers, 14:44; 15-Katherine Buethe, 14:52; 17-Morgan Linville, 15:04; 18-Regan Hester, 15:04; 21-Micah Brocker, 15:23; 22-Natalie Eggens, 15:23.

Division IV

Varsity boys: 9-Union Mine, 233

21-Makana Kauhaahaa, 17:58; 49-William Winter, 18:59; 51-Cory Gutierrez, 19:03; 52-Jonathon Detillion, 19:10; 60-Mitchell Woods, 19:32; 67-Colton Aliff, 20:48.

Varsity girls: 10-Union Mine, 209

26-Chloe Hood, 21:59; 40-Michelle Gonzales, 22:50; 42-Marissa Indgjer, 22:24; 44-Mikaelyn Praker, 23:07; 57-Madi Aliff, 23:40; 70-Emily Trujillo, 25:07; 71-Sequoia Williams, 25:32.