After winning seven of the last nine CCS championships, the Carlmont Mens Varsity Cross Country team placed second at Saturday’s championship meet, falling behind Bellarmine College Preparatory.
“It was a tough race. We knew Bellarmine was going to be a challenge to beat from the beginning of the season,” Michael Bereket said.
The rivalry between Carlmont and Bellarmine for the CCS championship dates back to 2005. Since then, either Carlmont or Bellarmine has placed first.
Ryan Dimick, who finished at 15:31 with a pace of 5:16, took first in CCS, followed by Mark Vingralek who came in second at 15:36 with a split pace of 5:18. Michael Bereket placed sixth at 15:44, with James Schulte in 12th at 16:08, and Owen Lee in18th at 16:15.
“We did well individually, especially Ryan, but we didn’t do so well staying together as a team, and that’s why I think we lost. We also weren’t as focused at the start of the race,” Vingralek said.
Before the race, a runner in the Boys Division II race fainted at the finish line of the Crystal Springs course, delaying the Girls Division I race and the Boys Division I race by 20 minutes.
“The race was delayed and it messed up our warm up. It was also pretty windy so I don’t think we were as warm as we should’ve been,” Vingralek said.
The team also faced other obstacles coming into the race, such as injuries and an overall weaker team than last year’s team.
Although the team finished second, there were high individual scores. Dimick placed first in CCS, Vingralek second, and Berket sixth for the individual scores. The team also qualified for the State championship on Nov. 30 at Woodward Park in Fresno, Calif.
“I was pleased with the performance today. We were right up with Bellarmine but they had a strong team here. We just have to keep up the work and not overdo it. Hopefully at State, we can pass Bellarmine and a couple of the other strong Southern California teams,” Coach Al Schmidt said.
