Caleb Ahn and Sam Holbrook, both juniors, make their way up the first hill at the Crystal Springs Course.
JV cross country places high at Crystal Springs competition
On Tuesday, Oct. 24, Carlmont’s junior varsity cross country team had their third Peninsula Athletic League (PAL) meet in the sweltering 93-degree heat.
With Carlmont varsity boys’, varsity girls’, and junior varsity girls’ cross country coming in first place, the pressure was on for the junior varsity boys team to perform in one of their final races of the season.
The teams left school at 1:20 p.m. with the first races beginning at 2:30 p.m. for boys varsity. Boys’ junior varsity’s race began at 4:56 p.m. giving them more then enough time to warm up and stretch before their race.
The course for the race, Crystal Springs Cross Country Trail, was a familiar one for the Scots as it was very close to home, but it did not make the course any less forgiving. Crystal Springs Cross Country Trail is a grueling 2.94 mile course, consisting of endless hills that put the runners’ training to the test.
So far this year, the Carlmont boys’ junior varsity team has done average compared to other teams, coming in 13th place at their last meet at the Crystal Springs 2017 Invitational.
The team was excited coming in to the race, but was aware that they should take it easy because their next meet is the PAL championship race where both Carlmont varsity teams have a chance at qualifying for states.
“The main team mindset was to not run too hard because of the heat and also because our next meet is the championship, so we should rest up for that,” said Forrest Windeler, a junior. “We still want to race well and show how good we as a team can be.”
Carlmont came out strong at the beginning of the race and raced in two main groups. This helped them keep a steady pace throughout the whole race. By the time the race was over, everyone was in good spirits knowing they had done well.
“This was one of our better meets with everyone on the team racing really well,” said Caleb Ahn, a junior. “For the next race I think we will stay in one group instead of two, so we can pace each other better and so we all place higher. But, besides that, I think we all did great.”
Strategy was important in this meet as the heat made the team take a slightly different approach.
“Our motto for this meet was to run smart because of the heat and to make the race be about place, not time,” said Head Coach John Lilygren. “It was also on what we consider to be our home course, which gave us an advantage because we run these hills all the time.”
Overall, Carlmont placed third for boys junior varsity sending them home with good morale. Carlmont’s next meet is also at Crystal Springs Cross Country Trail but is also their most important race of the season, the PAL championships.
