Following the cross country Central Coast Section championships on Nov. 10, two out of the 14 Aragon CCS runners, sophomore Blaine Reynolds and senior Beata Gold, qualified for California’s cross country state finals at Woodward Park on Nov. 24.
Sophomore Reynolds and senior Gold both competed in the 3.1 mile course. This is the first time either runner has ever competed in the state finals. Reynolds finished the 3.1 mile course at 16:25, and Gold finished at 19:37.5.
Though the recent fires delayed the CCS championships, the weather forecast cleared up before the finals took place. Fortunately, the air quality had improved significantly leading up to finals.
“The air quality in Fresno on Saturday [Nov. 24] was normal, due to the rain,” Reynolds said.
The rain prior to the meet proved beneficial as it helped clear the air. However, a negative side effect was the muddy terrain.
“The rain turned the course muddy in places, making it difficult to run on,” Reynolds said.
Although the air quality eventually improved, weeks of delay held its own disadvantages.
“Our CCS meet was delayed on three separate occasions and eventually relocated from Belmont to Salinas,” Reynolds said. “The air also made training nearly impossible because we had to train indoors on the treadmills instead of running outside.”
Despite a few setbacks, Reynolds and Gold persisted and took on the bumpy course.
“This course, Woodward, had more hills than the Stanford course, which was the same distance,” Reynolds said. “This course [is] one of my favorites because it wasn’t too rigorous, but certain challenging parts kept it interesting.”
Each runner has their own unique strategy to taking on the course.
“My strategy for racing typically includes me going out very fast with the leaders,” Reynolds said. “I then slow down during the second and first half of the third mile, and pick up the pace with a half a mile to go.”
Unlike most races, these Aragon qualifiers are competing against California’s top high school cross country runners.
“The competition was faster, therefore, challenging me to improve my pace,” Reynolds said.
Gold finished in 99th place out of 203, and Reynolds finished in 85th place out of the 204 runners competing in California’s state finals.
