The Dos Pueblos boys and girls cross country teams both finished better than their state ranking at the CIF State Cross Country Championships, said coach Jen Brown as she introduced her student athletes at Monday’s Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Press Luncheon at Harry’s Plaza Cafe.
The Round Table honored the Chargers as well as the CIF-SS Division 5-champion Carpinteria boys water polo team on Monday.
This was the first time in school history that Dos Pueblos qualified both the boys and girls teams for the state championships.
“It was not only history, but what a fun thing to be able to take both teams,” said Brown.
The DP boys went into the meet ranked 18 in Division 3 and finished 16th. The girls also played 16th out of 25 teams, improving on their D3 state ranking of 17th.
“That was a pretty good showing for the first time at state, especially for the girls who’ve never been there,” said Brown.
What impressed her most about the overall performance was how both teams picked up the pace in the second half of the 3-mile race.
“I was at the mile mark and I had my phone giving the real-time stats and team scores,” she explained. “I’m looking at the phone and it says DP girls 21st place. I said, ‘21st place! You guys need to run.’ The same thing happens with the boys, 21st place. And I’m like, ‘What is going on?’
“Both these teams were in 21st place by the first mile and by the end of the race they were in 16th place, which shows you how hard they ran in the second half of the race.”
A pair of juniors were the top finishers. Phoebe Wolfe Lyons ran 19:05 to lead the girls, while Luciani Koroshec clocked 16:10 to place No. 1 for the Charger boys.
Brown also pointed out that the student athletes on both teams are solid in the classroom. She said the average GPA for the 14 team members in the first term is 3.92.
She thanked former coach Micks Purnell for returning to assist her.
“Micks Purnell came back, and was kind enough to help me out halfway through the season,” she said. “He’s been instrumental in getting these guys to where they’re at.
The members of the DP cross country teams are:
Boys—Edward Bi (senior), Orlando Ye (junior), Andy Brennan (freshman), Dominic Corral (sophomore), Eamon Gordon (freshman), Tyler Jamieson (junior), Luciani Koroshec (junior);
Girls—Sarah Dent (a junior who is graduating early), Ellie Gleason (junior), Samsara Chahine junior), London Wahlberg (senior), Ruby Heinrich (freshman), Reese Wahlberg (junior) and Phoebe Wolfe Lyons (junior).
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
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