This past month, the Cross Country team has had a multitude of success competing in both the Iolani Invitation in Honolulu, Hawaii, and the Woodbridge Invitational in Irvine. Both the boys' and girls’ teams broke the three-mile team school record and numerous runners achieved varsity standards for the first time.
At the Iolani Invitational, the boys’ varsity team finished with a respectable sixth place finish out of thirty total teams, led by Senior Griffin Kushen coming in first with a time of 14:50. Coming soon after was Junior Chase Manning’s 15:48, shortly followed by Senior Parker Wolfe, Jack Miranda and Lukas Andrews. With the whole team ending in the top third of the race, they were able to hold onto their sixth place finish.
The girls’ team also had an incredible race at the Iolani Invitational, coming in second out of twenty seven teams. Junior Mackenzie Forrest led the team to success, finishing with a time of 17:58, as Junior Amber Dazey crossed the finish line at 18:10 coming in sixth and seventh, respectively, out of 206 runners. Following the two girls were Junior Brooke Dazey, Dylan McGrew and Lily Garcia. This incredible performance can be credited to the whole team finishing top thirty as well as Mackenzie Forrest and Amber Dazey both finishing in the top ten.
As stated by Coach Darren Phelps, “We did very well, Griffin won the race and broke the course record by 40 seconds,” and the girls were able to show their dominance too, setting great standards for the coming season. With the incredible performances at Hawaii, both teams continued to prove themselves phenomenal at their following race, the Woodbridge Invitational, where multiple records were shattered.
Woodbridge Invitational was an incredible weekend, with teams all across the country showing up to one of the biggest races of the cross-country season. With over 16,000 runners competing, the boys’ team captain, Griffin Kushsen, was able to get 13th with a time of 13:59, followed by Parker Wolfe’s 15:08. Both boys were shortly followed by Ryan McNamara, Chase Manning, Lukas Andrews, Ezra Bryden and Jack Miranda, all with incredible finishing times.
Griffin's phenomenal time of 13:59 shattered the previous school record that he set last season. While his performance proved substantial for Tesoro, Griffin stated that he “mostly felt unsatisfied” due to his 13th place finish and believes he can do better in the future.
The girls’ team also did extremely well at the Woodbridge Invitation, coming in ninth out of twenty-six teams and setting a new individual and team school record. Leading the team and breaking the individual girls school record was Mackenzie Forrest with a time of 16:27.
With Mackenzie leading her team into a 9th place finish, along with breaking the school record, it was no doubt an incredible performance. After crossing the finish line, Mackenzie recalled, “I didn’t even know what the record was until my coach told me after.” She credited her success to her family, teammates, coach and consistent training. As Mackenzie is only a junior, her potential continues to grow and prosper, with a promising future ahead.
With this electric start to the season, both teams prepare for their next big race, Clovis Invitational. As the teams continue to train even harder, one can only imagine what the team and coaches have in store this year.
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