Crystal Springs, Belmont - The Lady Warriors put together a complete team effort to place second in the CCS Division III race Saturday, running the fastest team time in school history in the process.
The race turned out to be exactly what was expected, a shootout between the top runners in the section. It was no surprise that three of the six fastest times of the day came from the competitive division but it also featured the 6th fastest team to ever run the course.
It was a blistering pace from the start as eventual winner Nikki Hiltz took control of the race early and went on to finish in 17:05, the fastest time of the day in the CCS and 7th all-time for Crystal Springs. Hiltz pulled a group of runners including Anna Welsh of Monterey, teammate Clare Peabody and Valley Christian’s Morgan Lira through a blistering first mile.
Usually a front runner, Lira held back the first mile and was sitting tactically in 4th place but still came through the mile in 5:38. Lira then went to work and closed the gap between 3rd place and by mile 2 had made up about 20 seconds and was in the hunt for second place. Running a brilliant last mile Lira made her move in the last half mile on the slight climb to the finish in the final 150 meters moved into 2nd place ahead of Monterey’s Anna Welsh. Holding on strong the two runners battled to the finish, both recording the time of 17:57 with Walsh out leaning Lira in one of the most exciting finishes of the day.
Not far behind the Warriors were on the hunt and had their sights on returning to the State Championship. Jessica Xu was running a brilliant race of her own pushing up to the top 10 by mile 2 after opening the first mile with a 6:18. Ashley Lara and Kellianne Connolly were having a big breakthrough working together the entire race, while Karen Mac was running her best race of the year despite having to gut out stomach cramping. After passing the mile in 6:32 the pack moved up steadily throughout the race all finishing in the top 30.
The most improved runner of the day was Shannon Luu who finished as the Warriors 6th runner in 21:35. It was a 62 second improvement over her best time this year and 1:51 over her best time last year. Megan Gillespie rounded out the varsity team and also squeaked out a 2 second personal best as all seven runners ran their best time ever on the Crystal Springs course.
“I could not be prouder of a team than I was Saturday,” said Coach Lee after the race. That says a lot as Coach Lee has been with the Warriors for the last 16 years.
The Warriors will now turn his attention to the CIF State Championships on November, 26th at Woodward Park in Fresno. The Division 3 Girls Race is scheduled for 11:45 am.
| Girls Results - CCS Championship (2.95 Mi) |
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| Team Record: | Jennifer Bergman | 17:16 | 2008 |
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| Mile 1 | 2011 Best |
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| Morgan Lira | 12 | 17:57 | 5:40 | 18:29 (-0:32) |
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| Jessica Xu | 10 | 19:21 | 6:14 | 20:03 (-0:42) |
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| Ashley Lara | 9 | 20:05 | 6:25 | 20:30 (-0:25) |
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| Kellianne Connolly | 11 | 20:11 | 6:25 | 20:47 (-0:36) |
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| Karen Mac | 10 | 20:37 | 6:25 | 20:59 (-0:22) |
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| Shannon Luu | 10 | 21:35 | 7:13 | 22:37 (-1:02) |
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| Megan Gillespie | 10 | 23:34 | 7:12 | 23:36 (-0:02) |
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