Backyard Dash Takes Over Hellyer Park

Hellyer Park, San Jose - Once a year on the fourth Monday in September, Andrew Hill and Valley Christian take the mile or so trek from their respective campuses to meet at Hellyer Park to partake in a three mile fun run.  Long dubbed the “Backyard Dash,” the run has grown over the years, from about forty runners total for the inaugural gathering to almost two hundred in 2013. 

Andrew Hill Coach, Jason Guven came up with the idea after noticing the two teams using the same bike path there at the park and have hosted the run ever since.  Post-race watermelon was perhaps the highlight for many of the runners who were grateful of their Andrew Hill hosts.  Boasting a team of over 160 along with Valley Christian’s roster of 70 made for a crowded but fun run for all.

Running up front for the Warriors was Jeremy Dong and Nedu Ndili.  Before having to stop just past two miles due to a stomach cramp, Jeremy was with the race leaders pushing the pace.  As was freshman Nedu Ndili who made an unfortunate wrong turn and ended up 6th.  For the girls Leia Wang, Annie Yeh and Maddie Hoover were top finishers for the Warriors.

"It was good to come out and run hard even though your not wearing a uniform," Coach Guven said of the fun run addressing all the runners. 

Next up for the Warriors the varsity team is scheduled to compete in the Stanford Invitational on Saturday.  All levels open up league competition Thursday, October 3 at the Baylands in Sunnyvale.

GIRLS 24:21  Leia Wang 26:10  Annie Yeh 26:17  Maddie Hoover 28:02  Allison Cong 29:23  Stephanie Lim 29:31  Mayu Yoshikawa 29:33  Maggie Theaker 29:33  Audrey Chang 29:46  Grace Cardona 30:05  Vanessa Giacalone 30:13  Courtney Nelson 30:14  Shannon Kovach 32:31  Alyssa Llewwnyn

BOYS 19:43  Nedu Ndili 19:53  Justin Baraona 20:18  Jason Li 20:34  Francisco Herrera 20:37  Cameron Lockard 20:38  Newman Hu 20:45  Matthew Weeks 20:48  Coach Small 21:49  Nathan Baldry 21:50  Samuel Cuevas 22:13  Dean DeMoss 22:29  Wilson Chung 22:56  Inigo Garcia 23:19  Zachary Garcia 23:25  Matthew Milner 23:40  Sam Taft 24:22  Andrew Zhang 25:58  Omar Torrentera 26:15  Peter Sohn 27:11  Alex Lee 27:34  Minh Nguyen 28:14  Jeremy Dong 28:29  Volk Jensiriwanich 28:30  Alex Wang 30:55  Alan Nguyen 32:29  Jacob Laucella 33:28  Arjun Doreswamy