Team Records Fall at RLS Relays; Girls Defend Title

The team celebrates the Girls win at the RLS relays

Pebble Beach, CA - For the third consecutive year the conclusion of the RLS Relays came down to the final few meters, taking every bit of the 8 mile relay to sort out the team champion for the Large School division title.  Running in teams of five, each competitor trekked 1.6 miles through the wooded trails on the RLS Campus.  From the start the Warriors were locked in a back and forth battle with Clovis High School (Fresno) and Santa Teresa for the team title.  
 

Kailey Eddy led the charge for the Warriors pushing the pace through the first leg.  In a back and forth battle with Clovis High, Eddy made a move on the hill leading into the final 400 meters that distanced herself from her rival passing off in 9:49.  Jessica Xu was next up and quickly opened up the lead running a blistering 9:46 split.  Leia Wang stepped up to the varsity level once again and did her part running 45 seconds faster than last year keeping the race close in the third position.  Santa Teresa was now in the mix making it a three way battle.  Ashley Lara was strong in her season debut running a personal best 9:59 to pass off just seconds behind Clovis, the leaders of the Large School division.  Clovis and Santa Teresa took the anchor leg out hard that left the Warriors trailing in third with just under a mile to go.  Senior Karen Mac was running steady and closed the gap after a strategic move on the long hill with about a half mile to go.  Moving past Clovis early the question was now if Mac had enough time to catch the Santa Teresa runner in the lead.   Gaining with every stride Mac caught up with just 50 meters to go winning in a dramatic sprint to the finish.    

“Everyone was cheering for us because we had the banana for a baton.”  Jessica Xu said of the race.  “It was so much fun running today.” 

It was a complete team effort once again for the girls team.  Never before had a Warrior dipped below the 10 min mark, this race saw the top four all do it.  Their finishing time of 50:55 is a team record by more than a minute in a race that saw all five runners run a personal best. The Warriors also won the Large School Division in 2012 and finished second in a photo finish with Clovis High School in 2011. 

Jessica Xu and the banana baton.

“The best part was watching Coach Small eat the banana.” Karen Mac said after the race.

It has become tradition that if the team uses a banana as the baton the slowest team member eats it following the race.  Not one to follow tradition last year Shannon Luu enjoyed the mushy spoils after winning a sprint to the finish in one of the all-time fastest splits for the Warriors.  This year the team added the stipulation if the team wins in record time, the Coach has would eat the banana.

[Coach Small eats the banana]

It was a record breaking day for the boys as well as all five runners also ran personal best splits.  Running a team record 44:54 the crew of Jason Li, Jeremy Dong, Nathan Lynch, Peter Enfantino and Sam Han bettered the previous record by nearly 30 seconds.  The first three runners all dipped below the 9 minute mark as Enfantino and Han were right there as well.  The boys finished seventh in the Large School division in an extremely competitive race that saw top ranked teams Clovis, Lynbrook, Roosevelt and North Monterey County (who are currently ranked second in CCS for Division III).

It was also stellar day for the sub-varsity races as well.  The girls sprint crew took home the blue ribbon for winning their division, while the girl’s second sub varsity team took second, respectably.  The boys subdivision teams also finished in the top 10 in their races in what was the most competitive teams the Warriors have ever fielded for that level.  

The varsity team will next compete at the Stanford Invitational on September 28.

For team results: CLICK HERE