Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Distance Runners Have Strong Debut at Dan Gabor

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Amador Valley HS, Pleasanton, CA - The Warriors opened their season Saturday night at the Dan Gabor Invitational.  The distance portion of the meet, run under the lights, has traditionally been one of the top early season meets in California and this year would prove to be no different.  The weather was questionable as a storm pelted the bay area earlier in the day but conditions turned ideal by the evening resulting in spectacular times.

Valley Christian was competing in two events on the evening, the 800 and 3200 meters.  The half-milers were first up and leading the way in her first ever track race was Kiko Li with a fourth place finish.  Training with the 400 runners in the early going this season she had a spectacular debut race finishing in 2:47.49.  Leia Wang also finished fourth in her race with a time of 2:44.48, dramatically just 0.2 seconds off the win in a photo finish with three other runners.  Vanessa Giacalone challenged for the lead early pushing the early pace through a 77 opening lap, holding on to finish in 2:46.11.  Another newbie to the 800 was Nicole Farve.  The sophomore competed at 400 meters last season and competed in her first cross country season this fall developing into one of the top runners ever for the Warriors.  Farve showed patience and paced the event perfectly finishing in 2:34.19, respectably.  Closing out the event for the girls was Ashley Lara who won her heat in 2:23.82, her second fastest time ever.   
    
In the boys race Francisco Herrera kicked things off winning his first ever race in 2:21.82.  Running in the same heat was Aaron Chang finishing fourth in 2:24.76.  Yash Patel just finished the basketball season but was excited for his first race finishing in 2:26.09, a personal best for the freshman.  Matt Lundy led his race wire to wire opening with a blistering 63 second lap to win his race in a personal best 2:11.89.  The race proved to be redemption of sorts for the junior who was plagued by nagging injury last season and took most of the summer and cross country season off.  

In the girls 3200 Jessica Xu took to the lead from the gun and never looked back.  Running with the pack through two laps Xu put on a surge in the third and build a lead that she never surrendered winning comfortably in 12:15.49.  Two other Warriors were in the race and held their own.  Finishing in 12:50.40 was Karen Mac, an impressive time as it was her first 3200 since her sophomore year.  Shannon Luu ran a personal best 13:16.83 improving nearly 20 seconds from her sophomore year.

The boys were spread throughout the first three races of the evening, each exciting on their own.  Up first in the opening heat, three Warriors who took to the lead pack from the start.  Peter Enfantino challenged for the win throughout finishing in a personal best time 11:18.41.  Just seconds shy of his personal best run from last season was Samuel Han who finished in 11:38.54.  Samuel Cuevas ran impressively in his debut 3200 finishing in 11:52.77.  The second race featured Jason Li and Justin Baraona the teammates battled to the finish ending in a result separated by less than half a second.  Li cramped in laps five and six rebounded in the final half mile to finish in 11:08.00.  Baraona finished in 11:08.43, an impressive time for the freshman.

The final 3200 of the evening featured Nathan Lynch and Nedu Ndili.  Lynch took to the lead from the start and was in the lead pack throughout the race pacing the field through the mile in 5:20, his teammate Ndili in the pack at 5:22.  The pack surged and the race was on.  Nearly the entire field responded with about 15 boys still in the lead pack through the first seven of eight laps only separated by finishing kicks the final 400.  Lynch finished in a negative split and personal best time of 10:33.31.  Ndili finished just behind in 10:36.78, the second fastest time ever in school history for a freshman.

The Warriors will next compete at the K-Bell Invitational, Saturday March 8 at Los Gatos High School

Full Results: CLICK HERE


3200 Stats:


400
800
1200
1600
2000
2400
2800
3200
Jessica Xu
85
2:55
(90)
4:28
(93)
6:02
(95)
7:37
(95)
9:15
(98)
10:50
(95)
12:15
(85)
Karen Mac
89
3:02
(93)
4:35
(93)
6:14
(1:39)
7:57
(1:43)
9:37
(1:40)
11:17
(1:40)
12:50
(93)
Shannon Luu
92
3:07
(95)
4:48
(1:41)
6:30
(1:42)
8:15
(1:45)
10:01
(1:46)
11:45
(1:44)
13:16
(91)









Nathan Lynch
75
2:36
(81)
3:58
(82)
5:20
(82)
6:39
(79)
7:56
(77)
9:18
(82)
10:33
(75)
Nedu Ndili
79
2:39
(80)
4:00
(81)
5:22
(82)
6:41
(79)
7:58
(77)
9:20
(82)
10:36
(76)
Jason Li
77
2:40
(83)
4:03
(83)
5:27
(84)
6:55
(88)
8:27
(92)
9:51
(82)
11:07
(76)
Justin Baraona
80
2:41
(81)
4:07
(86)
5:33
(86)
7:01
(88)
8:31
(90)
9:56
(85)
11:08
(72)
Peter Enfantino
79
2:42
(83)
4:10
(88)
5:36
(86)
7:02
(86)
8:30
(88)
9:56
(86)
11:18
(82)
Samuel Han
85
2:48
(83)
4:19
(91)
5:46
(87)
7:15
(89)
8:39
(84)
10:08
(87)
11:28
(80)
Samuel Cuevas
85
2:46
(83)
4:18
(92)
5:46
(88)
7:12
(86)
8:45:
(93)
10:14
(89)
11:42
(88)
 

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