At their 1st meet of the season, girls’ and boys’ cross country athletes competed in the annual Ed Sias Invitational on September 9 at Hidden Valley Park.

46 teams, including some from as far away as San Diego and Mount Shasta, convened for the traditional season kick off event. According to Campolindo head coach Chuck Woolridge, many of the teams in attendance provided competition his squad doesn’t normally get to compete against.

Junior Edward Buckley placed 2nd overall in the small school varsity boys’ 2-mile race with a time of 10:26. “During the last 800 meters I was basically going as fast as I could because this guy was chasing me down, and he barely got me in the last 25 meters,” Buckley said. The junior top gun for the Cougars had held the lead for much of the race before being passed by an athlete from Maria Carrillo.

“I knew I should have been in the front of the race. I really wanted to get 1st but I couldn’t control it; he was a really good racer, and I did my best. I’ve been improving a lot so I’m super happy with my time and my place and I have much more races, so I’m just waiting for the next one this Saturday,” Buckley added.

Improving her time by 2 minutes and 11 seconds over her performance in 2016, sophomore Catherine Zhang contributed to the frosh soph girls’ 2nd place effort. After the race, Zhang felt “surprised,” knowing she had advanced so substantially. Zhang had been trying to “work harder in practice to run faster.”

According to Buckley, his coaches run intense practice sessions designed to help the athletes improve.

“We have a lot of young boys that have great potential, but that potential is only gonna get realized through the hard work that they put in at practice and the consistency with which they practice,” Woolridge said.

Although many inexperienced members have joined the team, Woolridge believes that upperclassmen are providing the guidance they need. “Our girl’s team is made up of a big senior class and then a big sophomore class, so the sophomores have an opportunity to learn from some veteran leadership and carry on the tradition that we’ve had for many years now,” Woolridge added.