Every year, Campo’s cross country team, led by Coach Chuck, is among the league’s best. This year, the team has managed to achieve even more success. Junior Clark Gregory said, “The season has been great this year. This is, I think, the best team Campo has ever had, and the best team I’ve ever been on.”
On Friday, Oct. 17, the varsity boys cross country team set the NCS team-time record on the Woodward Park course at the Rough Rider Invitational. The combined times of the Cougars’ top five runners are the fastest ever on that course. Woodward Park, located in Fresno, is the same course that the state championships are run on.
Not only did the team set the all-time record, but they also had multiple runners in the top 20 all-time for Campolindo athletes, and won the team title. Gregory finished in second place with a 15:17.35 time, and sophomore Caden Ehrhorn finished in third place with a 15:19.67 clock time. Junior Gavin Gunn finished in 11th place, junior Jack Durden finished in 14th place, and junior Samuel Hearn finished in 16th place. It was a huge team accomplishment that will propel them to the state championship race.
“It was great. Our team has been working really hard for it, so it meant a lot to us, and we just had so many guys there that ran really fast,” said junior Drew Shogan. The Cougars finished with a score of forty, which was much better than any of the other schools for the Varsity Boys Large School race. After an exhausting run, the coaches gathered up the runners and told them about their record-breaking performance.
There was a brief celebration after an incredible accomplishment, but the Cougars’ eyes are focused on even greater achievements. Gregory, who has been on the cross-country team since his freshman year, said, “It was awesome, but it’s even more cool to know that there’s more coming, that we’re still getting faster, and that this is kind of just the start.”
The lack of celebration from the team was due to increased training and preparation for the playoffs. The boys team is currently ranked #10 in the nation and #2 overall in California. The team will look to defend their DAL title when they participate in the DAL championship before moving on to NCS and the state meet in the coming weeks. “But, you know, after that, just more training, and, you know, still having that mindset on state. What’s next is our league championships, which we’re hoping to win, and then we have NCS and state,” said Durden.
The varsity boys’ cross country team is hoping to make it to nationals for the first time in program history. Regarding the Rough Rider Invitational record, Gregory said, “That’s not really been our main goal, but it’s nice to get it. It’s nice for the team, heading into our league championships, and then [we] hope to move on to NCS and state, and potentially go on to nationals from there for the first time.” No matter how the rest of the season goes, the team put their names in the record books with an all-time team performance. They became the fastest team in section history.
Not only did the cross-country team break records, but they also won championships. On Saturday, Nov. 29, the boys cross country team competed once again at Woodward Park and repeated as state champions. It was the perfect end to a historic season.
