Boys Varsity:
The varsity boys had an absolutely dominant performance at the championship meet that took place at Hayward High School which ended with them taking home the title. The team got off to a sensational start of the race being lead by their two senior leaders who were both also named first team all-league, Lyle Phillips and Ethan Gonzalez, before settling into a pace that allowed for all the boys to stay together and work together to be able to win the race. Lyle finished the race 6th, and Ethan finished 7th but they were closely followed by Ennio Eilenberg who finished 10th and two other sophomores, Nathaniel and Sebastian who each finished the race in 12th and 13th place. Through this use of perfect teamwork and everybody bringing their absolute best to the table, O’Dowd was able to bring home the championship banner, win the entire league, and also punch its ticket to the NCS round which takes place at Hayward high on November 18th. Ethan had this to say about his team, “I’m so proud of these guys. We’ve worked so hard all season and I’m just really glad to see it all pay off.” We all are very excited to see how far this talented team can go in the playoffs because from what we’ve gotten all season, there doesn’t really seem to be a way to slow them down.
Girls Varsity:
The girls varsity team also had a very strong performance over the weekend with two of their runners finishing within the top 10. Izzy Rodgers was able to top off her extremely impressive freshman campaign with a second place finish in the championship which allowed for her to be named first team all-league. However, Lucy King also had a very strong race where she finished 7th overall and was named to first team all league as well. Through their strong performances and use of teamwork this team has also punched its ticket to the NCS race where they will continue to dominate.
Boys Frosh:
Even though varsity stole most of the show, there were stars in other races including freshman James Prater ’27 who was able to win his entire race. James showed great running technique by staying in second throughout most of the race before gaining a lot of ground on the final hill and surging at the end to beat the other runner. After his first place finished James said, “I’m really hoping I can build on this performance and ride this confidence into track season.” However, another freshman, Tommy Opeka, also dominated within this race finishing 7th overall. Tommy’s strong performance was a result of how hard he has worked all season, often going above and beyond during workouts, and because he had the drive to finish off his season with a bang.
