DFAL
Championships RESULTS AT BOTTOM OF PAGE
91:25 – SERIOUSLY? In the final race of the afternoon at Saturday's 2014 DFAL league championships, the Campolindo varsity girls laid down a team performance for the ages. Brighie Leach (15) and Toni Finnane (15) set the tone early, reeling in a fast-starting Chloe Hansel of Las Lomas so that the trio were shoulder to shoulder at the mile mark. As the leaders hit "Finale" hill, Leach trailed Hansel and Finnane by a few steps. However, when the group reached the top of the steep 120 meter incline, the defending league champion had gained the lead. Leach never looked back. Finanne surged with her teammate through the final stages of the race. By the time the duo crossed the finish line, they had pulled 50 meters ahead of Hansel. Leach's time of 17:27 is a new course record while, at 17:30, Finnane equals the old mark, set by two-time state champion Carrie Verdon in 2011. Mary Orders (15), who held 4th place for the duration of the race, relentlessly maintained pursuit of the lead pack. Her final time of 18:28 is 5th best on the course in school history. Rachel Johnson (15) came from behind yet again, moving from 14th (7th for her squad) in the first mile, all the way to 7th overall in the final stretch. Hana Sun (16) used a bold start and gritty mid-race effort to finish 9th in 19:10, which makes her the 9th best Campolindo athlete in course history, while Sarah Cella (16) and Hannah Ruane (18) grabbed the 12th and 14th spots, respectively. The varsity girls' placed all 7 runners in the top 14, laying claim to 50% of the DFAL's "All-League" team. Had the rest of the league run as a single squad against the Cougars, they still would have fallen short, 23-32. What's more, The varsity girls' total time for the first 5 finishers was a mind-blowing 91:25, a hefty 2:46 faster than the previous team-time course record set by the Campolindo squad of 2011. Their performance topped off an historic day for the red and blue as all 6 squads managed to keep the league at bay, sweeping the team championships. The feat has only been accomplished once before in the history of the DFAL. The race thought to be the biggest challenge for the Cougars turned into a route when Kekoa Nelson (16) joined his teammates, Matt McAuliffe (16), David Kuckuk (15), and Sam Lee (15) in the front pack of the junior varsity boys' race. All finishing in the top 5, the quartet helped annihilate their closest rivals and continue Campolindo's streak of league titles in the division. Both frosh soph teams accomplished their missions. The boys' started off the meet with a nail-biter, holding off a challenge from Dublin to win by 2 points, 49-51. Ray Diaz (17) continued his front running while Kyle Flett (17) and Casey Chambers (18) each improved by 40 seconds to maintain the advantage. The frosh soph girls simply overwhelmed the field, placing 6 runners in the top 9. Jenna Miles earned runner-up honors, and the fastest 2-mile time of the day for the Cougar girls, in 12:58. Jessie Foxworthy (18) and Savannah Hilton (18) both knocked over 30 seconds from their previous best to finish 6th and 7th, respectively. With a sweep of the top 4 places, the junior varsity girls were equally invincible, scoring just 20 points. Robin Powell (16) claimed the individual crown with teammates Emma Ishida (16) and Sarah Shipway (16) in tow. The surprise performance came from Sophia Settle (16), who dropped her personal best by a whopping 52 seconds to finish 4th overall. Another "pack" performance helped the varsity boys stay perfect. This day's "top gun" was Jared Yabu (17), who darted passed competitors in the final mile to pick up 4th place. Parker Lothamer (15) was next in line, lowering his course record by 10 seconds for 7th place. Other big-time improvements came from James Lyon (18), who took 2 minutes off his season best mark in the frosh soph boys' division, and Sean Garvey (16), who cracked the 15 minute barrier by lowering his pervious record by 1:48. On the girls' side, it was Ashley Kohan (17) with the most progress, setting a new course record by 1:58. Jacqualine Hughes (18) and Clarina He (15) were the next best, improving by just over a minute.
Campolindo's Brighie Leach wins third DFAL cross country title By Phil Jensenpjensen@bayareanewsgroup.com POSTED: 11/08/2014 At the beginning of the final hill of the Diablo Foothill Athletic League girls championship race Saturday, Campolindo High's Brighie Leach was third behind a talented duo of Las Lomas' Chloe Hansel and Campolindo's Toni Finnane. Near the top of that 120-meter hill, Leach took the lead. She held the top spot through the finish line to win her third straight DFAL individual cross country title with a Hidden Valley Park-Martinez course-record time of 17 minutes, 27.2 seconds. "I just started going as fast as I possibly could," said Leach about her big move. "I wasn't expecting this to happen." The trio had distanced themselves from the rest of the field by approximately the three-quarter mile mark of the 3.0-mile race and were in a tight pack together at the beginning of the final hill with about 600 meters left in the race. Each of the trio led at least once on the hill, with Leach, who has orally committed to Princeton, leading at the top. Finnane placed second in the race in 17:30.1, followed by Hansel in third (17:38.3). In the boys championship race, Acalanes junior Cameron Gaskell made a decisive move just after the two-mile mark to win in 15:55.2. A Las Lomas duo of Danny Jervis and Tom Robey were second and third with times of 16:07.6 and 16:14.1, respectively. "There was a good vibe going into the warm-up," Gaskell said. "Once the race got off, my body didn't fail." Campolindo's girls and boys teams also won championship team titles with scores of 21 and 41, respectively. They clinched the DFAL titles with the wins.
DFAL PHOTO ALBUM FROM ERIC YABU IS HERE! HUGE GALLERY OF PICTURES FROM STEVE LEACH HERE! SENIOR SPEECHES AND FAMILY PICS HERE!
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BOYS'
VARSITY Campolindo 41, Dublin 64, Las Lomas 65, Miramonte 97, Acalanes 113, Dougherty Valley 128
BOYS'
FROSH SOPH Campolindo 49, Dublin 51, Alhambra 83, Miramonte 102, Dougherty Valley 107, Las Lomas 109, Acalanes 216
BOYS'
JV Campolindo 27, Miramonte 51, Las Lomas 67, Dougherty Valley 98, Dublin 107, Acalanes 180 |
GIRLS'
VARSITY Campolindo 23, Las Lomas 79, Dougherty Valley 86, Dublin 113, Miramonte 126, Acalanes 136, Alhambra 188
GIRLS'
FROSH SOPH Campolindo 18, Las Lomas 46, Dougherty Valley 90, Miramonte 94
GIRLS'
JV Campolindo 20, Las Lomas 35, Dougherty Valley 67, Miramonte 117, Acalanes 132 |
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