Grand Oaks Girls and Boys Cross Country September 2022 Invitational
October 6, 2022
Grand Oaks Boys Cross Country hosted their annual grizzly XC (Cross-Country) invitational on Sept. 3. The boys hosted a successful meet, creating an amazing course for many athletes to break personal records, build confidence, and break school records.
The varsity boys start the meet off with first place win led by junior Payton Chambers. Chambers was able to break the 16:30 minute mark with an official time of 16:29. Chambers shatters his own record of 17:03. As Chambers approaches the school record he stays thankful to his old teammate and school record holder Hayden Eubank, for previous training and running style.
Varsity girls take 3rd place against other difficult teams competing that day. Led by junior Staucie Lees, who takes first place for the Varsity Girls 5k. Lees take her lead by an astonishing 51 seconds. Lees also shatters the 19 minute marker, being the first ever girl in the Grand Oaks Cross Country program to break sub 19. Other athletes including sophomore Lillian Martinez (21:48) and Junior Pacience Chambers (22:22) both make the top 30 for their team, helping secure their 3rd place win.
Junior varsity Boys came out in 1st place led by 2 year runner freshman Josh Pritchard. Pritchard ran an 18:03, a new personal best. The head Boys Cross Country coach, Ethan McDonald, is excited to see what Josh Pritchard and teammate Matthew Park (taken out of the race after injury) can do this year. Coach McDonald says “ Lookout for these 2 as the season goes on”.
Ian Bradshaw leads the freshmen boys to a first place win after taking 4th place with a personal best of 12:38. Not far behind, teammate Mateo Sevilla, in 5th place, runs 7 seconds behind Bradshaw with a time of 12:45.
Grand Oaks Girls Cross Country coach James Higham makes the decision to add his junior varsity team into the varsity race. Higham’s decision proved to be a good choice with freshmen athletes Logen Lutz and Sophia Plasek bringing their junior varsity team a 9th place win in a varsity division. Plasek runs a 23:44 and Lutz runs a 24:16. “Big futures to come with the effort put in by the freshmen today,” said Coach Higham.
Senior Natalia Figureo put in the work competing in the junior varsity division and took home 2nd place with an official time of 14:49. Figureo is excited to finish her senior season and can’t wait to see what’s to come with her career in the future.
This weekend shows big successes for Grand Oaks Cross Country. As the Grizzlies prepare for the district championships, they are practicing hard and hoping to take home first place titles to move the way into regionals. Good luck Grizzlies!