The state's top runners have a lot more left in the tank
I ran into Burroughs Burbank coach Levon Davis at the base of Reservoir Hill before the start of the D1/D2 Sweepstakes races, where his athletes -- juniors Alexander Hirsch and Emily Virtue-- were projected to contend for the win. When asked about their fitness, he shrugged it off and said that no one is peaking for this meet. With CIF Prelims, Finals and possibly NXN or Foot Locker on the horizon, the season is just too long to expect a big performance in the middle of October.
Hirsch won the Team Sweepstakes individual title in 15:05 [19 seconds slower than last year]. Virtue, a 2015 Foot Locker finalist, took ninth in the Girls Individual Sweepstakes race. Fellow Foot Locker finalists Glennis Murphy and Claire Graves placed fourth and sixth, respectively, as newcomer Claudia Lane won the individual title.
The best is yet to come, as evidenced by the finishes of the nationally elite boys in the field.
The top-ranked boys runners of the weekend, U.S. No. 6 Cooper Teare and U.S. No. 16 Callum Bolger, won their division sweepstakes races in 14:44 and 15:31, respectively, while the fastest boys times of Mt. SAC 2016 came from the D3 Sweepstakes battle between Erik Gonzalez and Joaquin Martinez de Pinillos (14:37.61 to 14:37.72).
And even though Lane recorded one of the best individual performances in Mt. SAC meet history, the sweepstakes win was largely solo. I think she will prove to have a lot more left in the tank once she gets another crack at top nationally elite talent.
Watch Erik Gonzalez and Joaquin Martinez de Pinillos battle to the fastest times of the weekend in the D3 Sweepstakes:
