MILESPLITCA BOYS CROSS COUNTRY RUNNER OF THE WEEK
Davis (SJ) senior Zach Ayers, pictured shaking hands with Kenan Pala following their race at the Eastbay West Regional qualifier, was voted MileSplit CA Boys Cross Country Runner of the Week for the week ending Dec. 4. (Raymond Tran photos)
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Zach Ayers, a senior at Davis (SJ), placed sixth at the Eastbay West Region, covering the 5K Mt. SAC course in 15:17 and is among four CA boys onto the region team that will represent the West at the Eastbay National Championships.
In recognition of his accomplishment, Ayers, a recent Air Force Academy commit, was voted as CA's Boys Cross Country Runner of the Week for the week ending Dec. 4, receiving 54.52 percent of the vote in a statewide poll. Newbury Park (SS) senior Colin Sahlman was second with 28.57 percent of the vote. It was the second time this fall that Ayers has been CA's top vote-getter!
This was our final Runner of the Week poll of the 2021 cross country season. Congratulations to all the winners, all the finalists, and everyone who participated in recognizing these amazing athletes by voting.
Previous Winners
11/27 -- Sean Morello, a junior at Albany (NC), placed third in the CIF-State Division IV race in 15:09.90 to lead his team to the division title, a 130-152 win over runner-up Archie Williams (NC).
11/24 -- Daniel Trampe, a senior at Dublin (NC), won the North Coast Section Division 1 title in a time of 15:13.8 on the 3-mile Hayward HS course to beat senior teammate Sharvin Manjrekar by 12.5 seconds while leading his team to a perfect 15 points for the team title.
11/13 -- Zach Ayers, a senior at Davis (SJ), won the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division 1 title, scorching the 5K Willow Hills course in 15:28.6, the fastest time in the merge.
11/6 -- Alex Mader, a Yale-bound senior at Lick Wilmerding (NC), rolled to the BCL title, running the 5K Lindley Meadow course at Golden Gate Park in 14:59.32 while leading his team to the title.
10/30 -- John Sesteaga, a senior at Glendora (SS), ran the 3-mile Claremont course in 15:03.29 to win the Palomares League title by just over 10 seconds in front of Ayala (SS) senior Mason Ma.
10/23 -- Kenan Pala, a senior at Francis Parker (SD) and Yale commit, blistered the iconic 2.93-mile course at the 73rd Mt. SAC XC Invitational to win the Division 3-4-5 Individual Sweepstakes race on Friday evening in 14:24, equalling the second-fastest time on the course and the fastest ever by a Division 5 runner.
10/16 -- Andrew Burr, a freshman at Sacramento Country Day (SJ), cruised the 5K course to win the small schools division race at the Wildfire Invitational at Foresthill in 17:16, eight seconds faster than Colfax senior Jacob Kolster.
10/9 -- Glenn Bell, a senior at Rancho Cucamonga (SS), was a five-second winner over Woodcrest Christian freshman Eyan Turk at the Inland Empire Challenge, running the 5K course at Glen Helen Regional Park in 15:24.0.
10/2 -- Zachary Graeber, a senior at Folsom, was 9.9 seconds faster than teammate Ethan Smith to win the Del Oro Invitational 5K in 15:42.3, running a 5K PR.
9/25 -- Bryce Gilmore, a senior at Sage Creek (SD) went out fast and finished strong in 14:13 to shatter the Dana Hills Cross Country Invitational 3-mile course record by three seconds. It was a mark that had stood since 1983.
9/18 -- Newbury Park (SS) junior Leo Young led a stunning parade of Panthers teammates across the line at the Woodbridge Classic, running the fast 3-mile SilverLakes course in 13:38.1 to break brother Nico's previous course record in one of the fastest 3-mile performances on record.
9/11 -- Alex Lamoureux, a junior at Pleasant Hill College Park (NC), had the best overall time at the Ed Sias Invitational running the 2-mile Hidden Valley Park course in 10:14.7 to win by 16.5 seconds.
9/4 -- Max Sannes, a senior at Big Bear (SS), had the best overall time at the Fastback Invitational on the 2-mile course at Mt. SAC.
Photos by Raymond Tran/MileSplitCA