The boys and girls cross country teams finished their season impressively at the Crystal Springs CCS championship, placing third and fourth respectively and narrowly missing a team placement at the CIF state championship on Saturday. Freshman Caroline Pflaum, junior Cason Mitchell, and senior Thomas Bernadicou will have their seasons extended, competing individually at the CIF state championship in Fresno on Nov. 30th.
The girls ran first, led by Pflaum, who finished 12th out of 83 runners with a time of 18:58. Freshman Harper Krefetz and senior Claire Gong followed suit in 15th and 20th, respectively. The girls were the 13th fastest team in all of CCS, putting an exclamation mark on another successful season.
“The whole team was psyched with how we did. We’ve been improving all year and this was our best race yet. The season went by really fast and it was great to be part of a team where everyone was working hard to improve and contribute,” Pflaum said.
The boys raced next, setting an overall team record for the fastest time on the course in the past 40 years. Mitchell, who finished in seventh with a time of 15:34, became the sixth fastest Bear ever on the course. Bernadicou finished just three seconds after and secured ninth place, while junior Aidan Sharp and sophomore Evan Chopra finished in 18th and 21st shortly after.
“I am super proud of this team. The dedication and commitment we have shown throughout the year has been incredible, and it showed this past Saturday. Six of our seven runners set new major personal records on the course which is pretty crazy considering we raced the same course only a week ago,” Mitchell said. “Looking back on the season, I feel like we have achieved and accomplished so much this year.”
This concludes the season for the boys and girls teams.
