Photo credits to Billy Brendy
This past Saturday, the M-A cross-country team participated in the CCS finals. The girls team placed second overall, qualifying for states, while the boys team placed fourth.
Senior Tatum Olesen, who has committed to run at the University of Virginia next year, placed first overall for the second year in a row, this year breaking her previous course record by 15 seconds.. Olesen destroyed the competition, crossing the finish line thirty seconds quicker than the second-place finisher. When asked about what made this season great, Oleson said, “I am super glad to have such great teammates, they made this season extra special.”
Trailing behind Oleson for the Bears was senior Annie Pflaum, who placed third, and senior Sofia Melani, who placed tenth. Junior Sophie Chi ran a PR (personal record) to place 23rd. Sophomore Paige Mcgaraghan placed 27th. These five Bears helped the team earn a score of 64, which narrowly fell second to Evergreen Valley who earned 56 points. Still, second place at CCS earned the Bears an automatic qualification for the state meet in Fresno on Saturday, November 25th.
Olesen later said, “I felt like the team really connected throughout the whole race today, we were just so in sync from the start and I think having full faith in one another is what has allowed us to be so successful.”
The Boys team was led by senior Aidan Doherty, who placed second overall. The other scorers for the Bears were senior Timothy Rousseau in ninth place, sophomore Aiden Sharp in 22nd place, senior Caleb Travers in 28th place, and junior Thomas Bernadicou in 30th place. These five Bear runners helped the Boys team place fourth overall with a score of 91. While the team didn’t qualify for the State meet, Doherty and Rousseau qualified as individuals and will be running in Fresno on November 25.
Overall, both teams put a stamp on an incredible season this past weekend.M-A is proud to have runners representing the Bears at state next weekend.
