While the Healdsburg High varsity football team has yet to win a game this season, many other HHS student athletes are having a banner year. Take for instance the cross country running team, which is ranked No. 2 among Northern California Division 5 teams.
“Healdsburg Varsity Boys is in a great position to qualify as a team for the CIF State Championship this year, especially after beating Convent & Stuart Hall at the Artichoke Invitational,” said coach Kate Guthrie (herself a former all-American runner for the University of Oregon).
In large part that’s possible because of strong seasons by sophomore Lucas Welty, junior Lukas Brennan, and senior and team captain Jake McWilliams. All three have been setting personal records since the season began in September with the Lowell Invitational in San Francisco, followed by the Viking Invitational in Santa Rosa and, more recently, the Artichoke Invitational in Half Moon Bay.
Every cross country track is different, in terms of terrain as well as distance. The Lowell track, for instance, is 2.83 miles through Golden Gate Park; the Artichoke is a flat, usually foggy 2.3 miles at the coastal high school. For the Greyhounds, home is the hilly 3.1-mile Top of the World course, at Hoot Owl Vineyard in Alexander Valley.
“The combination of hills, terrain, and fast road makes for a very interesting and unpredictable race, which is why Healdsburg never loses at home,” Welty said. He and his teammates swept Ukiah in their Oct. 8 meet by taking the top seven places. The speedy sophomore set a new record at 17:14, and teammate McWilliams’s 17:29 also bested the previous Kaeden Anderson standard of 17:36.
At the Artichoke, their dominance got noticed. Welty finished second in the highly competitive field, and McWilliams fourth. The team they leapfrogged into second place at the meet, Convent & Stuart Hall, managed 11th place.
Coming up are the key meets leading to the state championships for a Division 5 team, according to coach Guthrie. “In order to advance to the State Championship as a team, we must place in the top 4 teams at the NCS Championship meet,” Guthrie said. “Or, individuals can qualify for the State Championship by placing in the top 16 finishers at the NCS Championship meet.”
More good news for the two quick underclassmen: Lucas Welty and Jake McWilliams were selected to compete at the Mt. SAC Cross Country Invitational in the ‘Sweepstakes’ race on Friday, 0ct. 25. The meet is an invitational and has nothing to do with league, NCS, or the State championship meets.
