Almaden Resident

Sports

Earl, Barnett each lead the pack in BVAL cross country events

By Eli Segall

Ken Earl of Pioneer and Stephanie Barnett of Leland were on the run last week, and no one could catch them.

Earl and Barnett each finished first in Blossom Valley Athletic League cross country events last week on the 2.73-mile Montgomery Hill Park course, Earl running for the Mustangs in the West Valley Division and Barnett running for the Chargers in the Mt. Hamilton Division.

Barnett's performance was especially impressive. The Leland sophomore set a new course record in 17:20 to finish first overall in the eight-team field, finishing more than a minute ahead of her nearest rival.

Barnett's effort helped the Chargers dominate Silver Creek 21-36 and Leigh 20-40 in a double dual meet. The win helped Leland finish the dual meet season with a 6-1 record, second only to Willow Glen's 7-0.

Freshmen Claudia Barnett and Michelle Hsieh also ran well for Leland. Barnett was third in 18:39 with Hsieh fifth in 19:28. Sophomore Ashley Nguyen finished 10th.

The Leland boys team also ran to victory the same day, beating Leigh 23-36 and Silver Creek 24-32. The Chargers finished the dual meet season with a 4-3 record.

Sophomore Matt Vera took seventh place in 16:09 and Frank Gao was 14th in 16:37.

In the West Valley Division race, Earl topped the division with his 16:16 to lead the Mustangs to a 25-30 win over Sobrato. It was the only dual meet loss of the year for Sobrato (6-1) while the Mustangs improved to 4-3. Joining Earl in the top 10 was junior Ryan Ravel, seventh in 17:38.

The Pioneer girls, meanwhile, dropped a tough 17-41 decision unbeaten Sobrato (7-0) to finish the league season in second place at 5-2.

Freshman standout Kira Reinecker turned in a top 10 performance, running ninth in 22:56.

Both schools next compete on Oct. 30, 12:30 p.m. in the BVAL finals at the Crystal Springs course in Belmont.