In 2022, the Del Norte High girls earned their highest finish in school history at the State Cross Country Championships — a fourth place in Division 1.
“This year’s team is better,” said coach Chris Jacobs, taking less than a nano-second to answer when asked to compare.
Does that mean the Nighthawks will crack the top three and earn their first walk up to the victory stand?
“That’s the goal,” was Jacobs’ reply, knowing full well defending champion Corona Santiago, runner-up by a single point Clovis Buchanan and top-heavy Mission Viejo Trabuco Hills come in to Saturday’s meet at Woodward Park in Fresno as prohibitive favorites.
“This year’s team is deeper — our 4-5 and 6-7 runners are really close,” said Jacobs, explaining that each team enters seven runners and the top five individuals score, with the lowest total finishing first.
“We’ve already run Woodward Park earlier this year at the Clovis Invitational, so the course is well known by the team. We’re deeper than we were two years ago, but some of the other teams have improved too.
“I think our first two runners — Emily Russo and Eliza Hong — will finish in the top 15 and maybe even push the top 10. They have split being the No. 1 runner this year and Emily has the experience.”
Indeed, Russo was the No. 1 finisher for the Nighthawks two years ago but last year Hong finished 26th and Russo 30th as Del Norte placed fifth overall. In the section finals two weeks ago, Hong was third, two seconds out of second, and Russo was fourth, en route to winning the team title.
Del Norte’s number three, Liliah Enyedi, is very solid, but the final two scorers, numbers four and five, have gone back and forth. One week it’s Addison Shannon, a junior, the next it’s freshman Olivia Bartolay. Shannon was ninth in the section finals and less than 10 seconds back in 10th was Bartolay.
Both are considerably closer to the top three than was the case two years ago when the Nighthawks were fourth with 166 points, five behind Clovis North and eight behind runner-up Oak Ridge’s 158 points.
When there are 21 of the state’s top teams and 180 runners at the starting line, there is a lot of movement among teams and it doesn’t take much to move up — or down — quickly.
Although they don’t score, it’s crucial that the team’s No. 6 and No. 7 be in the thick of the race just in case one of the top five has an off day.
Earlier this season, that played out in a major way at the Mt. SAC Invitational when injuries prevented one of the top five from running and the Nighthawks were still the first place finisher in the Division 1 team sweepstakes.
So, Samhita Lagisetti and Sophia Tang, who have also had their moments beating each other this season, are keys because even if they aren’t in the top five, they can beat individuals from the favored teams to help the Nighthawks move up.
Even the Del Norte boys, like the girls, were ranked No. 1 in the section at the end of the season after winning the Division 1 title with a narrow 65-68 victory over Poway, which was led by individual champion Cooper Castleberry.
Again, the Nighthawks are not among the favorites and a Top 10 finish behind junior Cameron Yarbrough and senior Luke Jin would be a solid performance.
“I’ve learned that anything can happen at the state meet,” said Jacobs, who has been at Del Norte for 15 years, since it opened. “This time of year, illness hits some teams as well as injury, so you never know. We’re 100 percent.
“But even that doesn’t mean the race will go the way you expect. The key for the girls, especially, will be what they do the second mile. I know they’ll go out and be there at the first mile, running in the 5:30 range, but there is a natural tendency to back off. If everyone holds their position heading into the final mile, or the final half-mile, you can always dig down for the finish.
“These girls, like Buchanan and the other teams, and our boys as well, have bought in 100 percent to the culture we’re developing. They are all ive of each other and very tough competitors.
“The goal is the top three — we’ll see.”
