Sacramento Running News

St. Francis is going to State Championships. (Photo courtesy of St. Francis)

At the Sac-Joaquin Sectional Championships Meet this past Saturday, the St. Francis varsity girls outran Davis High to win 23-43. In the process of winning the meet, they also set a new team course record for Willow Hills.

The St. Francis Troubadors placed 5 runners in the top 10, and earned a ticket to the State Championship meet at Woodward Park, on November 24.

The overall winner of the varsity girls division 1 race was Davis’ Fiona O’Keeffe, with 18:08 on that hilly course. Following O’Keeffe in second place was St. Francis’ Lauren Larocco, in 18:22. Rounding out third was another St. Francis girl, Madison Rawson, who ran 18:34.

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Lindsay Tolefson on her way to the win. (Photo credit: Camron Shahmirzadi)

The Rebels XC Challenge kicked off the local adult cross country season yesterday in Granite Park, and competitors enjoyed picture-perfect weather and a challenging course.

The winding trails through Granite Park do not yield a particularly speedy course, but as typical for a PAUSATF cross country race the times were fast and the competition fierce.

The event stuck with the usual PA cross country format, with separate races for women, masters men, and open men, with the women running 5K and the men 7K.

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The start of the women’s race at last year’s Rebels XC Challenge. (SRN photo)

While I didn’t need arm warmers, this morning’s run was considerably cooler than the heat we’ve been laboring in over the past few months.

Could fall be around the corner? Why it certainly can be!!

How can I be so sure? (I mean, besides looking at a calendar?)

I know autumn is here because it’s cross country season!

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Masters men lead pack at Willow Hills XC (Photo by Craig Newport)

While you are no doubt aware there are thousands of dedicated road racers in the area, you may not realize there is also a smaller group of dedicated cross country runners churning up the turf at local and regional cross-country races.

For adults in Northern California, the major cross country grand prix is organized by the Pacific Association of the USA Track and Field. These are extremely competitive races–particularly in the open divisions.

In the 2011 Pacific Association’s Cross Country Grand Prix, the River City Rebels men remained a force in the region with many in the top ten.

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This Saturday, in Balboa Park in San Diego, Roseville’s Karlie Garcia earned a 5th place finish at the Footlocker National Cross Country Championships with a 17:36 finish.

Garcia, who placed 15th at the nationals in San Diego in 2009, decisively won this year’s West Regional girls championship at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut on December 3rd in 17:46.

Coming in a bit back at the Nationals, but still quite respectably, was Vista Del Lago’s Clare Carroll in 27th position, at 18:18 on the hilly 5k course.

Complete results for the girls is here. The boys results are here.

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Looks like the American River College cross country team is wrapping up another good season!

They won the NorCal meet and are off to Fresno for tomorrow’s State Championship meet.

Read more about it in the Bee.

The leaders of the open men's race at around 1.6 miles. (Photo by Craig Newport)

In Folsom last Saturday, the hills were alive with the sound of running. The weather was ideal for a day outside, so why not a little cross country?

The 3rd Annual Buffalo Chips’ Willow Hills XC Open saw runners from all over northern California join local racers for this Pacific Association of the USA Track and Field Grand Prix event.

There were three 5K races making up the event: Women (for open and masters women), Masters Men, and Open Men.

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Runners are off at the Run to Break the Silence (Photo by Randy Wehner)

This last couple of weekends have been crowded with races!

The biggest (and most competitive) local event this past weekend was easily Saturday evening’s Run to Break the Silence 5K.

Folsom’s Camron Shahmirzadi was the big winner there, in 16:30. He was followed in by Chad Worthen, of Sacrmento, in 16:43, and Jason Harne, of Folsom, in 16:45.

The first woman was Gina Dayton, of Sacramento, in 20:11. Hot on her heels was Karen Jeffers, of Wheatland, in 20:17, and finishing up in a close race for third was Kelly Wisnicky, of Fair Oaks, in 20:37.

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In the long history of the Sacramento Running News, I don’t believe we’ve ever “printed” a special correction to an article.

I have certainly edited and updated stories on the fly when I (or an alert reader) notice a typo or a factual error.

However, last week I wrote an article about the Rebels XC Challenge, and omitted the second place finish of Miguel Nuci. This is despite the fact I saw him and Kevin Pool in a sprint race to the finish.

Of course, in my defense, Nuci’s name didn’t show up in the published results for three days or so.

So, apologies to Mr. Nuci for ignoring him in the first article and congratulations to him for his 2nd place finish in 21:22–only two seconds off winner Kevin Pool.

Kevin Pool gets the win. (SRN Photo)

It always seems like summer is finally winding down when cross country races pop up on the calendar.

This year, for your running pleasure, there are three PAUSATF Grand Prix cross country races in the Sacramento area. These races are quite competitive as they draw talented runners from across Northern California.

It was a little hot, but there was a good crowd on hand as The River City Rebels hosted the first of these races today in Granite Regional Park: the First Annual Rebels XC Challenge

Today’s race followed the usual format, with separate races for women, masters men, and open men. For this race, the women ran 5K and the men ran 7K.

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