The MVXC girls completed the greatest season (so far 🙂 ) in Monta Vista Cross Country history with a strong performance in the 2013 California State Cross Country Championships!
Monta Vista took 12th place in an incredibly strong 1st division field. Division 1 had some incredible teams this year, with Great Oak setting team records while Davis and Trabuco Hills having great teams. Overall, Monta Vista finished as the 27th team in all of California/all divisions (see State Results), and finished first among CCS teams–one point in front of our ‘cousins’ from SLV! (see CCS-only results). The team also finished ranked 5th in Northern California–the top team from CCS! (See NorCal Results).
Our season plan was to win the Central Coast Section, and we accomplished that goal two weeks ago (after picking up championships from the De Anza League, FUSHD and the Artichoke Invitational, and podium finishes at Earlybird, Nike/De La Salle and Mt. SAC along the way). Sometimes it is difficult to maintain an edge after achieving our season goal, yet all seven girls kept training hard and kept their edge all the way through the State meet. Let’s acknowledge the efforts of our athletes who have kept their focus from the first day of summer running, through every day of practice and through every meet, from CCS all the way until State. All seven of our varsity runners, as well as all the teammates who ran with them all season, kept working through the last day. At State, we had four new PRs, lead by Maddie’s 57 second improvement over her time at the Clovis Invitational, Bridget’s 30 second PR, Sunny’s 29 second PR, and Julia’s 8 second improvement. Jenny, Kelly, and Anna all had strong races too. Bridget finished 20th in the D1 race, and 36th in all of California (again, an example of how loaded the D1 competition was this year).
It was a strong finish to a fantastic season: De Anza League champion team, Central Coast Section champs, 5th in Northern California, and one of the top 30 teams in the entire State of California!
Maddie also went home with a sportsmanship medal, awarded to athletes by the CIF in recognition of their character, honor and teamwork. Congratulations, Maddie!
Photos can be downloaded from the MVRunning Picasa web site.
I can’t be more proud of this group of girls, and the team and the school they represent. We will never forget this team, how they cared for each other, how hard they worked, how they gave their best every race and every day for the last year to achieve all their goals. Anyone can work hard for a week, however a week of work will not take you too far. This team worked hard for weeks…months…and in many cases, for years. Sustained effort over a long period can result in extraordinary accomplishments. These girls have grit.
The strength of character they developed, and demonstrated, will serve our athletes well for their entire lives and allow them to achieve truly wonderful things.
It’s been an amazing ride for this team…and this is just the beginning, truly!
–Coach
Last track workout of the season.
The day before the Championships, getting ready for our shake-out run.
Sisters of the trails getting ready for one more battle.
The start of the D1 girls’ state championship race.
Bridget Gottlieb
Kelly Bishop
Jenny Xu
Sunny Shan and Maddie Yip
Julia Chang
Anna Hsiao
Maddie Yip and the CIF Sportsmanship Medal
With Sarah Baxter of Simi Valley, best high school runner in the US this year.