In cross country, there are races, and then there are moments that define a season. This last race on Oct. 25 2023, in Ceres had a season defining moment. One of the athletes who helped with this incredible moment was Kember Duncan, a sophomore at RHS who runs varsity for the team. Duncan had set a personal record of 23:10.24 minutes on the 5,000 meter run that helped RHS to a victory.
Duncan stated in an interview, “I feel very proud of myself. I think I did very well, I set a PR and I didn’t think I would be able to do that.”
Senior Devin Fitzpatrick also helped in this RHS victory, as he set a new P.R(Personal Record), and an all time course record. Fitzpatrick’s new record breaking time is 17:04.51 for the 5,000 meters. Fitzpatrick not only set both a new P.R and new course record, but he also was chosen to be tri- valley league (tvl) male athlete of the year. When asked if he was expected to be awarded with this honor, Fitzpatrick states, “No I didn’t, not necessarily. It was a pleasant surprise, but I kind of expected it after I won the race because I won all three TVL races. I say that with all humbleness, because I’m so grateful for all of the opportunities I’ve gotten to perform at that level.”
Surprisingly, Fitzpatrick was not in the lead the whole race, in fact he was in second place for most of the race. “I was doing a strategy called ‘sit and kick’, so what was going in my head was ‘don’t let him get too far away but let him do his thing’ and then at about 800 meters left I said ‘okay let it rip’ and I won the race.”
These are huge accomplishments for both Fitzpatrick and Ripon High, and definitely define the season. Congratulations!
