In Cross Country, two invitational races are very memorable, because they are repeated twice in a season. The level of difficulty plays a role in the significance of the race of Frogtown and Tom Laythe invitationals. On Saturday, Oct. 5 the Ripon High Cross Country ventured out to Folsom to run the sections course for the first time. Sections is the most important race of the season, so it is extremely prevalent that the team gets familiar with the challenging course. On Oct. 5 however, many things were different in Tom Laythe. First off, the weather in Folsom was a high 100 degrees during the races which leads to slower times then usual for most runners. Secondly, an hour before the first race, Varsity boys received an unexpected announcement. This announcement was that due to interfering construction, the course would have to be run backwards! For seniors or juniors this is a huge change, considering they have run the Tom Laythe Course 6+ times.
One varsity senior, Mallory Govia, comments on the challenges of the race. “Personally, I did not like Saturdays’ meet. The course being backwards affected my race is because of the way that I started when the gun went off. I wasn’t in the front were I normally would be, because I didn’t want to bump anyone at the crowded stat. That affected my race because we were all crowded together, and I was trying to get around people to get to the front, and the rocks in the race also made it hard.” However, through the challenges Govia still managed to have an excelled race, placing 43/155 and with a time of 23:02. Govia is not the only girl who had fantastic timing even through the challenges.
Junior Celina Cavazos was able to medal with a placement of 21/58 for JV girls. For the boys, Top-Notch senior Isaiah Green placed top 20 with a 5k time of 17:52! This is extremely impressive considering the weather, the course, and lack of teammates because most varsity boys opted not to run. Most importantly, the scale of the race with 231 competitors made the course feel tight and cramped while running.
Congratulations on a great race Ripon, and for running through every challenge that was given at the Tom Laythe Invitational.
