By Julius Pak
The boys’ cross country team placed second in the state championship and, for the first time, won CIF Finals.
Despite running in the shadow of the girls’ team for most of the season, the boys’ team was able to rise from fifth place finishes at league matches at the beginning of the season to a runner-up finish at league finals.
The girls’ cross country team, last year’s Division IV state champion, was unable to reclaim its title and placed fourth in state.
“The girls had some adversity in the form of injuries this season and then some untimely illness up at state, yet performed very well nonetheless,” Head Coach Tim Sharpe said.
At the Division IV state championship at Fresno’s Woodward Park on Nov. 27, the boys’ team defeated all of its usual competitors in the CIF Southern Section but lost to the North Coast Section’s champion, San Rafael, by a mere ten points, 130-140.
The Wolverines’ aggregate time of the scoring runners was 1:22:38. San Rafael’s collective time was 1:22:31. San Rafael’s lap split time was only one second ahead of the Wolverines’.
Kevin On ’11 led the boys’ team, placing 13th overall. Last year, the boys’ team finished fifth.
Cami Chapus ’12 finished first out of the 188 runners in Division IV.
Chapus pulled ahead in the last 800 meters to defeat JSerra’s Kat Delaney by three seconds.
“I just decided to go… And I was thinking ‘I’ve worked too hard to just give up and I just went and hoped that they wouldn’t go with me. I just went and didn’t look back,” Chapus said.
Chapus, who took first place at state last year as well, is only the third girl to repeat as state champion in the 21 years that Division IV has existed. She is the first to do so since 2000.
“It’s a great feeling to have been able to accomplish it twice. Not many people get the chance to be a double state champ. I’m really glad I have the support from my team and the support from my family to help me achieve that,” Chapus said.
The girls were defeated by JSerra (75), La Reina (147), and Flintridge Sacred Heart (183), who they had easily defeated earlier in the season. The Wolverines had 186 points.
At the CIF Division IV championship at a rainy Mt. San Antonio College, the top-ranked boys’ team defeated Notre Dame, who had defeated the Wolverines at the league cluster matches 80-117, to take home their first CIF title.
Kevin On ’11, who finished 5th overall, was the top finisher for the Wolverines, with a course time of 16:34, an improvement of four seconds from last year’s time.
“The boys are a solid bunch in their own right, and acheived their success the old fashioned way: hard work, dedication to doing all things large and small, and overcoming adversity. Key individuals rose up and came together as a team at the right time to make a great run in the post season,” Sharpe said.
