(Graphic by Jackson Crawford)
Following a successful subsection meet on Nov. 9 at Calaveras County Fairgrounds in Angels Camp, four SCDS runners have advanced to the California Interscholastic Federation Sac-Joaquin Section XC Championships on Nov. 16.
Freshman Eric Lechpammer, who placed fourth of 12 runners, achieved a personal record at the meet despite disliking the conditions.
“I didn’t really like running the course,” Lechpammer said. “There was so much dust being kicked up by runners that I was struggling to see in front of me.”
Lechpammer qualified for sections with a time of 14 minutes, 15.9 seconds.
“I was pretty surprised that I ended up getting a PR (personal record),” Lechpammer said. “I felt good about my performance at the end, but at the beginning of the race, lots of people were passing me, so I wasn’t too sure how I would finish.”
Freshman Grace Eberhart, who placed fifth of 19 runners with a time of 16:54.5, said she enjoyed the course.
“The meet was really great,” she said. “There were lots of hills, and it was quite dusty, but it was great overall.”
Coach Joe Hartman said all the runners performed very well, especially with the difficult course.
“The course was a tough one,” he said. “It had four hills, three of which were very difficult. One of the hills was 93 feet high, and another had a pitch of 15 percent.”
Hartman said he’s hoping for top finishes from the runners at sections.
“I think that all of the runners have good chances at high placements,” he said. “They would need to have great performances, which I think is definitely possible.”
The Sac-Joaquin Section XC Championships will be held at Willow Hill Reservoir (321 Barnhill Drive, Folsom).
—By Miles Morrow
