The cross country team kicked off their season at Woodward Park in Clovis. The boys team finished in 8th overall, with Andreas Dybdahl leading the team. Dybdahl ran a 15:21 in his first 5K of the year, which got him an individual place of 13th. The boys team has lots of depth with many qualifying runners this year with Cainan Birchim finishing in 59th overall with a time of 15:59, Blaise Snow finishing in 61st with a time of 16:01, Bode Andrulaitis finishing in 96th with a time of 16:21, Nico Tassos coming in109th with a time of 16:30, Benjamin Diaz finishing 136th with a time of 16:52–and to round it out for the Dons–Matthias Everest coming in 138th with a time of 16:53.They went into the race with the mentality of “cruise for the first half of the race and then push forward in the second half.”

I had the pleasure to speak with Dybdahl on his outlook for the season. He said “my goals for the season are to go under 14:50 in the 5K” He also wants to win State and qualify for the Nike Cross Nationals in Eugene, Oregon, accompanied by the rest of his team. He puts many hours into training, and this season is sure to be strenuous for him.. When asked about his training regimen he said, “My training for cross country is mainly just running a lot of miles and a lot of lactate threshold specific workouts, as well as a few race pace oriented workouts that our coach, Rusty Snow, gives us.” The Dons cross country team runs 65 miles a week so that they are super well prepared for their meets. 

The girls cross country also kicked off their season at the Clovis Invitational. They came in 33rd place as a team overall. They were led by Madeleine Van Bebber, who ran a time of 21:23 and individually placed 66th. The others who scored points were Sophia Guerrero, who came in 163rd with a time of 23:40, Jaia Beall who finished in 185th with a time of 24:11, Itzel Rayos Jimenez who completed the race in 222nd with a time of 25:51 and Sierra Gronquist who finished 224th with a time of 26:07.

I spoke to London Moro on her outlook for the season. She didn’t have the opportunity to compete in the Clovis Invitational, but has many goals for this cross country season. Her goals for this season are to strengthen her endurance and to keep getting prepared for the sprinting season while having fun along the way. When asked about how her season has gone so far, she said that, she “beat [her] personal record at Raider Invite for the 3 mile race, which [she’s] proud of. That’s the first of many races this season where [she’ll] be beating [her] record”  For off-season training, the girls cross country team goes on runs of multiple miles a day, usually to the beach or mission. They workout in the SBHS gym three times a week with bands and weights. London prepares for the season personally with Corepower Yoga classes and hikes.

Photo Credit: Oliver Tavira

Andreas running in the Clovis Invitational as he attempts to pass another runner.