2021-22 StanCo Distance Year in Review

 Although the calendar year begins with January and runs through December, The StanCo Distance year follows the school year and therefore begins in August and runs through the Memorial Day Weekend (State Track Meet).

 

I often like to review the events that were the highlights for me.

 

Barajas

 

I'll begin with XC. At the SJS meet it became apparent that some of the local athletes were for real. Running in D1, MoHi's Melissa Barajas pushed through a 18:58 Willow Hills circuit. That is the #3 StanCo time on the tough Willow Hills course (behind legends Kackley and Makau)

 

Garcia

Also at the SJS meet Pitman's Damian Garcia won the D2 race in 16:02 (which is #2 for StanCo boys over the course; behind German Fernandez). He is also the first StanCo boy to win a section D2 title.

Beyer team headed to State

In D3 the Oakdale boys won and along with the Beyer boys qualified for State. Oakdale was led by champion Caleb Cavanaugh whose 16:27 time is the #7 StanCo mark all time. He is the first StanCo boy to win a D3 title. The Oakdale girls also qualified as a team

 

Moving on to the XC State Meet. 25 StanCo runners qualified for the State meet, which was the most since I have been doing the StanCo thing. 

 

Cavanaugh

The Oakdale boys placed 4th in D3 (with zero seniors) in a collective time of 1:21.39 (16:20 avg) which is likely the fastest StanCo team to ever compete at State. they were led by Cavanaugh's 12th place and time of 15:37.4 (#5 all time for StanCo) and Dax Daley's 28th place and 15:57.2 (#11 all time StanCo).

 

Pitman's Damian Garcia placed 24th in D2 in 15:57.0 which was #10 all-time StanCo. On the girl's side Oakdale's Haleigh Humble was 26th in a #13 best ever time of 18:48.9.

On to track the great performances continued to pile up.

 

At Meet of Champions the runners went crazy fast. Oakdale's Humble went sub 5 in the 1600 for the first time to vault to #4 on the All StanCo list. Not to be outdone, on the boys' side Pitman's Damian Garcia turned in a 4:16.02 for the four lap event--#6 All Time.

 

Daley, Cavanaugh, Olsen

 

Sanchez

In the 3200m the boys went wild, with four running under 9:31. Pitman's Efren Sanchez put together his best effort of the season (9:24.52, #14). He was followed by Oakdale's Daley (9:25.66), Beyer's Nate Olsen (9:28.47 #18), and Oakdale's Cavanaugh in 9:30.11. In my opinion this was the fastest collective 3200m day ever by StanCo boys.

 

At SJS Masters Humble continued to impress racing through a 2:13.79 in the 800 to take the win. That time places her at #6 all time. She went through the season undefeated in the 800. Hughson's Joe Lighthall would also take the SJS victory in the 800.

 

In the 3200 Oakdale's Daley PR'd with 9:21.21 (#12 all time) for 6th. Near the end of the race he was in the top 3 and in position to qualify for State. He ran an incredible race, but he just had nothing left in his legs for the final kick.

 

At State Lighthall ran 1:52.47 in the Prelims. That time  is #3 all time for StanCo less than 1/2 sec off of Ron Whitney's (Downey) record of 1:52.0 from 62 years ago. Blink your eyes quickly twice. That is about how much Joe is from the County record in the 800.

 

There were some other performances of note during track. Gregori's Frosh Ismael Dominguez went sub 10 in the 3200 (9:54.81). The last StanCo Frosh boy to do that was Riverbank's German Fernandez in 2005 (9:51.39). You may have heard of him. It was also exciting to see 2 frosh girls go sub 12 in the 3200--MoHi's Maya Wolfe and Downey's Zoe Leach.

 

Next I'd like to note two boys that I have been following for 4 years. They have both always been solid runners, but senior track was special for both of them. Turlock's Brody Vecchione and Waterford's Evan Espinoza both met all three marks to be All-StanCo in Track. That is they both broke 2:00 in the 800m, 4:30 in the 1600m, and 10:00 in the 3200.

 

This season was extraordinary in that 9 boys went sub 10 in the 3200m; 5 went sub 4:30 in the 1600m; and 4 went sub 2:00 in the 800m. Contrast that with 2015 when NO BOYS met any of those marks.

 

There was a memorable and humbling moment at the Stanislaus County meet where the medals had my logo on them. It was an amazing shout-out to all of the time that I put in. There were so many times this year where parents, coaches, and athletes thanked me in person, with cards, and/or personal messages.

 

Due to several generous contributions I was able to award three $500 scholarship this year instead of one. The recipients were Waterford's Evan Espinoza, Hughson's Taylor Scheuber, and Grace Davis' Gerardo Ramirez Martinez. If you feel inclined to support the StanCo Scholarship fund you can Zelle me money at 209-404-1683, 100% of the money I receive will go to scholarships in 2023.

THE YEAR BY THE NUMBERS

22,000 pics were posted

49 meets, yep, I went to that many

37 different blogs posts (this is 38)

31 runner of the week shirts were handed out

25 StanCo runners qualified for the State XC meet

19 runners made the All StanCo Distance Track team

11 runners earned the new StanCo lavender shirt

9 runners earned the orange sub 10/12 StanCo shirt

6 sweat shirts awarded to County meet distance event champions

3  $500 StanCo scholarships were handed out

2 college signing days I was invited to

I will especially miss some of the seniors. I will miss them because I enjoyed watching them grow and mature and runners and adults. But it is more than that. They would come up to me and visit with me at meets. I got to know them (at least partially). No doubt there will be more runners that cross my lens, but I will always remember these individuals:

 

Haleigh Humble (Oakdale)--holds the Oakdale school records in all three distance events. In the 800 she ranks # 6 StanCo (2:13.79); 1600 she ranks #4 StanCo (4:58.16) ; and 3200 she ranks #8 StanCo (11:07.27). In XC she is #11 at Willow Hills and #13 at Woodward. She made the 2018 All NorCal Frosh team. She was All StanCo XC all 4 years and All StanCo track 2019, 21, and 22. She has a great smile and never failed to say hi to me and thank me for being at the meet.

Damian Garcia (Pitman)--holds the Pitman school record in the 1600. In the 800 he ranks #13 StanCo (1:54.7); in the 1600 he ranks #6 StanCo (4:16.04); in the 3200 his best time is 9:51.66. For XC he was the D2 Champion. He ranks as #13 at Legion, #2 at Willow Hills, and #10 at Woodward. He was All StanCo XC in 2021 and All StanCo Track in 21 and 22. From day one of his Frosh year Damian was following me around and talking to me (his sister ran before him). To say I watched him grow up is a literal statement in that his height must have increased 10 inches. 

Evan Espinoza (Waterford)--Was All StanCo XC in 2019 and All StanCo Track in 2022. Evan definitely saved the best for last. His senior season was spectacular. He ran 1:57.12 in the 800, a 9 sec PR; 4:22.71 in the 1600, a 17 sec improvement; and went sub 10 (9:58.33) in the 3200. He was one of the StanCo Scholarship winners and may be one of the most genuine young men I have ever met. 

Efren Sanchez (Pitman)--was the Batman to Damian's Robin...or was it the other way around. They simply made each other better. In track he ran 4:27.35 in the 1600 and 9:24.52 (a 30 sec improvement) in the 3200m which ranks as #14 StanCo. For XC he ranks #35 ever for StanCo on the Woodward Park course. He was All StanCo XC in 20 and 21 and All StanCo Track in 21 and 22. Efren's best year was probably the shortened Covid season. That year he was the leader of the Pitman team that likely would have qualified for State but never had the opportunity. 

 

Melissa Barajas (Modesto)--unlike most other really good girls, running for Melissa started out slowly. It was the change in attitude and training during Covid that made her a star. Her best times were 2:28.86 for the 800, 5:21.77 for the 1600, and 11:32.45 in the 3200. In XC she ranks #3 at Willow Hills and #22 at Legion. She made the All StanCo XC team in 20 and 21 and the All StanCo Track team in 21 and 22. Melissa was always appreciative to see me at meets and often thanked me for being there. She invited me to her signing ceremony too.

 

Brian Heese (Modesto Coach)--when I first saw Brian my daughter was running at Downey and he was coaching at MoHi. He was described to me in terms mirroring Darth Vader, as if he were the leader of an evil empire. Although MoHi teams of the time could have been described as a dynasty there was nothing evil about it. As I got to know Brian, he often corrected my missteps and oversteps. But in the fashion of the man, teacher, and coach he is; he would let me know a better way. I appreciated his low-key guidance and advice. His time commitment to his teams should be a model for others. If you expect your teams to put in time and get better, it will require you to put in time too.  Brian has gradually slid from the forefront of the MoHi teams and allowed others to take the reins. This month he also retired from teaching after 37(?) years. I will miss seeing the "Papa Dragon" around the course.

 

 

If you feel inclined to support the StanCo Scholarship fund you can Zelle me money at 209-404-1683.

If you read this far you must be a loyal fan. XC will be here soon enough. As always, I will see you out on the course or the track, I'll be the one in orange and black.