Cross Country – Santa Barbara County Championships

October 31, 2019

The sport of cross country is all about adjusting to different courses–not making excuses but dealing with the conditions and the challenges the meet brings. The Rams went from the steep, sandy hills of Mt SAC to the dead flat but still sandy trails of River Park in Lompoc, but they had two more very successful races, proving they can deal with any conditions.

The girls team finished second in the county, their highest finish ever and the third fastest Cate team time all time at Lompoc. Sophomore co-captain Anna DiSorbo was county champion, the first ever for a Cate girl, finishing the 3 mile course in 18:57. Fellow sophomore co-captain Meena Baher had a sensational race, placing fifth in 19:35 and running the sixth fastest time ever for a Cate girl at River Park. Sophomore Kennedy Simpson edged freshman Kendall Thorne by one second–they were 23d and 24th in 21:13 and 21:14. Sophomore Ella Gardner toughed out her last mile to finish 32d in 21:38 to wrap up Cate’s strong afternoon.

In the boys’ race, the Rams finished eighth out of twelve. Senior co-captain Tesfa Asmara had his best race of the season, finishing 11th in a fast 16:30, making him the fourth fastest Cate runner ever in Lompoc. Sophomore Nick Patrick ran a smart race and finished 33d in 17:34. Sophomore Peter Wood was 53d in 18:05, followed by freshman Harry McAdam who entertained the crowd with his last 100 yards and was 57th in 18:17. Sophomore Andrew Busse closed out the scoring for the Rams in 61st place with a time of 18:22. The overall Cate boys’ team time was the sixth fastest ever for the Rams.