Sacramento Valley League cross country got underway in unusual fashion last Wednesday at the Colusa-Sacramento River State Recreation Area, with only two teams at a time being allowed at the course, in addition to just running varsity boys and girls races.
Colusa and Winters, the two largest squads, started off the day then were followed by Paradise and Willows, with Pierce competing against Live Oak to finish the event.
As it turned out, it was a banner day for the RedHawks as they turned in some of their best times of the season.
Colusas Neo Harter continued his strong showing this year finishing first on the three mile course with a mark of 18:36, his fastest to date.
His RedHawk teammates Edgar Garcia (19:36), Lucian Manor (19:37) and Jose Valdez (19:51) crossed the line in fourth, fifth and sixth place respectively, while in their first varsity race Jesse Medina (20:35) and Rodolfo Rodrigues (20:49) were seventh and eighth overall.
In the varsity girls race, Colusas Lupita Perez (25:47) claimed the fourth spot, Elle Faris (26:29) was sixth in her debut at the three mile distance, while Gladis Almaraz (26:38) came in eighth and Carly Simmons, also running in the varsity competition for the first time, was tenth.
Pierce made its inaugural appearance this season although did not report results.
This week, the venue shifted to the Arbuckle Golf Club on Monday, Feb. 22, when the Bears faced off against Winters, and Colusa went head-to-head with Paradise, although the outcomes were not available prior to the Pioneer Review print deadline.
Both Colusa and Pierce will return to the course for the third SVL meet at Colusa State Park on March 3.
