DHS cross country team finishes season at Woodward Park

It started to drizzle as the Division I varsity women lined up to start the race. There was a sea of women dressed in tank tops and shorts in all colors, and above them was the Blue Devil flag. At the far right was Sophie Meads, a freshman at Harper Junior High school, dressed in her Devil blue. When the gunshot went off, she sprung for a spot in the front of the pack.

Meads came out strong with a time of about 5:40 for the first mile.

On Nov. 27, Meads was the sole varsity woman running for the Blue Devils at the CIF State meet at Woodward Park in Fresno. She came in 99th with a time of 19:18 for the five kilometer race.

Freshmen Sarah Baxter and Clare Carroll took the top two spots of the race, Baxter with a time of 16:57.
Being a freshman, Meads has a long time ahead of her in DHS cross country. The women’s varsity team has no graduating seniors so will have the experienced women’s varsity team next year.

DHS Coach Bill Gregg said that the women on the varsity team are the “building blocks” for future seasons.
Meads said the cement part of the course was a new experience for her. She said that the hills still made her legs burn, but weren’t as difficult as some of the other courses.

Another main difference that Meads noticed was the competition. She said that it was a faster race than she was accustomed to.

Gregg said that Woodward Park course had two obstacles: the narrow section about 150 meters out, and amount of runners in the race. “Runners can sometimes ‘break their rhythm’ due to having to dodge other runners,” said Gregg.

Meads said that this race was a great conclusion to the season and is excited to run cross country for the next three years of high school.

The men’s varsity team ran later in the day coming in 15th. The top three Blue Devils were Trevor Halsted, (15:27), Brian De La Mora, (16:00), and Braeden Van Deynze (16:02).