Women runners win CIF!
By Hector Trujillo
The Scripps Ranch High School (SRHS) womens cross country team won the 2022 Division 2 San Diego Section CIF Championship at the finals that took place at Morley field on Nov. 12 and also competed in the State Finals held in Fresno on Nov. 26.
It was the first cross country title for the Lady Falcons since 1997.
“We were ecstatic that the girls performed so well and worked really well together as a team,” said SRHS cross country assistant coach Eileen Quinn. “In fact, as they were coming in the home-stretch, the second girl caught
up with the first girl and they high-fived each other as they sprinted to the finish. It was really exciting.”
Those two runners were sophomores Addy Richardson and Ally Van Duren who finished fifth and sixth, respectively, with senior Michaela Martin finishing in 10th place.
The mens team saw two of its runners, senior Ken Belt and junior Oliver Cannon, also qualify to compete at the State meet alongside the seven girls representing Scripps Ranch High School.
During the State meet at Fresno, the women finished in 18th place out of 24 teams in their respective section, while finishing as the top team from San Diego.
“Michaela (Martin), Ally (Van Duren) and Chloe (Ellermeyer) were the three that came in across the line first and they had great races,” Quinn said.
As for Ken Belt and Oliver Cannon, they finished in 107th and 122nd place, respectively, as they competed against more than 200 runners which included the top three in the country.
The Falcons varsity teams competed in a total of 11 competitions this season, not including the State meet.
“This year we’ve had a lot of injuries just like a lot of the teams across San Diego. So, for them to come back and perform at that level and win was just amazing. It was really fantastic,” Quinn said.
SRHS kicked off the first official day of practice on Aug. 8 without having the services of some key runners from 2021, with a total of 30 males and 25 females.
The month of September served as preparation for league competition which included the annual South Bay Invitational in Bonita, followed by the Mt. Carmel Invitational at Morley Field and the Dana Hills Invitational in Dana Point the last week of September. League competition began in October.