City Council recognizes Bearcats cross country team
The Paso Robles High School varsity boys and girls cross country team lines up at the front of the city council meeting on Jan. 20 after the council presented the coaches and team members with personalized medals recognizing the team’s performance at state. Photo by Heather Young
Both boys and girls cross country team competed in state meet
To recognize the boys and girls cross country varsity team, the Paso Robles City Council presented the 15 team members and their three coaches, Ivan Huff, Jon-Paul Ewing and Jory Hallanan, with personalized medals.
“I think this was the first time we’ve been recognized by the city,” said Ewing, who grew up in Paso Robles and went through Paso Robles schools. It was also the first council meeting for likely all of the students, and Ewing. Not only did they attend the meeting for the recognition, but it was a standing room only meeting, leaving the team standing in the back of the room and down one aisle during a long community forum. “It was really cool to have the city call us up.”
From left, girls cross country coach Ivan Huff, assistant coach Jory Hallanan and boys head coach Jon-Paul Ewing show off the medals they received from the Paso Robles City Council. Photo by Heather Young
“This was kind of a landmark season for the team,” Ewing said. The boys team took first in the league for PAC 8 and the girls took second. The boys then got fifth in the Southern Section. It was the first time for the girls team to go on to state, he said. At state the girls took eighth and the boys seventh. “It was the best showing for the school ever.”
The team, consisting of eight boys and seven girls, traveled to Woodward Park in Fresno the Saturday after Thanksgiving for the state meet. The races are usually between 2.5 and 3.1 miles. Ewing said that the state requirement is that no cross country race be further than 3.1 miles — 5 kilometers. While he said that some of the races are shorter than a 5K, the state race is usually spot on.
The boys varsity team has qualified for the state meet in the past, placing 10th and 12th in past years. The team starts practice in July. Ewing said the team meets at the end of the school year, getting a two-week break before starting practices several times a week and then increasing the number at the beginning of August. He said that once school begins, the team practices every week day as well as Saturday when the majority of the races are held. There are about eight races during the regular season, then CIF, CIF preliminary and CIF finals, not including additional races the team may qualify for based on performance.
State results for boys varsity:
- Senior Zach Chamberlain 15:43
- Junior Josh Potter 16:08
- Sophomore Trad Berti 16:13
- Senior Sid Monge 16:24
- Junior Gannon Chamberlain 16:26
- Sophomore Luis Armendariz 16:34
- Senior Jake Taylor 17:31
- Sophomore Matthew Olsen was an alternate
State results for girls varsity:
- Sophomore Annie Meeder 18:46
- Junior Ashley Davis 18:57
- Junior Amanda Schultz 19:27
- Senior Claire Farrell 19:43
- Senior Madison Moore 20:16
- Junior Gwen Lundy 22:16
- Junior Makenna Pugh 23:45
To see all the results for the cross country team, go to the team website and click on results on the drop down menu.
