BELMONT -- The Sobrato cross country teams were soaked, muddied and bloodied at the end of Monday's Blossom Valley Athletic League Finals meet -- and on their way to sectionals.
At stormy Crystal Springs in Belmont, the boy's and girl's teams qualified for CIF-Central Coast Section Finals, finishing in the top four in their respective Mount Hamilton Division fields. The Lady Bulldogs placed third with 111 points; and the Sobrato boys fourth with 91.
They advanced to the Division II section finals, held Nov. 15 in Toro Park at Salinas.
"We were pretty happy with how we finished on both sides," Sobrato coach Dave Wolfsmith said. "The conditions were pretty bad."
So bad that they left two Bulldogs on crutches. Alan Rios turned an ankle, and Ashley Sandberg took a nasty fall early, cutting her left knee.
"That was kind of unfortunate," said Wolfsmith, who coached both teams to sectionals a year ago. "We would have placed higher if they were healthy, but they stuck it anyway. Everyone has off days -- those were just accidents."
Competing at full speed for just the second time this year, Lance Wolfsmith placed second overall behind Willow Glen's Nohe Lema, who covered the slick 2.95-mile course in 15 minutes, 28 seconds, helping Willow Glen (27) take the boy's team championship. The Rams climbed to No. 4 this week in the San Jose Mercury News' top-15 poll for CIF-CCS.
Lance Wolfsmith, who tore cartilage in his left knee in September, clocked a season-best time of 15:52. Winston Van Keulen finished second for the Bulldogs, placing 20th in 17:06. Rios, his ankle swollen from his bad slip, finished 33rd in 17:47. Derek Deisenroth took 45th in 18:02 and Mitch Schenkelberg 50th in 18:13, rounding out Sobrato's scorers.
"For the boys, our major goal was to place second behind Willow Glen," Dave Wolfsmith said. "We beat Leland and Evergreen early in the season, and when we beat Leland, Evergreen was there, too. We beat both of them that day.
"We're happy with where we finished Monday."
Freshman Sarah Gilbert led the Lady Bulldogs with an eighth-place time of 20:03. Sobrato's Alex Seda paced Gilbert on the way to clocking a season-best time of 20:35; good for 13th.
"The weather got bad right when the girl's race started," Dave Wolfsmith said. "The wind was a major factor.
"Alex Seda came through with a big race. Sarah did, too. Part of that was because they stayed with each other."
Ashley Sandberg's twin sister Rachel Sandberg finished 38th in 21:58, also a season-best time and Cassandra Valenzuela placed 73rd in 23:07. Ashley Sandberg ambled to 78th in 23:19.
Leland's Stephanie Barnett won the girl's race in 18:30, helping the No. 7-ranked Lady Chargers (42) take second in the team standings behind No. 8 Evergreen Valley (38).
Looking ahead to next week's section finals, Dave Wolfsmith said both of his teams are "focusing individually." Only the top three teams and top five runners advance from Division II, which features six teams ranked by the Mercury News.
"We're in the most competitive division in CCS," Wolfsmith said. "Realistically, our teams don't have a great chance, unless something major happens. But it is a sport. Anything's possible."
Scott J. Adams Scott J. Adams covers Morgan Hill sports for South Valley Newspapers. Send him an email or call him at 779-4106.
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