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2014 Meet Preview - Dublin Distance Fiesta

Published by
DyeStatCAL.com   Mar 13th 2014, 2:29pm
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by Chris Williams, Meet Director
 
The Dublin Distance Fiesta is here! Two meet records have already fallen – 53 high schools and nearly 1500 student athletes are invading Dublin making this the largest Distance Fiesta EVER! Fantastic tunes and hundreds of personal bests help make this such a marquee event for the distance runners. Three special edition t-shirts or bags are up for grabs in every race (four in the fast heat) and the vaunted special sombreros to the fastest time of the day in each event all leads up some courageous performances for athletes of all ability levels. 
 
Girls 1600 
Meet Record – 5:12.80 – Natalie Dimits – Livermore 2010 
The first sombrero up for grabs could take a recording breaking performance to bring home, with eight girls entered with times faster than 5:12.80! Kendall Derry of Bella Vista appears to be the favorite, having already run the 18th fastest time in California this year in 5:10.71. She will be joined by another couple of state ranked ladies – Gabriella Nathan Funk of Armijo (2:19.68 13th State) and Lauren Jacob of Los Altos (11:14.00 14th State), who is no stranger to the Fiesta surroundings, having run 5:21.35 here as a freshman last year, which is good for the #2 Freshman time at the DDF. Other DDF veterans include Spencer Moore of St. Mary’s, who had a very impressive double in 2012 (5:20.28 - #4 Sophomore / 11:34.50 - #1 Sophomore) and Megan McCandless of Granada, who was runner-up in ’13 in this event, running a freshman record 5:17.96 (#5 All-Time). 
 
Boys 1600 
Meet Record – 4:17.28 – Erik Olson – Novato – 2009 
With the 2013 boys version turning into a very tactical race, let the 2014 field be warned – Lowell’s John Hogan will kick you down! He has already run 1:55.46 in the 800, which is the 2nd fastest time in California in ’14. He also has a speedy teammate Donald Chen (1:58.74 18th State) who can also bring the pain. San Rafael’s Nassim Kabbara is quite familiar to these parts, having the 5th fastest time freshman time in the 800. Two young men who may have their eyes on the 3200 prize later in the day could also add some magic – Marin Academy’s Trevor Rienhart (cross country Foot Locker national finalist) and Del Campo’s Edward Chance (9:38.84 17th State). 
 
Girls 800 
Meet Record – 2:17.43 – Tamara Purpura – Lowell – 2009 
Could we see our first double sombrero winner of the night? Kendall Derry of Bella Vista will be doubling back from the 1600 but will definitely be pushed by Bishop O’Dowd’s Emily Fieberling, who has already run 2:19.67, good for 12th in California. Skyline’s Marayne Martin-Fields (2:15.65 PR) has run well under the record here and also has the 5th fastest sophomore 800 performance at the DDF. Kylie Freeburg of Half Moon Bay also is on the all-time list, being 5th on the freshman list. Miramonte’s Georgia Roden (2:21.15 5th NCS) and Las Lomas’ Chloe Hansel (11:09.39 12th State) also add great range to this event. 
 
Boys 800 
Meet Record – 1:54.21 – Sebastian Sam – Oak Grove – 2008 
The oldest record at the DDF appears to be safe for another year, but their still can be some history unfolding. Junior Ricardo Avila of Bellarmine is already #2 on both the freshman and sophomore list and has the potential to put himself to be in position to be the first DDF athlete ever to be on each class list. He is also a veteran t-shirt winner, taking 4th in ’13. He is behind teammate Marcus Avila on the freshman list, who broke Ricardo’s mark last year. Oh but how can we overlook Lowell’s Donald Chen doubling back from the 1600 or four of the top 20 NCS 800 boys in 2014 – Ryland Lyons of Dublin (2:01.61 – 14th), Elliott Fong of Miramonte (2:02.18 – 16th), Trevor Ruth of Bishop O’Dowd (2:03.09 – 18th) and Chris Melendez of THE St. Joseph Notre Dame (2:03.20 – 19th). Just Sub-2, baby! 
 
Girls 3200 
Meet Record – 10:49.74 – Diana George – Livermore – 2009 
With a lot of the focus being on the boys 3200, these ladies might have deepest range ever seen at the DDF for the girls 3200. We have defending champion Brooke Starn of Monte Vista, whose 11:27.03 in ’13 broke the freshman DDF record. She already has run 10:54.53 which is good for 5th in California. Also ranked for the 8-lapper is Chloe Hansel of Las Lomas (11:09.36 12th State, doubling back from 800), who was a close second to Starn last year, also besting the previous freshman record. We have 1600 DDF veterans Mary Orders of Campolindo (#3 DDF Freshman) and Sonia Xu of Alameda (#3 DDF Junior) and 800 DDF veterans Rachel Johnson of Campolindo (#2 DDF Freshman) and Christine Bayliss of San Ramon Valley (#5 DDF All-Time). Ahh but we also have state ranked 800 speedsters Madison Ricks of California (2:15.41 4th State) and Alexandra Hernandez of Livermore (2:20.46 14th State). Mix them all up and this could lead to a very exciting race! 
 
Boys 3200 
Meet Record – 9:22.07 – Garrett Rowe – Mountain View – 2009 
To sum this up in a word – EPIC! Not only is the hallowed sombrero up for grabs here, but 3 guaranteed spots into the Arcadia Invitational night meet heats are on the line as well. How many plot lines do you want? Six of the top eight NCS returners and the top CCS returner are in this race. THE MEN: Aidan Goltra of Campolindo (2-time cross country Division 2 state champion, NCS 3200 runner-up in ‘13), Blair Hurlock of De La Salle (cross country Foot Locker nationalist, NCS 3200 3rd in ’13), Steven Sum of Saratoga (4:21.95 4th State, top CCS returner) and Cameron Tu of Alameda (9:22.10 2nd State, NCS 3200 7th in ’13). THE MYTHS: Can Fred Huxham of Redwood, who has already ripped a 4:14.48 indoors, reach a similar standard for 8-laps? Can track rookie Trevor Reinhart of Marin Academy duplicate his cross country Foot Locker nationals performance? THE LEGENDS: Can St. Joseph Notre Dame’s Gabe Arias-Sheridan (NCS 3200 4th in ’13) defend his DDF 3200 sombrero crown? Can Luke Williams of De La Salle and Logan Marshall of Half Moon Bay repeat their 2013 winner t-shirt performances? What about EVERYBODY else we didn’t mention – will they be able to make this meet director look foolish in not mentioning them? I hope so! 
 
Girls Distance Medley Relay 
Meet Record – 12:35.87 – Livermore – 2009 
Once the smoke clears from the boys 3200, the ladies will grace the track with their toughness and grit, as many of these young women will be doubling and possibly tripling back from earlier personal record performances. They could come from the likes of Los Altos’ Lauren Jacob (11:11.00 3200 14th State) and Armijo’s Gabriella Nathan Funk (2:19.68 13th State) doubling back from the 1600. Or from Las Lomas’ Chloe Hansel (11:09.36 12th State) who could be doing her 3rd event of the night! Coach Mike Davis of Monte Vista is gathering quite a collection of sombreros with last year becoming the first coach in DDF history to win a sombrero in both genders by winning the girls (won the boys in ’08) and will look to become the first coach with 3 sombreros. He will need another heroic performance from Brooke Starn (doubling back from 3200), whose team has already run the 10th fastest time in California. Another impressive team with a large stable of talented runners will be Bishop O’Dowd, who already has 2 teams under 13 minutes, one of them running 12:26.16. But they will need a big run out of Emily Fieberling, who could be doubling back from the 800. 
 
Boys Distance Medley Relay 
Meet Record – 10:29.89 – Bellarmine – 2011 
Bellarmine’s Patrick McCrystle will look to add his 3rd sombrero of his DDF career, leading his troops to the line to defend their meet record. Could he throw long distance specialist Matthew Seidel (9:41.28 20th State) into the mix after running in the epic 3200? It might take an effort like that to take down some of these other great teams. St. Joseph Notre Dame, fresh off of their clear cut victory over rival Bishop O’Dowd last week, has run 10:43.49. The 2-time defending Division 5 state cross country champions seem to have enough depth if they decide to not double Gabe Arias-Sheridan. Castro Valley has the 20th best performance so far listed on the state leader list. Livermore’s Eddie Salazar could also become the 2nd coach with multiple gender sombreros, having already won 2 with the girls in ’08 and ’09. He will have the likes of a fresh Tyler Olson (9:25.97 4th State), as will Granite Bay with a fresh Paul Zeiss (4:27.27 5th State, 9:28.14 5th State) whose team is ranked 15th in California. What a way to end the Fiesta! 

 

   
Boys – Distance Medley Relay – Girls 
All-Time 
Bellarmine 10:29.89 ‘11
Livermore 12:35.87 ‘09 
Monte Vista 10:30.69 ‘08
Campolindo 12:39.66 ‘12 
Bellarmine 10:31.07 ‘10
Monte Vista 12:43.17 ‘13 
Petaluma 10:32.89 ‘08
Mountain View 12:43.80 ‘09 
San Ramon Valley 10:34.31 ‘12
Campolindo 12:43.89 ‘10 

 



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