Analy’s Cormac Gaylord passes Santa Rosa’s Ome Zuniga at Ragle on 9/25. Photo Credit: Lawson Gaylord
The gun goes off. The crowd roars. Analy runners Cormac Gaylord (Senior) and Owen Dawson (Junior) lead the pack of varsity boys down the road and into the trails of Ragle Ranch Regional Park, where the 2.65-mile course awaits them. The pack of boys soon disappears around a bend in the trail, and the spectators move down the road to the junction where the runners will come by after completing their first loop.
But the racers must first face hills, bridges, narrow trails, and sand – so soft that they sink into it, slowing them down. However, every part of this trail has its strategies, thought out beforehand by the runners and their coaches. It is just a mere six or seven minutes until the runners can be seen again, powering up a steep hill before disappearing again to do a second loop.
Cormac Gaylord leads them, closely followed by Santa Rosa’s Ome Zuniga and Owen Dawson. Cormac and Owen are clearly working to try to lose Ome, but he stays with them, waiting for the time to pass. The spectators move again, this time to the finish line, right at the bottom of a steep hill.
This course has a very challenging finish – runners must first charge up the infamous Gazebo Hill, known for its length and steepness. They then only go a short way before returning downhill, where they must sprint to the finish. Passing someone on the downhill is tricky, and often impossible, as someone in the front will get away. And so with this in mind, Cormac and Owen knew it would be challenging to pass Ome if he got in front. Repeatedly, they would try to speed up to escape him, but he would not give in. Shortly before the finish, Ome takes advantage of Cormac’s and Owen’s fatigue and passes them. This would be a close race. They sprint up the hill, Ome slowly distancing himself from the Analy runners. They start on the downhill, one hundred meters to go – that’s just one straightaway on the track. Comac knows that if he doesn’t make his move now, he won’t win. And so, in an incredible burst of speed, he starts gaining on Ome. A few seconds later, Cormac powers past Ome and runs through the finish line. He wins with a time of 13:44, fifteen seconds faster than the old course record of 13:59, set by Brian Schulz of El Molino in 2015. Ome and Owen both also beat the old record, finishing with times of 13:45 and 13:46, respectively, proving that great runners make each other faster. It is also notable that Owen ran the fastest of the team in a big race just a couple of days before. The rest of the Analy team comes in shortly behind, with Choegyal Hergenrather (15:54), Aidan Berg (16:12), Songtsen Hergenrather (16:30), and Brayden MacQuarrie (17:36).
Analy’s Sakina Woods during her race at Ragle on 9/25. Photo Credit: Lawson Gaylord
On the girl’s side, Analy senior Sakina Woods led almost the whole way until the final stretch, when Windsor runner Emily Williams passed her. Woods placed second with a time of 17:31. Just behind was Emma Wenzel-James (17:49), followed by Sabrina Elson (19:31), Miriam Hall (20:08), Azalie Curran Flores (20:10), Taylor Magee (20:17), and Nylah Hudgens (22:18). The Analy girls won their race against Santa Rosa by a score of 26 to 29 (lowest score wins).
Both Analy JV Boys and Girls were also strong against Santa Rosa and Windsor.
The full results can be found at redwoodempirerunning.com.
Wednesday 9/25.
