The Heat Junior Olympic cross country team, headquartered in Pleasanton, qualified 65 individuals for the U.S. National Championships at the USATF Regional Championships in Reno, Nev.
Team members are 6-16 years old. The youngest is Rachel Gurarie of Walnut Creek, 6, who was a key scorer on the Girls Under 10 team, helping them to a regional championship. The Under 10 Boys team also won the regional title, led up front by Alex Sokol of San Jose and Tim Falls of Dublin. The Under 12 Boys had 15 boys qualify for Nationals. Ben Zaeske and Andy Sartor of Palo Alto and Peter Schlachte of Pleasanton paced the boys. The Under 14 Girls are led by standout Sophie Hartley of Livermore, a three time All American who was fourth in the United States last summer at 3000m. In the Under 14 boys, The Heat had 11 boys finish in the top 15 places. Adler Faulkner of Lafayette, was second overall, followed in close succession by Gabe Arias (Alameda), Nolan Peteresen (Fremont), Tim O’Shea (Sacramento), Aidan Goltra(Walnut Creek), Brynn Sargent (Sacramento), Caton Avilla (Sacramento), Sean Alyward (Walnut Creek), Connor McCarthy (Pleasanton) and Jacob Schlachte (Pleasanton). Kiley Zeitler of Livermore led the Under 16 girls, followed closely by Natalie Dimits (Livermore) and Montana Baumann (Danville). In the Under 16 Boys, Tyler Sorensen of Lafayette led the way, followed close behind by Parker Deuel of Danville. Deuel was racing the day after his strong 16:05 race at the California state meet where he helped San Ramon Valley High School to a 10th place finish.
The U.S. National Championships will be held Saturday in Reno.
“We have the benefit of having raced on this course once already” said Kevin McCarthy, head coach of the Heat. “The course is hilly and at elevation (4,500 feet) and now our team knows what it takes to race well there.”
He expects a couple of the age group teams will finish in the top three and maybe even win the national title.
BUSC U12 Premier win NorCal State Cup quarterfinal
The BUSC U12 Division 1 Premier team won their NorCal State Cup quarterfinal and semifinal matches last weekend in Santa Rosa to advance to the finals in Woodland, Calif.
In quarterfinal action on Saturday against the Vacaville Atlas, Cameron Ritchie scored the equalizer at the beginning of the second half on a direct free kick from the top of the area. Due to darkness, the game was moved across town to a larger lighted field for two additional 10-minute periods.
The winning goal came off of a Jackson Still pass to Max Gershman who then found Ryan Racer in the area for the goal. Keeper Omeed Ziari and defenders Jeffrey Klei and Mitchell Wilson held the Atlas in check.
On Sunday morning, BUSC faced off against Lodi United in semi-final action with BUSC winning 2-0. Jackson Still and Cameron Owens both scored.
Outstanding defense was provided by Chudi Atuegbu, Bryce Veit and Geoffrey Wiederecht.
Rage U11 White stamp out Stampede
On Sunday, the Rage U11 White girls met up with the Mustang Stampede team in the Norcal State Cup semifinals. With a seesaw battle playing out through the first half, Alyssa Bardakos put a ball on goal that was blocked by the Mustang goalkeeper. It rebounded out to Jenyce Dutcher who nudged the ball out to Belle Henry who put it in the net.
Rage held a 1-0 advantage at the break and 10 minutes into the second half when Jenyce Dutcher knocked the ball onto the left corner off of a great corner kick by Mary Rockwood. Rage won 2-0 to advance to the championship game on Dec. 19 in Woodland, Calif. against the North Valley Lightning. Top Offensive Players: Belle Henry, Jenyce Dutcher, Mary Rockwood, Alyssa Bardakos. Top Defensive Players: Sadie Grozier, Meghan Pickett, Katie Rademann.
