Cross country: Maria Carrillo, Piner, Healdsburg win pennants at NBL finale

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League pennants were claimed and several class and school course records fell at Spring Lake on a gorgeous Saturday morning during the North Bay League cross country championships.

Maria Carrillo swept the boys and girls championship titles to back up undefeated regular-season titles in the NBL-Oak, while the Piner girls captured their second straight NBL-Redwood championship crown after an undefeated regular season. Healdsburg won its first league title since 2016, claiming the NBL-Redwood championship title following an undefeated regular season.

Teams will have two weeks to prep for the North Coast Section championships Nov. 22 at Hayward, which will determine qualifiers for the CIF state championships in Clovis the following week.

Here’s a closer look at how Saturday’s NBL races went.

Boys

The battle for the top finisher turned dramatic in the closing few meters of the varsity boys race.

Healdsburg sophomore Lucas Welty set a fast early pace and led from the starting gun but was patiently pursued by a contingent of runners from Windsor and Maria Carrillo.

Maria Carrillo senior Trenton Dawson was part of that chase pack and kicked into gear in the final mile. He caught and passed Welty just steps from the finish line for a dramatic ending. It was Dawson’s first win of the year, taking the top spot overall and the NBL-Oak individual title with a time of 15 minutes, 14.2 seconds.

“I knew that a couple people would take it out pretty fast and I didn’t want to take it out too fast because I’ve done that before,” Dawson said. “So, I just kind of took it slower and easier, tried to stay up with the top three in my group and then kind of push from there.”

Welty placed second overall as the NBL-Redwood individual winner in 15.14.7. His time is a new sophomore course record, according to records compiled by redwoodempirerunning.com, shattering the old mark of 15:20 set by the legendary Luis Luna of Piner in 2009.

“I was talking with a lot of my competitors and we all together kind of wanted to take the pace out quick, so it kind of surprised me that they were lagging back there. They’re great guys, amazing competitors, no shade on them, but I just decided to go out at the pace I said I was going to go out,” Welty said. “I honestly thought they would kick by me, I thought they would catch up to me, but that was the plan so I could battle with the pack a little bit but they never caught up. I thought I could win it, and all credit to Trenton, he did awesome, he deserved to win, but it was tough.”

Healdsburg had four of the top five finishers in the NBL-Redwood team race and will have a very good chance of making the state meet at as a team in a few weeks. The Greyhounds are currently ranked No. 2 among Division 5 teams in the NCS, and the top four will advance to state.

Maria Carrillo’s team championship is their 14th in a row and the Pumas also look to be in good shape to make the state meet as a team for the 19th time.

Another very notable finish went to Analy freshman Jack Stoumen, who finished eighth in the NBL-Oak race with a time of 15:40.4. That mark breaks the old freshman course record of 15:42 set by Casa Grande’s Matt Salazar in 2012.

NBL-Oak

Trenton Dawson, Maria Carrillo, 15:14.2

Owen Dawson, Analy, 15:25.7

Xavier Surgeon, Windsor, 15:32.8

Michael Ervin, Windsor, 15:33.2

Cameron Jones, Maria Carrillo, 15:36.3

Austin Petrik, Maria Carrillo, 15:37.4

Hugh Cochrane, Maria Carrillo, 15:37.5

Jack Stoumen, Analy, 15:40.4

Logan Dickson, Analy, 15:42.3

Milo Wiese, Maria Carrillo, 16:01.9

NBL-Redwood

Lucas Welty, Healdsburg, 15:14.7

Jake McWilliams, Healdsburg, 15:50.3

Esteban Gaytan, Piner, 16:33.5

Domenico Cornilsen, Healdsburg, 16:36.3

Phoenix De Maria Nall, Healdsburg, 16:56.4

Sepp Busenitz, Cardinal Newman, 16:59.3

Gustavo Vargas, Piner, 17:10.3

Liam McKenzie, Healdsburg, 17:26.3

Kaden Shaw, Ukiah. 17:42.7

Samuel Summers, Ukiah, 17:45.3

Girls

Cardinal Newman junior Ashlin Mallon had a wire-to-wire win over the field and held off a late push from Maria Carrillo junior Joslyn Tribbey and Windsor sophomore Emily Williams for the fastest time of the day in 17:58.4.

Tribbey and Williams made up the main pursuit group but couldn’t catch Mallon, who took the lead out from the opening gun to win the NBL-Redwood individual title. Tribbey made up some big ground in the final mile to finish in 18:03.2 for the NBL-Oak individual title.

“I know I could have run a lot of faster,” said Mallon, the daughter of the legendary Julia Stamps. “I’m in a really hard training block right now, but I’m really happy I came through with the win. Amazing competition today. It’s so great to see all these girls. Santa Rosa has so many amazing runners, and I feel lucky and grateful to be a part of this community.”

This is the third straight championship title for Maria Carrillo and their 12th since 2011. The Pumas missed out on qualifying for state as a team last year for the first time in over a decade but look poised to make a return this year. They’re ranked No. 3 in the NCS among Division 3 teams, with the top four finishers at NCS advancing to state.

Tribbey has emerged as the Pumas’ top runner this year and lived up to that reputation on Saturday.

“At first I was really happy with the pace and Emily usually paces really well, so I just wanted to stick with her for the first mile,” Tribbey said. “Then my coach told me to stick with her and then try to push the pace up towards Ashlin because we knew Ashlin was going to take it out really fast. And then Ashlin just did a really good job of keeping pace. It was really fun to run right next to her because we used to be on the same team. So that was really cool. I thought the race went really well.”

Williams’ third-place time of 18:12.5 is a new school record at Spring Lake.

Piner had three of the top six scorers to clinch its second straight league championship. Junior Kamila Olvera, a state qualifier last year, paced the Prospectors with a time of 19:06.7.

NBL-Oak

Joslyn Tribbey, Maria Carrillo, 18:03.2

Emily Williams, Windsor, 18:12.5

Isla LaFleur, Windsor, 19:17.9

Marian Staroba, Maria Carrillo, 19:39.7

Sofia Carollo, Maria Carillo, 19:46.8

Emma Wenzel James, Analy, 19:50.5

Cora Morthole, Montgomery, 20:03.1

Keeley Graziani, Maria Carrillo, 20:22.5

Sophie Barrow, Maria Carrillo, 20:34.7

Annaleigh Malsbary, Windsor, 20:39.2

NBL-Redwood

Ashlin Mallon, Cardinal Newman, 17:58.4

Kamila Olvera, Piner, 19:06.7

Jocelyn Uraje Galindo, Piner, 19:19.4

Reese Chang, Rancho Cotate, 20:09.6

Angie Garcia, Ukiah, 21:03.1

Kenzi Uwins-Johnson, Rancho Cotate, 21:54.2

Ivanna Cisneros, Piner, 22:00.8

June Nelson, Healdsburg, 22:07

Ximena Mateoz Buenrostro, Piner, 22:36.6

Justina Domenichelli, Healdsburg, 23:23.6

CMC

Earlier in the week at Spring Lake, Sonoma Academy swept to the NCL II boys and girls team titles at the Coastal Mountain Conference championships.

The Coyotes’ depth led to them the win with five finishers in the top 11, led by a fifth-place finish from Charlie Rubenstein in 16:58.4.

Technology’s Will Engh won the individual title with a winning time of 16:21.4.

On the girls side, the Coyotes had all five scorers finish in the top seven to roll to the team title. Junior Josie Hill led the way with the individual title in 17:52.9. That’s third-best ever in meet history, according to records compiled by redwoodempirerunning.com. Sonoma Academy’s team finish is also a new meet record and was aided by a stellar run from freshman Annie Leyba, who placed second overall in the field in 18:42.5, No. 7 all-time in meet history.

St. Helena won the NCL I title behind a repeat individual championship run from junior Corinna Schlatter, who placed third overall in the field in 18:56.8.

VVAL

The Napa boys and Vintage girls both claimed league pennants at the Vine Valley Athletic League championships Saturday at Sonoma Valley’s 2.75-mile course at Maxwell Farms Regional Park.

It’s the first team league title for Napa since 2007 as a member of the Monticello Empire League. The Grizzlies had four finishers in the top-10, led by Joshua Nunez-Torres (second, 14:27), Jack Moore (third, 14:39.2) and Walter Heiser (fourth, 14:42.2).

Vintage’s Teddy Eichner won the individual title by 13 seconds over the field, finishing in 14:13.8.

For the girls, Vintage senior Kendall Bawden went back-to-back as an individual champion, winning with a time of 17:00.1. The Crushers had four finishers in the top six. Junior Skylar Waite placed second in 17:09.2.

The girls league title, however, was decided by just one point. Casa Grande had four finishers in the top eight but scored 43 points to Vintage’s 42 to place second overall. The Gauchos were led by freshman Nina Ho, who finished third overall in 17:39.5.

For full results from all the meets, see redwoodempirerunning.com.