Boy Varsity Race

133 runners bolt from the starting line

While the girls race was tight up front for the individual title, the boys race was not.  Juan Gutierrez of San Benito, who early this year had run 15:52 for 3.1 miles at the Stanford Invitational, grabbed an early lead and was never challenged.  His stated goal for the day was to take the course record from his longtime league rival and friend Jose Gonzales of Seaside.  Gonzales had set a sizzling time of 13:05 for the 4k (2.5 mile) route.

Bosquez and Yanez run 2nd and 3rd at mid race

The boys race may have been a run away, but the team battle was tight!  No team had a clear
advantage by the 1st trip through the mud pit at 1 Kilometer.  Turlock was well represented near the front of the race, as were Pleasant Grove and Seaside.  As the race progressed, Hughson again showed that they know every twist and turn in the Arboretum and used that section to move into contention.  Daniel Yanez of Hughson and David Bosquez of Turlock raced side by side through the twisting pathways, both trying to chase down Gonzales of San Benito.

Carson Boice of Hughson, who had been laying back early on, began a strong move during this middle section of the race that would carry him all the way to 3rd place overall by the finish.

Mid Pack Mud Pit Action with less than 1k to go.

As the teams exited the arboretum, it seemed that the two small schools (Hughson and Seaside) were starting to assert themselves a bit over their larger rivals.   Julio Ramirez, Taylor Ingram, and Ramon Velasco of Seaside had all moved into the top 10 overall, while Jaymie Jackson of Hughson had also joined the top 10 along with teammates Yanez and Boice.

By the finish line, the course record was safe for at least another year and Gutierrez was the clear winner, finishing 11 seconds ahead of Yanez, but it was not clear which team had won the title.  Hughson runners placed 2nd and 3rd overall, but then Seaside had runners in 5th, 6th, and 8th position.  Hughson had a guy in 9th, and the places alternated between the two schools as runners from all teams streamed across the line. This race had no clear team winner.

When all the runners were in the finish chute and all the scores were added, Hughson had squeaked out a narrow 5 point win over the Spartans of Seaside. The two small schools were followed across the line by Division 1 schools: Turlock, San Benito, Pleasant Grove, and Pitman.

Team Scores (Top 5), 17 complete teams
1. Hughson - 62
2. Seaside - 67
3. Turlock - 97
4. San Benito - 98
5. Pleasant Grove - 176

Top 5 Individuals (133 total finishers)
1. Juan Gutierrez, San Benito - 13:30
2. Daniel Yanez, Hughson - 13:41
3. Carson Boice, Hughson - 14:01
4. David Bosquez, Turlock - 14:02
5. Julio Ramirez, Seaside - 14:07