ROYAL CITY – On Wednesday, the Knights cross country team competed in the Southern Central Athletic Conference held at the Royal Golf Course. They ran against Connell and Wapato in a boys and girls 5,000-meter race. Head Coach Ben Orth said they had a fun day competing.   

“I thought the kids really gave great efforts, all the way from our high school team to our middle school team. I'm really proud of these guys. Obviously, the competition wasn't as stiff as it will be, but proud of the team effort,” Orth said.

Both teams finished in first place, the boys scored 27 points, and the girls scored 25.

The Girls had six runners in the top 10. Valeria Rodriguez finished third with a 22:03.7 time. Rebecca Carlson finished fourth with 22:13.7, which resulted in a new personal record for her. According to Orth, this was her first PR since her freshman year.

“She's such a hard worker; she ran about as much this summer as anybody. It was really neat to see her PR,” he said.   

For the boys, five runners placed in the top 10, including two finishing in the top five. Carlos Barajas placed first with a time of 17:48.8, and Juan Mendoza finished fourth at 18:26.0. Orth said Barajas had to battle it out with a Wapato runner in the last stretch of the race. According to him, they were stride for stride for over two and a half miles. Once they reached a hill, Barajas seized an opportunity to take the lead.

“There's a climb they have to do a couple of times, and Carlos dug deep. When they came up to the top of the hill, I turned around and looked back, and he had created a 10-yard separation, and they just kind of continued to open that up over the last quarter mile,” Orth said.

For Mendoza, Orth said he continues to grow in his second year of running with the Knights. He works hard to push himself to match Barajas’s production.

“I'm really proud of Juan. He is locked in and focused. He's a really hard worker every workout. If it's a hard workout, he's pushing himself to be as close to Carlos as he can, and the strides he's made since last year. His ability to be where he's at is simply a byproduct of how hard he works,” Orth said.

With three races left in the season for the Knights, Orth said his team is continually working on making incremental improvements. He foresees a tough path ahead to earn a state birth. This year, the Knights league has combined with a few northeast teams that make spots at the state meet scarcer.   

“It's going to be a challenging path, but that's what we train for, and we just got to keep making improvements. We can't control what everybody else does. We just got to keep making improvements ourselves, but we're having fun. We're working hard (and) team atmosphere is always awesome,” Orth said.

In addition to Barajas, Carlson, Rodriguez, Mendoza and Fabrizio Ramirez are runners who Orth looks at as leaders for the cross-country team. However, he pointed out how their approach to leading differs from the common vocal style.

“They're just loud by how they train and how they do things right. You can see how they warm up, how they approach a race and how they stay calm in races,” he said.

The Knights have another SCAC meet Oct. 15 in Wapato. After that, the SCAC League Championship is Oct. 25 in Walla Walla. For Orth and the Knights, he said the secret is in the sweat.

“We just got to keep working and stay healthy. Do the workouts right, that means even some days where it's an easier run, doing that right, so that when we have a hard workout the next day, we're ready to really hit it,” he said.   

RESULTS:  

Name, time  

Boys:  

Carlos Barajas,17:48.8  
Juan Mendoza, 18:26.0
Fabrizio Ramirez, 19:09.5
Jorge Hernandez, 19:10.0
Antonio Narciso, 19:26.7
Kevin Mendoza, 19:34.1
Cael Orth, 19:58.6
Thomas Priscilliano, 20:04.6
Clayton Garnick, 20:32.3
Dennis Hernandez, 20:57.2
Ricardo Garcia, 20:57.6
William Cruz, 21:12.0
Moises Castro, 22:58.7
Daniel Gama, 23:13.8
Victor Sandoval, 24:30.1
Kevin Montoya, 27:01.5
Jason Sandoval, 28:06.4
Daniel Soriano, 28:11.4  

Girls:  

Valeria Rodriguez, 22:03.7
Rebecca Carlson, 22:13.7
Akleigh Hebdon, 22:26.8
Yanise Rincon, 24:02.7
Alma Cortez, 24:35.6
Sarah Freeman, 24:50.8
Alina Valentin, 26:40.1
Gwen Garcia, 26:41.3
Genevieve Monge, 26:53.5
Guadalupe Ortiz, 28:18.7
Jaelyn Mendoza, 29:05.3
Marisol Gonzalez, 33:28.2 

    The Knights’ Alina Valentin, far left, Jaelyn Mendoza, second from left, Marisol Gonzalez, second from right, Guadalupe Ortiz, far right, warm up ahead of their 5,000-meter race on Wednesday.
  

    Alina Valentin (94) and Genevieve Monge (88) during the girls' 5,000-meter race on Wednesday. Head Coach Ben Orth said the Knights have been making incremental improvements as the season continues.
  

    The Knights’ Juan Mendoza, most right, keeps pace with runners from Connell and Wapato during Wednesday’s meet. Mendoza finished in fourth place.
  

    Carlos Barajas during the Knights boys 5,000-meter race on Wednesday. Barajas finished in first place with a final time of 17:48.8.