The Piedmont High School cross country teams opened their seasons on Sept. 14, competing at the Ed Sias Invitational at Hidden Valley Park in Martinez.
The girls team finished seventh in the Small School Division. Junior Skylar Best was 17th in the division on the two-mile course in 13 minutes, 50.0 seconds. Sophomore Amalia Gray was 22nd in 13:54.6. The pack of sophomore Gladwin Horsley, junior Cora Chun and senior Caroline Taylor finished 33-35. Their times were 14:15.6, 14:15.8, 14:15.9, respectively. Senior Nasreen Schulze was 38th in 14:21.9.
“The second through sixth varsity girls came through the first mile together, separated by only one second,” Highlanders coach Steve Zirkelbach said. “This type of great teamwork and close finishing is what can win team races, and our both of the girls squads really understand this and continually work together and run as a strong pack, helping and pushing each other to be competitive.”
Piedmont finished with 127 points, just two behind Mission Viejo.
Bishop O’Dowd’s Isabella Rodgers won the race in 12:45.5. Maria Carillo took the team title with 74 points, edging out Northgate, which had 75.
Sophomores Thomas Ero and Alex Schleuning finished 56 th and 57 th in the boys race. Ero came home in 11:49.7 with Schleuning finishing in 11:50.3. The Highlanders were missing their top two runners in Sebastien Swain and Noah Sohn.
Again, the three-four-and five runners came home together for Piedmont. Senior twins Oliver and Henry Horsley were 72nd and 73rd in identical times of 12:14.4. Junior Devon Thai was 74th in 12:15.5.
The Highlanders scored 314 points. Miramonte was the team champion with 53 points.