Cross Country Wins Ed Sias Invitational
MARTINEZ, Calif. – The St. Francis varsity cross country team won the Ed Sias Invitational on Saturday as senior Sydney Vandegrift led the pack with a second-place finish in 11:54. She finished behind only Caroline Garrett of Oakland Tech by eight seconds.
Sophomore Emma Hollenbach was second on the team and ninth overall in 12:45, while junior Noelle Lynch was right behind her teammate in 10th overall in 12:47. Junior Sophie DeBendetti was the fourth finisher in 12:57 to place 11th overall. Freshman Hanna Hekkanen finished 12th.
St. Francis won the team title with 44 points ahead of Homestead (73), Oakland Tech (94) and Vacaville (105).
The Junior Varsity team was second overall with 39 points to finish behind only Homestead (20). Junior Cassidy Lourim won the race in 13:43 with the rest of the top five all among the top 11 finishers. Ellie Ramm was eighth in 14:34 followed by senior Teresa Lee (9th, 14:35), junior Morgan Watson (10th, 14:40) and junior Grace Rogers (11th, 14:47). Rogers had a 1:44 improvement on the day.
The Frosh/Soph team was led by Grace Harrison, who finished ninth overall in 13:56. She posted an improvement over four minutes from one season ago at the same meet.
Overall, nine Troubadours recorded personal-bests at the meet. Sophomore Ella Adamson had a 3:13 improvement from last season, one of four Troubies who ran a minute or more faster this season.
St. Francis will return in action with split squads next week at the DeLaSalle/Carondelet Nike Invitational in Concord and the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic in Irvine.