This year all four of the Redwood Empire League finals are planned to be run at the historic Spring Lake course.
Pennants are on the line in each league but regardless of how the runners do at their finals ever school gets to send a team to the North Coast Section meet on Saturday, November 18th at Hayward HS.
Most of the photos below taken by Michael Lucid.
Thursday, November 2, 2023
North Bay League-Redwood Championship Meet at Spring Lake, host Analy
3:00 JV Boys, 3:45 Combined Girls, 4:30 Varsity Boys
Boys
The Analy boys team comes into the meet with a perfect 6-0 record followed by Ukiah (5-1).
Analy will be trying for their 8th pennant since their first one in 1973 and their last one in 2021.
Ukiah are the defending champions.
Healdsburg’s Kaeden Anderson is the defending individual champion having won last years meet by 15 seconds.
But Analy’s Cormac Gaylord bested him in their head to head meet by 14 seconds and should be the favorite of the two juniors
2023 Boys NBL Standings
Finals History
Girls
The Analy girls team comes into the meet with a perfect 6-0 record followed by Rancho Cotate (5-1).
Analy has dominated the last two league finals and will be shooting for their 12th pennant with their first coming in 1982.
Cardinal Newman’s Siena Brunetti is the defending individual champion having won last years meet by 44 seconds but may be the dark horse this year.
Analy has had two runners senior Rosemary Harris and sophomore Stella Finley who have traded off this year leading their team with both besting Brunetti in the meet vereses the two schools.
2023 Girls NBL Standings
Finals History
Friday, November 3, 2023
North Bay League-Oak Championship Meet at Spring Lake, host Piner,
JVB: 3PM, JVG: 3:40, VB: 4:15, VG: 4:40 Awards 5:20 PM
Boys
The Santa Rosa boys team comes into the meet with a perfect 4-0 record followed by Maria Carrillo (3-1).
Maria Carrillo has DOMINATED the boys finals since first winning in 2002 losing only in 2011, 2010 and 2008.
Santa Rosa’s last pennant was one of those taking the 2008 title.
This year Santa Rosa beat Carrillo 26-31 in their dual meet. If Carrillo can turn the tables on this strong Santa Rosa team at the finals they can still share the pennant with them.
In that dual meet Carrillo’s Jack Wilson took the individual win and is probably the favorite in the finals but could be challenged.
2023 Boys NBL Standings
Finals History
Girls
The Montgomery girls team comes into the meet with a perfect 4-0 record followed by Maria Carrillo (3-1).
As with the boys Carrillo has DOMINATED the finals over the years. They have won ever finals since 2003, except for last year (Montgomery) and 2010 when they lost the championship to Santa Rosa on a tie breaker.
This year the Montgomery team won the dual verses Carrillo due to their amazing top three junior runners (Hanne Thomsen, Amrie Lacefield & Seelah Kittelstrom) but the finals will be much more difficult to hold off Carrillo’s depth as the other three schools are added into the scoring. See dual preview.
Montgomery’s top three should again take the top three spots at the finals with only Carrillo’s freshman Ashlin Mallon given a chance to stay with the Vikings #2-3 runners. Thomsen is of course in a league by herself being one of the top ranked runners in the nation. Last year Thomsen just missed the championship meet record by three seconds running the course in 16:21 to Santa Rosa’s Julia Stamps, Mallon’s mom, who ran 16:18 in 1994, the year Stamps was the national champion.
Lacefield and Kittelstrom are always a ways back but have turned in times at Spring Lake better than all but ten other girls, in the last 36 years, other than Stamps and Thomsen, with six of those ten winning state titles.
2023 Girls NBL Standings
Finals History
Saturday, November 4, 2023
Vine Valley Athletic League Championship Meet at Spring Lake hosted by Petaluma,
JV Boys 8:30am JV Girls 9, Varsity Boys 9:30 Varsity Girls 10am.
2023 VVAL Standings
Boys
In the VVAL center meets Casa Grande had the best score in the first two meets over Vintage, but Vintage took the last meet leaving Casa with a points edge of 22-20 over Vintage. But their are enough points to be earned in the finals for Vintage to take the pennant if they can beat Casa again.
Casa has won three of the four VVAL finals so far including last years meet.
At last years finals the top two returners are Vintage’s Grayson Frye 3rd and Casa’s Dylan Mainaris 4th.
Mainaris has taken all three of the center meets with Frye moving closer (5th-3rd-2nd) each meet.
Girls
In the girls team race Casa won all three center meets by at least 11 points so barring them not fielding a complete team in the finals they pretty much have a lock on the pennant.
As with the boys Casa has won three of the four VVAL finals so far including last years meet.
Last years finals the top 17 finishers were all underclassman with Petaluma’s Reilly Kreutz winning by 9 seconds over Casa’s Avery Codington.
At this years center meets they have again gone 1-2 in all the meets with Kreutz winning all by at least 17 seconds.
Wednesday, November 8, 2023
Coastal Mountain Conference Championship Meet at Spring Lake
JV 1:00, Girls 1:45, Varsity Boys 2:30
The CMC does not count their league meets towards the finals so the pennant all comes down to this one meet.
On Wednesday November 1st many of the top CMC runners will have their last league meet at Spring Lake and could give a clearer picture of what will happen in the finals.
Boys
Sonoma Academy has won six of the last seven finals so they are the overwhelming favorite.
Grace Christian Academy’s sophomore Grant Methum looks to be the favorite but Sonoma Academy’s Javier Hernandez-Barragan is the top returner from the 2022 meet placing third and should give him a strong challenge.
Girls
Middletown has won the last four CMC finals but last year Sonoma Academy came within a single point of beating them.
Clear Lake’s Hannah Garrity will be trying for her third straight CMC championship win. Her freshman year was canceled due to the pandemic.
Garrity has not lost to a CMC girl so far this season and is looking strong.
The one girl with a chance to beat her is Technology’s freshman Josie Hill.
Garrity won last years race at Spring Lake in 19:49. In an October 9th meet this year at Spring Lake Hill ran 19:41.
Spring Lake’s 2.97 mile All-Time
Boys Individuals/15:39 Class Records Team CMC/17:09
Girls Individuals/18:32 Class Records Team CMC/21:12
Boys School Pennants
Girls School Pennants