PMS Cross Country Team Completes It's Most Successful Season Winning Three League Titles

The PMS cross country team concluded its season with league championship meets this past week. The PMS 6th grade boys and girls cross country teams both won league championship titles on Monday, November 5th at Kennedy Grove Regional Park. This was the first time in the history of the team that this has occurred. The girls team placed five runners in the top ten and their point total of 30 (low score wins in cross country) was also the lowest score of any PMS cross country team in championship competition.  The top runner for the team as she has been all season was Erin Hong in 2nd place.  The other top ten finishers were Ella Jeffries in 5th place, Elie Cole in 6th, Laila Adarkar in 7th and Naomi Hollinger in 10th place.

On the 6th grade boys side, it was a very close race in deciding the winner, and one place in the standings made the difference. Piedmont with 56 points won by 1 point, the slimmest of margins. Two PMS 6th grade boys placed in the top 10 in their race.  They were Lorand Cheng in 4th place and Henry Cooper in 10th place.  Also scoring for the team was Dylan Thayer in 12th place, Josh Rogers in 14th, and Kevin Judd in 16th.  

The 7 & 8th grade meet was on November 8th at the same location. The PMS 7 & 8th grade girls were the defending league champions and repeated as winners, another first for the team to have back to-back champions.  The top runner for the team was Skyler Liu in 2nd place and in 9th place was Ellie Coleman.  The other top finishers for the team were Leah Kochendoerfer, Isa Harrison, and Ava Podell.

On the 7&8th grade boys side, while they competed gamely they couldn't quite match the success of the other Piedmont teams, coming in 4th place overall. The first finisher for PMS was Daniel Jones in 15th place.  The other team scorers were Blake Gruendl, Joseph Chu, Kyle Mortimer and Nick Loduca.  There were also JV races that took place and winning the girls JV race was Eleanor Brown with Kayla Lim 2nd.  On the JV boys side, Toby Fischer was 5th and Sam White was 6th.  

Cross Country - Last Regular Meet at Stanley

Our last regular season meet of the season was held on Monday, October 22 at Lafayette Community Park. This was a new venue and the first time that Stanley Middle School has hosted a meet. The course had a little bit of everything and seemed very viewer friendly. Results from the meet are not available but according to my tabulations, in the 6^th grade boys race we had 4 boys in the top ten and 8 boys in the top 16. Our first runner was Mitch Curtis in 6^th place, followed by Dylan Thayer in 8^th place, Henry Cooper in 9^th, Darryl Tjogas in 11^th, Josh Rogers in 11^th, Judge Williams in 14^th, Zach Chamberlin-Carr in 15^th, and Henry Saunders in 16^th place. On the 6th grade girls’ side, Erin Hong ran a strong race from beginning to end and in a close finish came in 2^nd place overall. Our other top 10 finishers were Laila Adarkar in 6^th place and Elie Cole in 7^th place. Rounding out our top five runners was Ruby Wakefield in 15^th place and Carolina O’Bresley in 20^th.

 

In the 7& 8^th grade boy’s race we had 2 boys in the top 15.  Unofficially I believe our first runner was Blake Gruendl in 12^th place followed by Kyle Mortimer in 14^th place.  Rounding out our top five finishers for the team were Walter Teitelbaum, Michael Blake,  and Vincent Titterton.  

On the 7 & 8th grade girls’ side, we placed three girls in the top ten led by another winning effort by Skyler Liu in an unofficial time of 8:20.  Finishing in 7^th place was Ellie Coleman in a time of 8:49, and in 10^th place was Ava Podell.  The team had two runners who finish in the next set of 10 runners with Minnie Cooper in 17^th and Cece Garofoli in 19^th.  




Photos courtesy Jenn Fox, see more at: http://jennfox.zenfolio.com/p630701272

PMS Cross Country – Mid-season Recap of Recent Meets

Orinda Meet on October 1

6^th Grade

For the Orinda meet, our annual team bus ride took place and just about every seat on the bus was filled going to the meet. This provided a bit of a break for our parent carpool drivers and we appreciate all your support this season by driving the kids to and from the meet. Regarding the meet itself, there were several record breaking performances and overall the team really did well. Meet results can be found on the team website: http://www.pmscc.com/meet-results.  

Erin Hong continued her fine running finishing 3^rd overall and breaking the PMS 6^th grade girls record for the course in a time of 6:56. This is the first time a 6^th grade Piedmont girl has run under 7 minutes on this course. PMS girls finished in 3^rd through 8^th place, a very dominating performance for any team as Erin was followed by Laila Adakar, Elie Cole, Ruby Wakefield, Naomi Hollinger, and Josie Gross-Whitaker respectively. In addition, other runners who finished in the top 20 were Lillian Brien placed 13^th, Zoe Ricard was 15^th, Lily Keville in 18^th place. All the girls ran well considering the heat and should be proud of their performance. I wish I could name every girl and boy who competes in the meets.

The 6^th grade boys were equally as impressive, and in the most exciting race of the season so far, Lorand Cheng ran down the race leader in the very last yards of the race and placed first by one second. His time of 6:42 broke the old 6^th grade PMS boys course record. Sam Von Herrmann in 3^rd place and a time of 6:48 also broke the old school course record. Our 6^th grade boys team captured seven of the top 10 places with Henry Cooper, Dylan Thayer and Dylan Han 4^th, 5th, and 6^th; followed by Josh Rogers in 8^th place and Mitch Curtis in 10^th place. A total of 18 PMS boys ran in this race, the most of any school and again all the boys are to be congratulated for running in such warm conditions.

7 & 8th Grades

the 7 & 8th grade girls team showed a lot of depth as we placed 5^th through 8^th with Ava Podell leading the way, followed by Minnie Cooper, Kate Gross Whitaker, and Ellie Coleman respectively. In 15^th place was Monty Miller, Nicole Jiang in 26^th place and Rose Eisenbach in 28^th.

On the 7 & 8th grade boys side, Blake Gruendl was our top finisher in 10^th place. Right after him were Joseph Chu and Daniel Jones in 13^th & 14^th place, and in a very fine race was Walter Teitelbaum in 19^th place.

Orinda Meet on October 4

6^th Grade

Offical results for the meet at MLK are not available, but unofficially for the girls Erin Hong finished in 2^nd place, Frannie Lahey-Teare was 5^th and Ella Jeffries was the 6^th place finisher, Gillian Truesdell was 20^th, and in her first cross country Veda Skatter was 23^rd. On the boys side, Lorand Cheng was 3^rd, with Sam Von Herrmann 8^th and Darryl Tjogas was 9^th.

7 & 8th Grades

Skyler Liu ran a fine race and won the race. Piedmont fielded a rather small team this time out with Ava Podell finishing 14^th, Cece Garofolio 15^th, Emma Nash 23^rd, Charlotte Puscasiu 37^th, Kayla Lim 40^th, and Franny Baronian in 60^th place. Unfortunately, at this time I don’t have the placings for Eleanor Brown, Nicole Jiang, or Eva Hunter.

In the boy’s race, Piedmont was led by Nick Loduca in 16^th place. In addition, Keith Sibal placed 25^thand Reece Proctor was 47^th.  Until the host school issues results I don’t have any placing for our other boys who ran in this race.

Prospect-Sierra Meet on October 4

6^th Grade

This meet was held at Cerrito Vista Park in El Cerrito. The weather was cool and overcast, with even a little drizzle. This course is tight, with lots of twists and turns and many runners make wrong turns as a result of its somewhat confusing nature. In the 6^thgrade girls’ race, we had a nice team turnout, with 12 girls running in the race. They were lead by Naomi Hollinger in 2^nd place in a time of 8:16 and Ella Jeffries in 3^rdplace in 8:17, followed by Franny Lahey-Teare in 8^th place in 8:43, Several girls also placed in the next grouping as Isabelle Wilson was 14^th, Julie Huffaker was 15^th, and Chelsea Fox was 19^th. Overall it was a very solid showing by our girls’ team. I should mention that we had 3-5^th graders from our “development team” run in this race, Piper Palmeri, Julie Ray, and Julia Pappas. They are gaining valuable experience in preparation for when they can run as middle school’ers. Once results are available, they will be posted on our website.

On the 6^th grade boys side, 13 from our team participated and we had two in the top 10 finishers, Ethan Argue in 7^th in a time of 7:52 and Darryl Tjogas in 10^th place in 8:01.  In addition, David Schwarz finished in 20^th place, Justin Casey 21^st place, Dimitri Manolis in 22^nd place and Jamie Tucher in 25^th place. Again a very nice showing by all the boys who ran and they got to experience running on course that is very quirky.

7 & 8th Grades

In the 7 & 8th grade girls’ race, we had a nice team turnout, with 10 girls running in the race.  They were lead by Skyler Liu in 2^nd place.  Skyler led much of the race, but due to a wrong turn, lost ground and was passed by another runner.  Despite this small detour, Skyler still broke the PMS 8^th grade girls course record with a time of 7:50.  As mentioned, over the years, I have seen many runners, including one year the entire pack going the wrong way and this is just one of nuances of cross country running.  In 5^th place with a fine run was Leah Kochendoerfer in 8:16.  The 15^th place finisher was Cece Garofoli in 8:46, 18^th place was Isa Harrison in 8:49, and Emma Nash was the 21^st place runner in 8:53.  All the girls ran hard, and showed a lot of determination, a necessary quality for endurance running and something that is best learned by experiencing it, in my opinion.  When the meet director issues results, I will post it on our website.  On the 7 & 8th grade boys side, 16 boys ran in the race and they were led by Nick Loduca in 13^thplace with a time of 7:40.  Our next finisher was Joseph Chu in 17^th place in 7:46, followed by Daniel Jones in 22^nd place in 7:51.  Aaron Jeffries and Reece Proctor rounded out the top five finishers from PMS. Again a very nice showing by all the boys who ran and they got to experience running on a course that is very quirky.