Mountain View men’s team members celebrate their Sectionals win. (From left to right) Josh Judd, Mark Anderson, Kevin DeGroff, Raul Reyna, Matt Judd, Brady Eagar, and Addison Belnap.
After winning the City Championships on Oct. 24, the Mountain View Toros men’s cross country team ran to victory at the Sectional Championships on Nov. 6.
The Toro women, picked to place a distant third, exceeded expectations with a second-place Sectionals finish.
Team captain, Matt Judd, set a new personal record, running the 3.1-mile Sectionals course in 15 minutes 46 seconds, the fifth-fastest Mountain View race time in history. He placed first individually at City and third at Sectionals. Running close behind him for the team victory were his brother Josh Judd, Brady Eagar, Raul Reyna, Kevin DeGroff, Mark Anderson, and Addison Belnap. Raphel Miranda also ran with the varsity squad for the City Championship.
The Mountain View men’s team has won the City Championship 21 years in a row, but preseason rankings this year predicted them to place third in the city.
According to Coach Ronnie Buchanan, “The boys knew that they weren’t going into the City meet as No. 1
ranked, and they had to work diligently to improve through the season and execute good races in order to earn the school’s continued streak of City Championships.”
“The runners know that family and friends before them have carried on the legacy at Mountain View, and they want to be part of that tradition. Doing their very best and running for something bigger than themselves helps motivate them,” he concluded.
Anne Kocherhans led the young Toro women’s team at Sectionals, finishing in 19 minutes, 9 seconds, the 10th fastest time in Mountain View’s history. She was followed by Abigail Welch, Ryanna Petersen, Eliza Elcock, Avery Juvan, Lindsay Welch, and Tara Funk. They placed second at the Sectionals meet with 88 points, and all their runners finished within a minute and a half of each other.
Coach Russell McElhaney is enthusiastic about their performance and potential. “With only two seniors and 10 girls brand new to cross country, this year’s team was very young. Even so, there was really good team chemistry. The girls bought into the plan and saw outstanding growth, which continues—the team finished third in City, but just notched a second-place finish out of the whole Section. Next stop: State!”
The men’s team is also poised to continue to compete well. With almost all their runners returning next year, they look forward to another strong season in 2020.