Going the Distance

With the cross country season winding to a close, Ojai Valley School’s distance runners are peaking at the right time,

OVS runners Jacob Tadlock and Gilim Bae paced their teams to top finishes this week at Besant Hill — Photo by Fred Alvarez

with several turning in personal best performances this week on Besant Hill’s rolling, oak-studded course.

OVS junior Jacob Tadlock paced the boys’ team to a second place finish, setting a personal best time of 19:00 for three miles in the second-to-last cross country meet of the season.

Jacob finished third out of the nearly 60 boys who gutted it out Wednesday in hot, windy conditions. OVS juniors Erick Liang, Kase Skillern and Peter Weckerle all cracked the Top 20.

On the girls’ side, senior Gilim Bae won her second race in a row and paced her team to a third-place finish.

Gilim demonstrated her toughness on race day. Running in second position for much of the contest, she closed a sizable gap in the closing stretch of the race to earn the victory.

Junior Jenny Zhang and freshman Jolene Fan also placed well for the Spuds, recording personal best three-mile times.

The cross country runners will conclude their season on Nov. 3 at the Condor League Final at Midland School. The race starts at 3 p.m.

Freshman Avery Colborn had another fast finish at Wednesday’s meet — Photo by Alex Alvarez