The Ojai Valley School boys’ cross country team earned a CIF berth on Wednesday with a third-place finish at the Condor League championship race, while on the girls’ side OVS senior Gilim Bae was crowned Condor League champion with a dominating first-place finish at the league final.
Twenty four cross country runners from the Upper Campus traveled to Midland School to take part in the Condor League championship race.
Both the boys’ and girls’ teams have been training since the start of
the school year for the league final, and many of the runners have been logging their best training and racing times in recent weeks.
“A lot of these runners are peaking at just the right time,” coach Fred Alvarez said before the race. “I’m expecting all of my runners to have a good day out on the course.”
And a good day they had.
The league final featured nearly 100 runners on the boys’ side, and about 50 running in the girls’ race. The boys were led by juniors Jacob Tadlock (L14) and Erick Liang, who both earned medals, and set personal bests for three miles, with Top Ten finishes.
The top seven boys will compete Nov. 12 in the CIF Southern Section preliminary meet in Riverside.
On the girls’ team, senior Gilim Bae finished first overall, running a season’s best time over a flat and fast three-mile course.
Gilim is the third Condor League cross country champion from Ojai Valley School in the past six years.
“I’ve been fortunate to have some talented runners pass through the program in recent years,” Mr. Alvarez said. “Gilim carries on that tradition, and I couldn’t be more proud.”