Livengood, Gonzales run their way to the CIF State Championships
Claire Livengood leads the girls cross country team, ending in a strong finish at the CIF State Championships. Photo contributed.
To wrap up long and exceptional cross country season, seniors Xavier Gonzales and Claire Livengood competed at CIF State Championships in Woodward Park, Fresno on Nov. 24. Gonzales came in 46th, running at time of 16:01, and Livengood placed 132nd with a time of 19:59. Earlier during league finals, Gonzales placed first (15:46) in CIF Division 2 and Claire Livengood was fifth (19:28) in that division.
“The team has had an excellent season to date,” said Coach Warnes, of the team at league finals. “I am very proud that we had both Xavier Gonzales and Claire Livengood make 1st team All-League, finishing 4th and 3rd overall respectively.” According to Warnes, Johnathan Dolan and Kacey Journey earned 2nd team honors, while Logan Jones and Faith Rocha were named Honorable Mention All-League.
At league prelims, Livengood finished at 19:36 in the girls’ three mile race, and Gonzales finished at 16:17 in the boy’s race. Livengood said, “I think it’s a great opportunity to compete with other runners in our area. Fairbanks is difficult, but everyone else has done it, so it’s great to be able to relate to people from the entire county. I think that I improved this season. I mean I’m enjoying racing more now than I was at the beginning of the season and getting some faster times.
Shot here at the local Fairbanks course, Xavier Gonzales finishes a season full of accomplishments with a 46th place finish at the CIF State Championships. Photo by Isabela Walrod.
About the season, Coach Warnes said, “Our boys finishing third in the league is a very good accomplishment, and although our girls team was favored to finish second in the league, some problems on race day led to finishing fourth by a few points. The future is very bright for Greyhound cross country.”
Overall, cross country had a successful season with each team performing well in their respective divisions. Many individuals performed wonderfully in their races and they all worked well as a team. One of the highlights earlier in the year was at the Ojai Invitational, when Gonzales placed second overall in the men’s three-mile race, running 15:56 and when Livengood placed ninth, running 19:51 for her own three-mile race. At the Clovis Twilight Invitational, Livengood ran the two mile race, finishing fourth with a time of 11:21.