On September 29th 2021, the Ukiah High Cross country team went down to Healdsburg for their first league meet. Despite the challenging course and the scorching heat, every athlete who attended the meet was able to finish the course successfully.
12th grader Kaylee Gaylord found the course “rather challenging.” Gaylord added the course “pushed me to my physical limits but it was very rewarding. In spite of the challenging hills I was quite satisfied with my time.”
Gaylord said she could have improved by “following closer/starting at a faster pace to begin with because by the time I got to the end of the race, no level of pushing myself could catch the first place girl.”
12th grader Shane Stearns says he felt “pretty good about my race. It was not my best, but it still wasn’t bad.”
Reflecting on his performance, Stearns said “I could have gone out more conservative and have a better second and third mile.”
Cross Country Coach Chad Raugewitz said he was excited for the Healdsburg meet because it was the team’s first league race and expressed appreciation for the courses’ beauty and challenge. He also said the Healdsburg team is fun to compete against, saying they are friendly and close competition.
Regarding the performance of the team, Coach Raugawitz celebrated that the girls won. He said the boys team lost by quite a bit but our top two runners did quite well. Ukiah High’s Nathan Gibson was actually the first runner to cross the finish line.
Lilly Losak, a junior at Ukiah High school is a three-sport athlete who dreams to continue her basketball career after high school. She is passionate about climate change, writing, and nature. Some of the writings she enjoys are short stories and occasionally poems.
