Sophie Sagi (9) leaned forward, preparing to explode off of the starting line to establish a lead at the 45th annual cross country Sundevil Invitational, Oct. 4. The moment the official fired his pistol into the air, Sagi was off. The race was on.
The Sundevil Invitational is not a league meet, so races were organized by grade level. The meet featured more than 1,800 runners, and despite the difficult three-mile course, Westview managed to have low enough combined times to place first in the sophomore girls, sophomore boys, and junior boys categories.
Sagi placed first out of 137 freshmen girls with a time of 18:18, only three seconds slower than the girl’s freshman course record — a record set by Jaelyn Williams, a D1 cross country and track and field commit. Despite her first place finish, Westview did not win the freshman girls category but still had a strong performance and placed second after Cathedral Catholic. Sagi held the lead for the entirety of the race, and finished almost a minute ahead of the second place runner.
“When I heard [my time], I was very surprised,” Sagi said. “It was surreal and really impressive that [my time] was that close to someone so high level. Throughout the race, I didn’t really know what my times were going to be because I was running so far ahead of the pack. My coaches were just telling me to push myself, try to go fast.”
The meet took place at Morley Field, which has a steep hill that runners have to quickly ascend, making the course both physically and mentally demanding. Kenrick Gunn (10) and his teammates focused on speed and endurance workouts going into the race.
“This course [has] a lot of hills, compared to other courses that we’ve had in the past,” Gunn said. “Cross country courses are really long and most California courses are really flat, but this one is really hilly [so] it pushes you to your limits. I [needed] to prepare myself mentally too. I have to tell myself, ‘you got this, keep going.’”
Having run this course last year, Gunn said he felt confident in his pacing, leading for the first half mile before being passed after starting out too strong and losing endurance. He still managed to stay in the top ten and finished 6th out of 189 sophomore boys with a final time of 16:38.
“This year I had a lot more experience and I knew how to pace myself, especially in this race,” Gunn said. “I really did feel good and got into a pace that felt good, [but] I need to work on my endurance. I definitely started out too fast.”
Sagi was able to keep a steady pace throughout the entire race, establishing an early lead and continuing to separate herself from the other racers at the hill. She said she was proud of her nearly record-breaking performance.
“Finishing is always my favorite part of the race,” Sagi said. “Everyone is hyping you up and cheering you on. When you finish, a lot of pressure is [taken] off of you because you’ve already done it and you can’t do anything else about it. And it’s a lot nicer to finish a race feeling accomplished rather than [thinking], ‘I could have been better.’”
Both Sagi and Gunn finished in the top 10 of their category alongside five other Westview runners. Additionally, 19 other Westview runners placed in the top 50 of their section and medaled.
“Westview did really well,” Gunn said. “There were seven people in the top 10, which is really impressive. We have a really fast team and we’re doing really well.”
Sagi said she is excited to see her years of training paying off and is ready to continue working hard and pushing herself.
“It’s really rewarding for me,” Sagi said. “I’ve been working really hard on cross country for years, taking care of myself, and making sure I’m in good shape, and now everything’s starting to show. So it’s really nice to see everything stack up to how hard I’ve been working.”
