Hearts pounding and nerves setting in, more than 200 boys grouped at the starting line, listening for the starter’s pistol that would mark the Boy’s Sweepstakes Race at the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic, Sept. 15-16. Among them were the top seven runners of the varsity Westview boys cross country team, who had been tirelessly training for this race since the start of the season.
The Woodbridge Classic is known for its extremely fast and flat 3-mile course that draws teams from all over the country. The pristine running conditions set the stage for runners to set personal records and reach team goals.
All of the Westview boys set new personal records of over thirty seconds, and their times placed them 21st out of 34 teams. One member of the team being Adrian Welton (12), who is currently ranked 23rd in California for the boys high school three-mile, as he ended with a new personal best of 14:27.2 seconds, and in 35th.
Expectations were high going into this meet. Last year, the team placed ninth in the Division I state meet, which qualified them for the Boys Sweepstakes Race. The race is regarded as the most competitive at Woodbridge.
Prior to the race, the runners studied the course through and through, developing running strategies on how they planned to pace themselves per mile, change speeds, and attempt to pass other competitors during the race.
Rowan Hannaman (11) had to devise a new technique to navigate other runners, as he knew this would be some of the best competition he had ever faced.
“I had to find a way to get through an incredibly large field of runners,” Hannaman said. “My strategy was to get out quick, settle in for the second mile, and then close quickly for the last mile.”
For each of the Wolverines, this was the first time they entered the race, so there was all-around shock and excitement walking into the meet. Hundreds of runners warming up, food vendors, and the race course that stretched across the entirety of Orange County Great Park lined their fields of vision.
For Kaeden Berner (12), going into his third year of Westview cross country as a senior, what stood out was the intense competition.
“Some of the teams around the entrance are or were previously some of the best in the state,” Berner said. “So I realized quickly that I’d be extremely happy scoring top 100 in the race.”
Even with the chaotic race environment and the competition surrounding him, the only thing Welton, the team’s top runner, had on his mind was how he planned to run.
“I decided to strategize my race in the way that has brought me the most success in the past, which is to take the first quarter mile easy, let others get ahead of you, then spend the middle of the race moving up and passing as many as I could,” Welton said. “With about 800 meters to go, I planned to start kicking into high drive and use whatever I needed to get into a good position for the last 100 meters where I just give it everything I possibly could.”
Everything the team had worked so hard for would be put to this test. Welton said because they would be competing against highly ranked teams, some even aiming to compete on the national level, they weren’t expecting to place extremely well. But they only saw this as an opportunity to prove that they deserved to be there.
With 267 runners entered in the race, the start was difficult for many of the boys. The beginning of the course had a narrow right turn that became an indicator of which runners would be in the front of the pack. Parker McDevitt (10), the only sophomore of the selected Westview boys running at Woodbridge, said he struggled to navigate through the runners while coming upon the turn.
“[At] the right turn [at the start], the race thinned out by 75% and the entire left side of the racing pack was stopped,” McDevitt said. “Multiple people fell and I was getting shoved left and right and had to find my way out of there.”
Berner experienced similar troubles coming around the first turn. After being jostled around in the mix of runners, he was forced toward the outside where he had more room to gain momentum.
“Around 3/4 of a mile in, I started getting into a pace that I wanted,” Berner said. “It was fairly fast for what I’ve been running and if I took it all the way through, I thought I wouldn’t have anything left to give at the end.”
For Welton, the race had gotten off to a smooth start, and throughout the race, his methods proved successful.
“Fortunately I executed my strategy to almost perfection,” Welton said. “I did come through the first mile about three seconds faster than I had planned on, but I stayed strong enough for it not to hurt me too much.”
The results of Welton’s race left him having beaten his pre-race goal of 14:30, and taking home the title of placing top 50 in one of the fastest national cross country races.
Matthew Stevens (10), said placing well against well-ranked teams from out of state was a moral victory for the team, which left them happy with what they had accomplished.
Especially high in spirit was Welton, whose tireless dedication to the sport had finally paid off.
“Seeing the time at the end [of the race] was one of the most joyful moments of my life,” he said, “[It] made all the pain and hard work I had endured over the last few years worth it.”
