Wolk shines at state cross country championships

The Lady Blue Devils had a great day, finishing in fifth place out of 24 teams in Division 1 with 169 points. Buchanan of Clovis was first with 76 points, followed by Mira Costa, 84; Trabuco Hills, 120; and Santiago Corona with 124 points. Davis placed ninth out of 122 teams in the merged results across all five divisions. Their team time is the fifth-fastest in DHS history. 

In the prerace meeting, DHS head coach Bill Gregg stressed the importance of being patient, with the plan of running smoothly in the first half of the race, and then moving up in the last half.

DHS Senior Avery Wolk followed this strategy perfectly, holding at 12th place at Mile 1, and then moving up to ninth at 2.1 miles. She then passed three more runners in the last 200 meters to finish sixth in a field of 197 runners. Her time of 17:34 was a personal best and placed her fourth on the Davis All-Time Woodward Park best time list (second-fastest senior ever). 

Katelyn Secrest and Lily Hales-Yang paced their races with the same tactic as Wolk, with Secrest moving from 61st at Mile 1 to a 36th-place finish in 18:15 and Hales-Yang moving from 59th to 46th overall in 18:21. Those times, which were personal bests by 20 and 23 seconds, respectively, placed them 10th and 11th on the Davis High all-time list. Kailee Mallow and Layla Wolk moved up steadily through the race, with both running personal-best times. 

Mallow dropped 30 seconds from her previous time on the course, running 18:36 for 61st place, and now holding 14th all-time DHS. Layla Wolk, younger sister of Avery and the only freshman on the varsity squad, ran a personal best by 26 seconds. Her time of 18:46 places her 19th on the all-time list and fourth-fastest Davis High freshman all-time. Finishing out the squad were Norah Feldt, who crossed the line in 76th in 18:48, and Natalia Yeager, who finished in 158th in 20:03.

On the Blue Devil boys’ side, the race did not unfold as planned. The team was ranked 9th in Division 1 coming into the meet but ended up 15th with 401 points in the 24-team field. Winning the race was Redondo Union with 101 points, followed by San Clemente, 108; Mira Costa, 117; Arnold O. Beckman, 184; and Menlo-Atherton, 191.

Usual Davis High frontrunner Elias Thronson, a projected top-five finisher at the State Meet, was hindered by both illness and a slight hip injury that cropped up just before the Sac-Joaquin Section meet earlier in November. Thronson finished 76th in 15:53. Junior Nicolas Duquette was the top DHS finisher, passing 76 runners in the last two miles to place 66th in a personal best 15:44. That time placed him 18th on the school’s Woodward Park all-time list.

Zev Fox, 97th in 16:06, was the next DHS runner to cross the line. Sebastian Molina De La Rosa ran a 33-second PR of 16:23, placing him 128th and earning him a ranking of 37th on the Davis High all-time top 50 list. Cameron Pund ran a PR in 16:32, good for 143rd place and a 43rd ranking on the DHS all-time list. Finishing out the scoring for Davis High were Payton Hanks (16:47; 170th) and Deven Doctor (16:48; 174th place). Both times were personal bests for the them.

The varsity boys’ team time places them 10th on the Woodward Park DHS top team times.