On September 28, 2013, cross-country teams from all over California gathered in Palo Alto at the Stanford Golf Course to exhibit their teams’ skills. Lick-Wilmerding joined its many Division 5 rivals to race. The fall afternoon was blisteringly hot.
The boys raced before the girls. The results of the race demonstrated the prowess for which this team is famous. Stephen Page ’15 finished 5th in the race of 150 runners, with a remarkable time of 16:53 (running a 5:26 mile pace for the full 3.1 miles) for the challenging five-kilometer course. Matt Jenkins ’15 came in shortly after in 7th place with a time of 17:04. Corey Robinson ’14 finished about one minute later, and Brian Ebisuzaki ’16, racing at Stanford for the first time, followed suit with a personal record. Tony Martinez ’14, Zachary Oji ’15, and Kyle Lee ’14 all finished with excellent times.
Overall, the boys placed second overall, ahead of other rival San Francisco schools, such as University, Urban, and Stuart Hall.
Just half an hour after the boy’s race began, it was the Division 5 girls’ turn to take the stage (or rather, the course). After a dramatic, nail-biting race between rival schools, Lick-Wilmerding once again proved its excellence in the field of cross-country. Coming in 1st place out of 115 hopeful runners was Lick-Wilmerding’s own Molly Dicke ’14, crushing the competition with her time of 19:33, nearly fifteen seconds ahead of the second place finisher. Andie von Eschen ’14 also finished in the top ten, speeding across the finish line in 5th place. In 13th place came Maddy Nakada ’16. Julia Thompson ’15 and Eva Laxo ’16 finished together in 16th and 17th, both sporting personal records for the 5K. Rounding out the top seven were Lindsey Bach ’16 and Emma Wexler ’14.
The girls won the Division 5 girls race at the Stanford Invitational by over 50 points.
Currently, both of Lick’s boys and girls cross country teams are racing in invitationals as well as in league meets. At the Jim Tracy BAC Challenge on October 15, 2013, the boys varsity team placed first in the league, as well as the freshman/sophomore boys and girls teams placing first as well. They will continue to train and compete in races until the championships in late November.
