Lodi girls no longer in the shadows after winning league cross country title

Updated: Friday, October 31, 2003 9:16 AM PST

For the first three falls of their high school careers, Lodi High seniors Sarah Lipelt and Julia Tyack ran in the shadows of the Tokay High girls cross country team.

On Thursday, Lipelt, Tyack and their Flame teammates emerged from those shadows no longer the runner-up after running down the Tigers.

On a beautiful, crisp fall afternoon at Lodi Lake, Lodi placed three of the top eight runners en route to winning its first San Joaquin Athletic Association championship since 1992 with a perfect 18-0 league season.

"It's huge, incredible," an exhilarated Tyack said after the race amid group hugs. "It's the culmination and peak of my high school career."

"It's so awesome," added Lipelt, who admitted the team had the jitters despite coming into the meet unbeaten in league races.

"I was so nervous thinking that we wouldn't do it. It still would have been a great season if we hadn't won, but it made my senior year awesome."

Lodi head coach Gary Knackstedt was nearly brought to tears as he watched the runners make their way past the one-mile mark of the three-mile course.

Runners make their way across the Lodi Lake levee Thursday during the varsity boys race. (Jennifer M. Howell/News-Sentinel)

"It's very emotional," Knackstedt said. "We've been the perennial second- or third-place team year after year. We've always been respected, but there has always been one team better than us. It was our turn. The girls trained hard and earned it. It's hard for me not to well up and cry."

Fran Stonum was Lodi's top runner, placing third overall with a time of 19 minutes, 54 seconds.

She said the idea of Tokay or St. Mary's leaping over the Flames in the league meet was a scary prospect.

	Results Boys Freshmen-sophomores Team Standings 1. Tracy 70 2. Bear Creek 75 3. St. Mary's 84 4. Tokay 89 7. Lodi 127 Individual Results 1. Alex Ojeda, Bear Creek (10:16) 2. Trinidad Rio, Stagg (10:21) 3. Zeke Kreeft, Tracy (10:22) Tokay runners: Bobby Calzada (10:45), Miguel Hernandez (11:01), Chris Stonum (11:29), Brian Steele (11:33), Ryan Riley (11:40) Lodi runners: Kyle Williams (11:04), Joel Tecklenburg (11:08), Mike Simpfenderfer (11:10), Daniel Nardinelli (12:08), Andrew Franco (12:14) Girls Freshmen-sophomores Team Standings 1. Lincoln 32 2. Tokay 70 3. St. Mary's 73 4. Lodi 75 Individual Results 1. Tommi Tonnies, West (11:57) 2. Ashley Rose, Lincoln (12:09) 3. Mary Fernandez, Lincoln (12:11) Tokay runners: Starr Wilson (12:26), Erin Brink (12:37), Caitlin Waugh (12:40), Alma Gallegos (13:01), Fareshta Hamidir (13:32) Lodi runners: Jenna Meath (12:23), Desirae Gonzalez (12:28), Leesa Villanueba (13:01), Jenna Moore (13:18), Christine Kerney (13:34)

"There was fear," Stonum said. "We had some close races this year."

One of those close races was a three-point victory over the Rams, which gave the Flames another tough run on Thursday.

Lodi finished with 48 points (added places of the top five finishers), just nine ahead of St. Mary's.

Tokay was third with 63 points. The top three finished the league season in the same order.

Tracy's Kristina Holtz won the individual title with a time of 19:44.

She was followed by Tokay's Karlyn Nieland (19:46), Stonum, Lipelt (20:23) and St. Mary's Pilar Zaich (20:41).

Other Lodi runners placing included Tyack (20:50), Brittni Woehl (21:01) and Katelin Grant (23:02). Other Tokay runners placing included Marisa Hudlin (20:59), Jessica Montenegro (22:18), Brittany Hudlin (23:18) and Alicia Merwin (24:34).

Lincoln's boys had 33 points on Thursday to capture the meet and the league title.

Lodi was second (55) and Tokay was third (81) in the meet and the final standings.

Scott Balcao of St. Mary's was the individual winner with a time of 16:03. He was followed by Lincoln's Jeffrey Lease (16:03), Franklin's Chou Vue (17:10), Lodi's Matt Kiesz (17:23) and Tokay's Manjit Sandhu (17:27).

Other Lodi runners placing included Humberto Gonzalez (17:30), Jeff Merrill (18:11), Andrew Grant (18:15) and Brandon Mynear (18:25).

Other Tokay runners placing included Carlos Munoz (17:46), Seth Green (18:46), Mike Salazar (19:00) and Stefan Hoelting (20:59).