7 Warriors, 1 Eagle ready for Saturday's state XC meet

After watching Stephanie Brown Trafton make history this summer by becoming the first Galt athlete to win an Olympic gold medal when she captured the women's discus throw in the Beijing Games, the Galt High girls varsity cross country team decided to go out and make some more history with a record-breaking effort of its own.

The Lady Warrior septet of Lauren Petersen, Sam Walling, Alison Motor, Kelsea Tiapon, Ashley Hurst, Hillary Ainsworth and Sadie Stephenson finished second to Folsom in last week's Sac-Joaquin Division I section championships at Folsom with a total team time of 1:04.13.

As a result, the entire Galt squad is headed to the state cross country meet on Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno. According to head coach Nathan Woods, it is the first time ever in the girls cross country program's history.

"Last year was the first group that had even been close when our ladies team made it to sections for the first time," Woods said. "Getting past the sections was our goal. State is now the icing on the cake."

Hurst, a junior, agreed with Woods assessment.

"We are looking forward to the competitive atmosphere at state. The overall team attitude is mostly excitement," Hurst said. "We have never made it to state before as a team and we are extremely excited to make history for our school."

The Warriors will be led by the senior Petersen, this season's section runner-up who placed 20th in last year's state XC championships, also at Fresno. Woods says that Petersen's leadership has turned her into a valuable mentor for her younger teammates.

Area state cross country qualifiers

Lauren Petersen

Lauren Petersen
School: Galt
Year: Senior
Finish at Division I Sac-Joaquin Sections: 2nd, 19:53
State resume: Finished 20th last year at state with a time of 18:24.

Sam Walling

Sam Walling
School: Galt
Year: Junior
Finish at Division I Sac-Joaquin Sections: 5th, 20:31.
State resume: Making first trip to state.

Alison Motor

Alison Motor
School: Galt
Year: Senior
Finish at Division I Sac-Joaquin Sections: 11th, 20:52.
State resume: Making first trip to state.

Kelsea Tiapon

Kelsea Tiapon
School: Galt
Year: Sophomore
Finish at Division I Sac-Joaquin Sections: 13th, 20:58.
State resume: Making first trip to state.

Ashley Hurst

Ashley Hurst
School: Galt
Year: Junior
Finish at Division I Sac-Joaquin Sections: 29th, 22:17.
State resume: Making first trip to state.

Hillary Ainsworth

Hillary Ainsworth
School: Galt
Year: Junior
Finish at Division I Sac-Joaquin Sections: 36th, 22:53.
State resume: Making first trip to state.

Sadie Stephenson

Sadie Stephenson
School: Galt
Year: Sophomore
Finish at Division I Sac-Joaquin Sections: 41st, 23:22.
State resume: Making first trip to state.

Megan Crutchfield

Megan Crutchfield
School: Elliot Christian
Year: Junior
Finish at Division V Sac-Joaquin Sections: 3rd, 23:43.
State resume: Finished 130th at state last year with a time of 23:15.

CIF cross country state meet

When: Saturday, Nov. 29.
Where: Woodward Park in Fresno.
Directions: Take Highway 99 south to the West Herndon Avenue exit and go east. Then take a left on North Frant Road and the park will be on your left.
Division I: The Galt High School varsity girls team qualified for state as a squad and seven members, Lauren Petersen, Sam Walling, Alison Motor, Kelsea Tiapon, Ashley Hurst, Hillary Ainsworth and Sadie Stephenson will all be running in the race slated to begin at 9:30 a.m.
Division V: Elliot Christian's Megan Crutchfield will be the lone area representative in the race set to start at 1:20 p.m.

"Lauren's experience and encouragement are what really helps the team. She has been so positive even though the pressure has been really high," said Woods. "I think that has helped the younger girls stay focused."

Petersen herself thinks the team will do well as long as it remembers to just go and do what it have been doing all season — simply having fun.

"I race by the motto have fun and compete. When motivating the other girls for the upcoming race at state, it is all about relaxing and having fun," Petersen said. "It is very important for us to keep that in mind. When we worry too much, we tend not to do as well because we have stressed ourselves out."

The squad has been holding workouts at Henry Glaves Park in Lodi this week. But the Warriors won't get to fully enjoy their respective Thanksgiving meals today, according to Woods. "The majority of the training is over. Now we are lightening the load with shorter workouts and a lot of rest," he said. "I'm really getting on the girls about their diet this week. I told them they can't eat any gravy or desserts on Thanksgiving."

Nevertheless, the team is enthusiastic about heading to the state meet, and the campus has been buzzing all week with encouragement.

"Everyone on campus is very excited. It seems like everyday someone different comes up to me to congratulate us and wish us luck at state," Walling said. "The support from our friends, coaches and parents has been awesome."

Motor expects that she and her teammates will put on a dazzling performance at the state meet.

"Making it as a whole team means so much to me. The state is a huge, important stepping stone," she said. "I hope this will inspire us next season to come out and make it to state a second year in a row."

Ainsworth feels her team will surprise some people this weekend.

"Since we have been practicing really hard this season, I believe our team will continue to do well like we have at previous meets," Ainsworth said. "This state meet could show how much talent and potential the team really has."

Tiapon said that while the Warriors will race as a team, Woods has coached each runner to work on their individual efforts.

"Physically, we do the same work outs and mentally, we are still encouraged to focus on our own race," Tiapon said. "We are going to go out and leave it all on the course like we've trained for all year."

Woods feels his team is ready to do just that.

"Just helping them believe in themselves and praising them for making it this far is all they need to succeed." Woods said. "What's nice is that it isn't a difficult 5,000 course. So it's great to have a course that is somewhat in our favor."

Crutchfield running in Division V race

Junior Megan Crutchfield will be representing Jim Elliot Christian High School when she takes on the field in the Division V race of the state meet on Saturday.

Crutchfield clocked a 23:43 at the Division V Sac-Joaquin Section meet in Folsom, finishing in third place overall and being the only Eagle to land in the state meet.

This will be Crutchfield's second trip to the state meet. Last year, as a sophomore, she placed 130th with a time of 23:15.

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