Danielle Gemberling finished second overall with a time of 19:05 in her first-ever cross-country meet Wednesday as the San Marcos girls beat out five other schools, edging second-place St. Joseph by 11 points at Riverside Park in Lompoc. Gemberling came out to run some distance this year after usually sticking to sprinting on the track.
Kalley Ridgway finished close behind with a time of 19:43, good enough for fifth place. Coach Lawrence Stehmeier pointed out that the Royal JV squad won its competition with a perfect score of 15, meaning that some girls from that team will be pulled up to varsity for next week’s Channel League meet.
Evan Bradford stole the show for the boys in their third-place finish, tying the school record with a time of 16:05, good enough for second place individually.
Stehmeier called it a “fantastic meet” for San Marcos.
Girls: San Marcos 43, St. Joseph 54 , Arroyo Grande 86, Righetti 90, Lompoc 126, Pioneer Valley 155. SM: 2, Danielle Gemberling, 19:05; 4, Kalley Ridgway, 19:43; 5, Sarah Terry, 19:56; 10, Jenny Haden, 20:13; 22, Kate Bowdle, 21:42; 27, Elyisa Hodges, 21:57; 28, Quetzal Vallejo-Howard, 21:59.
Boys: Righetti 33, Arroyo Grande 46, San Marcos 89, Pioneer Valley 96, Lompoc 113, St. Joseph 169. SM: 2, Evan Bradford, 16:05; 10, Jansen Dahill, 17:04; 23, Jacob Lebell, 17:32; 25, Philip David, 17:38; 29, Jordan Carlson, 18:12; 31, Garrett Timmons, 18:27.
