Santa Barbara High’s cross country team opened up at the Seaside Invitational in Ventura on Friday, getting a start to the 2010 campaign.
Briggs Deardorff and Kelley Drechsler led the way for the Dons, each placing 23rd in their respective age groups. The Seaside Invitational is an age-group meet, meaning seniors compete against seniors, juniors against other juniors, and so on. About 30 schools attend the event.
Deardorff, a senior, clocked in at 16:06 while Drechsler, a junior, put together a personal best time of 20:31.
“It’s a huge step up for her to be in the top-25 in a meet like that,” said Dons head coach Olivia Perdices.
Perdices also got two encouraging performances from a pair of sophomore boys. James Scheuermann, clearing 18 minutes, was 38th and Jarred Lux 61st. Seniors Nathaniel Taylor and Nolan Walker recorded Santa Barbara’s two best times after Deardorff.
Junior Cecily Sanchez posted the Dons’ second-best girls time in 23:01 with senior Olivia Cusimano finishing her race in 23:10. Freshman Lauren Wolf was among Santa Barbara better times on Friday, finishing in 23:43.
Santa Barbara competes next at the first Channel League meet on Wednesday, Sept. 22.
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