Senior runs fastest time in program, Central Section and meet history to elevate to No. 4 all-time performer at Woodward Park, rallying past Vista del Lago rising sophomore star; Great Oak wins sixth straight championship race title and seventh overall, achieving 13th consecutive victory on 5-kilometer course in Fresno

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Corie Smith wasn’t competing on her birthday Saturday, but there was plenty of celebration and cherishing of gifts in recognition of one of the most memorable runs ever achieved on the 5-kilometer course at Woodward Park in Fresno, Calif.

Smith rallied past Vista del Lago CA sophomore Alexandra Klos in the final 100 meters to not only win the girls championship race at the 41st ASICS Clovis Invitational, but the senior also achieved the Buchanan program record, Central Section all-time mark and the fastest performance in meet history by clocking 16 minutes, 53.9 seconds.

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And she did so on the birthday not only of Bears veteran assistant coach Marty Simpson, but also former Buchanan and Central Section record holder Hagen Reedy, who ran 16:59 in 2012.

“This is what I wanted to run last year at state. This is what I’ve wanted to run basically my whole four years here at Buchanan, so finally doing that is a huge deal,” said Smith, who missed last year’s Division 1 state final with an illness.

“(Hagen) is great and she’s obviously had this record for a long time and it’s stuck. It’s been a big benchmark for a lot of people to try to come out here and break that. Breaking 17 is a huge deal just in itself, so coming out here and not only breaking her record, but breaking it by a good amount is huge. It’s just amazing that I was one of the people that could say they ran sub-17 here.”

Smith and Klos, who equaled the 2014 Sac-Joaquin Section record of Davis Senior graduate Fiona O’Keeffe and elevated to the No. 2 all-time sophomore on the course by clocking 16:57, became the fifth and sixth female athletes in meet history, as well as the 10th and 11th overall to run under 17 minutes at Woodward Park.

“It means a lot me. I just started running and I’m kind of naive with this whole experience, but it feels really good just to get out there and knowing that I tied the record,” said Klos, who was competing in only her third career high school meet.

“I’m just on top of the world right now. It feels really good.”

Only Malibu’s Claudia Lane, Simi Valley’s Sarah Baxter and Santa Rosa’s Julia Stamps remain ahead of Smith on the Woodward Park all-time list. Smith eclipsed the 2001 meet record of 16:55 held by Ukiah’s Amber Trotter to elevate to the No. 4 performer in course history, with Klos now equal to the No. 6 all-time female athlete.

Buchanan, which took runner-up to Great Oak by an 81-116 margin, is the only program to have a pair of sub-17 performers on the famed 5-kilometer layout.

Smith became the first Buchanan athlete since Reedy seven years ago to win the Clovis championship race, but it wasn’t enough for the Bears to prevail for the second time this season over Great Oak.

Following a six-point setback Sept. 21 to both Buchanan and Southlake Carroll TX at the Bob Day girls sweepstakes race at the 39th Woodbridge Classic in Norco, Calif., Great Oak has rebounded with victories Oct. 5 at the Great American Cross Country Festival in North Carolina, followed by a sixth consecutive Clovis championship race victory and seventh overall in the past 11 years.

Tori Gaitan placed 12th in 17:50.5 for the Wolfpack, which had all five scorers in the top 35 and seven athletes among the first 41 finishers.

“Our girls team really needed this reassurance, basically,” Gaitan said. “After Woodbridge, it was hard on our team and we went back to the drawing (board) and really put our heads down and trained together and having this win reassures us that we are the team everybody says we are. We don’t even have all of our top five yet because of injuries, so hopefully we’ve still got big things coming at the end of the season. But we had a lot of girls step up with amazing performances and our freshmen are basically carrying us right now, so this win gives us a ton of confidence.”

Aubrie Nex took 14th in 18:00.4, Melinda Dang ran a freshman program record by placing 19th in 18:06.1, Audrey Dang clocked 18:16.4 to secure 28th, with freshmen Kelli Gaffney (18:21.3) and Aishling Fabian (18:21.4) securing 33rd and 34th, followed by Divine Torza (18:36.8) in 41st for Great Oak, which has won 13 consecutive races at Woodward Park since placing seventh at the Division 1 state final in 2011.

Buchanan had freshmen Sydney Sundgren (18:07.2) and Grace Hutchison (18:17.9) place 20th and 31st, with Mia Jauregui (18:39.5) in 42nd and Morgan Hutchison (18:48.8) taking 48th.

St. Francis Sacramento edged Newbury Park by a 123-129 margin in the battle not only for third place, but Division 2 bragging rights. It marked the second time St. Francis prevailed against Newbury Park this season, with the teams finishing fourth and fifth Sept. 21 at Woodbridge.

Cate Joaquin (17:44.7) and Isabella Fauria (17:45.9) finished seventh and eighth for St. Francis, which also had Tatiana Cornejo place 21st in 18:09. Newbury Park was led by Archana Mohandas (18:09.5) in 22nd, Sam McDonnell (18:17.1) in 29th and Fiona Hawkins (18:20.3) in 32nd, with Hailey Golmon making her season debut and running a personal-best 18:23.4 at Woodward Park to finish 35th for the Panthers.

Klos’ performance wasn’t the only impressive debut at Woodward Park, with St. Helena junior Harper McClain running 17:10.2 to finish third, elevating to the No. 2 all-time performer in Division 5, trailing only the 17:02 effort from Mission Prep star Jordan Hasay in 2005. McClain, also in her first year of high school cross country, ascended to the No. 5 performer in North Coast Section history.

Palos Verdes senior Savannah Scriven placed fourth in 17:24.4, taking down the 2009 program record of 17:34 held by Rebecca Mehra. Scriven also elevated to the No. 8 all-time performer in Division 3.

Canyon Crest Academy senior Carlie Dorostkar clocked 17:26.3 to finish fifth, also leading the Ravens to a sixth-place effort with 230 points, but third among Division 1 programs.

Del Oro sophomore Riley Chamberlain, who finished second in last season’s championship race, secured sixth in 17:34.8.

Granada Hills sophomore Sofia Abrego finished 13th in 17:59.5, becoming only the second L.A. City Section athlete in history to eclipse the 18-minute mark at Woodbridge. Palisades graduate Marissa Williams remains the City Section record holder at 17:02 from 2014.

There were 15 athletes overall that ran under 18 minutes, with Miramonte junior Audrey Allen winning the medium school race in 17:49.2, followed by Yorba Linda junior Siena Palicke in 17:59.2.

Lauren Soobrian of Los Altos was the top overall freshman, placing 16th in the championship race in 18:03.9.

Colony senior Amber Rios was victorious in the large school race in 18:05.1.

Sanger sophomore Nia Lamas won the extra large school race in 18:19.9.

Mayfield senior Audrey Suarez, the reigning Division 4 state champion, prevailed in the small school race in 18:25.4.