Although the season was fraught with injury and illness, the JSerra Lions came together and won the Cross County State Championships this past weekend making them the first team of any sport in Orange County history to win three consecutive State titles.
The JSerra State team consisted of the following athletes: Sophomore Brooke Kunzelman who finished 10th overall in a time of 18:50, Sophomore Ashley Geisler was 14th overall in a time of 19:00, Junior Hannah Clifton, who had been out for four weeks with a knee injury finished in 19:37, Senior Colby Lindholm, Team Captain and the rock of the team finished in 19:39, Junior Kylee Fracassi coming back from a hip injury finished in 19:48, Junior Kayla Selenski finished in 21:19, and Junior Hannah Hunsaker, who injured her foot during the race, finished in 21:32. Alternates for the race were Senior Caitlin Nilssen and Freshman Christina Gomez who ran post season and aided the team in securing their spot at the State meet.
It was a solid team effort with all five scoring runners finishing in the top 30 and the 3-4-5 runners finishing within 11 seconds of each other. "This has easily been the most satisfying and trying in my eight seasons as head coach. We've had a number of crazy injuries," exclaims Coach Marty Dugard. The State Championship Win capped the Running Lions' "Threepeat" Dugard proudly states, "Three Trinity League Championships in a row. Three CIF Championships in a row. Three State Championships in a row. No other team in Orange County, in any sport, has ever accomplished this milestone."
