The James Lick Comets had their 3rd league meet of the season on Thursday October 11th at Montgomery Hill. The team went into the meet 2-1 on the varsity girls side and 1-2 on the varsity boys side. The Comets faced off against Sobrato and Oak Grove, and the team took a huge step forward overall, despite several absences.
The frosh/soph boys race kicked off the day for the team. The team was lead by Omar Fimbres, fresh off of a massive PR a week ago, Omar took another 30 seconds off, running 18:05 for 5th place in the race. Jay Austria was the next Comet in, running a massive PR of 19:12. For a team that is somewhat lacking in your talent on the boys side, Jay is a huge brightspot. He ran 22:02 at the first league meet, then 20:59 at ST #2, before lowering his PR nearly2 minutes at St #3. Alberto Trejo ran a PR of over 2 minutes, stopping the clock at 21:25. Jo-Jo Bradley was just behind him, a rough race for Jo-Jo. Huu Thai and Joseu Gomez rounded out the team. The team defeated Oak Grove to earn their first win, but lost to Sobrato, giving the frosh/soph boys a record of 1-4 on the season.
The next race was the varsity girls. The team was without star runner Arlet Miranda,(who we held out for health maintenance) but still managed a split on the day, defeating Oak Grove and losing to Sobrato. Yeimili Adame lead the Comets in a 30 second PR of 20:38. This is the 6th best time in school history at Montgomery Hill. It was also the highest finish if Yeimili’s career, as she came in 8th place. A trio of lady Comets came in together with PRs. Belen Sanchez (22:02) Jessica Cervantes (22:05) and Ashley Preciado (22:09). All three ran PRs, and are now knocking on the door of the 22 minute barrier.
22 Minutes is a significant barrier for girls at Montgomery Hill. The girls finished 18th,19th and 20th out of 50 varsity girls, showing that 22 minutes is a quality varsity girl time in the ‘B’ division. Jenny Villagomez was the 5th girl in 23:39, missing her PR by just 6 seconds. Yesenia Martinez managed a big PR of 23:52, breaking the 25 and 24 minute barriers for the first time, as she continues to work towards full fitness. The girls move to 3-2 on the season, and will try to clinch their first winning record in the ‘B’ division since 2013 with a win next week. The team will also attempt to break the school record team time on the course. The team of 2014 ran 1:05:57 as a team, an average of just under 21:12 per girl. The team ran 1:10:36 without Arlet this week. If we plug Arlet into the meet and assume she matched her PR (not a stretch considering that 5/6 varsity girls ran PRS) our team time would have been 1:06:08, just barely off of the school record, giving us an excellent shot at it next week.
The Varsity boys were next, and they had a great race as a team, with 6 PRS and a big seasons best, combining for the 7th best team time in school history, and a pair of decisive wins. The last time at Montgomery, Mark Orpia lead the team in a PR, running 17:09. He once again lead the team in a PR, this time running 16:25, moving him up to the 11 spot on the team’s all time list for the course. (This is the 18th year of James Lick racing at Montgomery Hill). Mark finished in 8th place, which is also the highest varsity finish he’s ever achieved. Erik Olsvold ran 16:58 to be the 2nd Comet in. This was a big season’s best for Erik, who ran 18:13 at the first league meet. Jared Resendiz (17:07) Melvin Estrada (17:16) and Jerricho Habon (17:18) rounded out the top 5 all with PRs. Brandon Cruz and Nien Tran ran PRs as well, finishing in 17:34 and 17:55 respectively.

The varsity boys moved to 3-2 and will try to clinch a winning season next week. If both varsity sides succeed, it would be the first time that both the boys and girls for James Lick managed a winning season in the same year in the ‘B’ division. The boys also managed a team time of 85:05. The 4th best team time in school history is the 84:20 clocking of the team of 2004, a mark that this year’s group can aim to top.
The reserve boys was the next race on the ledger. While reserve is technically non scoring, our boys would have handily beaten Sobrato and Oak Grove on the reserve side. Geovanny Campos lead the team in a PR of 18:47, cracking the 19 minute barrier for the first time. Gustavo Madrigal was the next Comet in, running under 20 minutes for the first time, stopping the clock at 19:39. Vincent Giglio and Rodolph Ocampo came in at 20:21 and 20:27, the later being a 1 minute PR for Rudolph. Hugo Marquez was close behind in a seasons best. Adrian DeLaRosa made his debut on the course, running 23:06. Josh Merin and Alexis Sarellano came in with PRs of 23:28 and 23:33. Rafael Yanez ripped another 2 minutes off of his personal record, running 25:10 as he continues to rapidly improve. Kevin Santacruz ended the boys day, running a tough race but failing to PR.
The JV girls have been the strongest Comet group (in terms of competition) all season and they continued that trend, moving to 5-0 on the year. Erika Camacho lead the Comets with a massive PR of 24:11 (previous best 25:46). Estefani Herrera was right behind her in 24:16 (previous best 25:39). Both girls have improved remarkably over the past year, and figure to be competitive varsity runners next year if they keep this up. As freshmen, neither girl was able to break the 30 minute barrier, and they are now knocking on the 24 minute barrier. Running under 24 minutes makes you a respectable varsity girl in the ‘B’ division. It’s a testament to the hard work of these two girls that they have made themselves into varsity caliber runners.
The PRs did not stop there. Mya Hammond and Emely Lopez finished in 25:25 and 25:45 respectively. Neither girl had run under 26 minutes for the course before. Jhesselyn Santos was the 5th girl in 26:33, a PR by nearly 2 minutes. Francine Estranero ended the Comets day with a PR of 27:29, shaving 50 seconds off of her personal best.
When all was said and done, the Comets had 25 PRs and a great day at ST division race #3.
The Comets will take on Leigh and Pioneer at ST race #4 on Thursday October 18th. Some of the most dedicated juniors and seniors will then compete at the Mt. Sac Invitational on Saturday October 20th. All that will remain after that is league finals.
Thanks for reading!
-Benny Reeves