Pirates Can't Run Away with the Win

Nearly everyone in attendance at Wednesday afternoon's Marin County Athletic League Championship cross-country race knew that Tam's Dan Michelman would likely win the event. But, what was much more uncertain – even after all the runners had crossed the finish line – was which team would come out on top.

Michelman won handily with a 17:03, but the rest of the runners battled it out behind him. A deep and closely-packed San Rafael squad appeared neck and neck with the Drake team, with the Tam boys in the mix.

But, after the math was done and the points were added, Michelman wasn't the only one who repeated as MCAL Champion. The Bulldogs also took home their second team title, following 2009's victory.

"We came in as the dark horse, even though we won last year," said San Rafael senior Cameron Bronstein, who took 23rd. The Bulldogs had flown mostly under the radar throughout the year.

"The competition was a lot better," said senior Dylan Harris of the race, also noting the team had struggled with a number of injuries throughout the season.

Harris was second for San Rafael, coming in seventh overall. Senior Trevor Ehlenbach led the pack with a third-place finish, behind Michelman and Drake's John Lawson. The San Rafael team was rounded out by Jack Killion's ninth, Wes Curtis in 12th, Kevin Martinez in 21st, and Joey Morris in 24th.

The team competition was won by only nine points in the end – math that parents and coaches tried frantically to do on the sidelines.

Compared to San Rafael's third, seventh, ninth, 12th, and 21st, Drake took second, fourth, 11th, 18th, and 26th. (Only the top five scores are added together to determine the winner.)

"The boys ran like they're capable of running," said Drake coach Bill Taylor.

Behind Lawson, Will Baker-Robinson took fourth overall, and sophomore Clayton Hutchins outsprinted a Bulldog for his 11th. Carroll Oliver also took second-team MCAL Honors with his 18th place.

All the boys stayed close together for the first mile, with Lawson, Michelman, and Ehlenbach leading the way, until Michelman took off with a mile to go.

"I ran exactly how I wanted to," he said.

While the boys race was a nail-biter, on the girls side the Giants proved to be giants of the sport.

Redwood dominated the team race, taking three of the top five spots, while Branson's Julia Maxwell, who took fourth in the Dipsea in 2009, ran away with the win in 20:12. Redwood's Kathleen Killeen was fifteen seconds behind for second. Last year's winner, Kate Courtney, who won the meet as a freshman at Branson, took seventh, over a minute behind.

Both the Drake boys and girls teams came into the championship race hoping to defend their dual meet season titles, but came up just a little short.

The Pirates, on both sides, went undefeated in the regular season, taking home the dual meet MCAL pennant. But, two MCAL pennants are awarded – one for the dual meet season and one for the championship race – and they hoped to win both this year.

In fact, the Pirates on the girls side have been undefeated for three years in dual meets, but their top runner and team leader dropped out before the race even started.

Elie Ryan, who took sixth at the 2009 MCAL meet, quit the sport, said Taylor, because of emotional pressure she felt going into the championship race.

"We're not the same team without Elie," he said.

Seniors Julia Saunders and Lindsay Rogers led the squad with an 11th and 13th, respectively; good enough for second-team MCAL Honors.

Freshman Sarah Bates also rose to the occasion and battled through injury, said Taylor, for a 17th place and second-team honors.

All the teams have their eye on next weekend's North Coast Section race in Hayward on Nov. 20.