Santa Clarita, CA — The Valencia Vikings Cross Country took on the very competitive Foothill League over the challenging hills at the College of the Canyons this past Saturday. The course climbed the back access road of the college and runners were greeted with two loops, each with a serous hill at the turn around. First loop was past the vineyard and up the “Evil Twin.” At the summit was a supportive crowd and a bit of downhill relief before the second loop delivered the runners the infamous “Killer Hill.” A steep hill, with an undulating summit and a run along the ridge, challenged the field before one last little bump up named “What the Hill??” delivered them to a long descent to finish in the stadium. Early start times and unseasonably comfortable September weather helped to relieve the sting of the challenging course as the Vikings sized up the league. Race Highlights: Frosh/Soph Boys: The largest team to compete from any school today, the Viking Frosh/Soph boys placed a close fourth after battling with Hart and Saugus. Despite the hilly course, Lincoln Gabbard led the team with a season best 17:40, a two-minute improvement from his performance here last year. This performance has him knocking on the door to the Varsity squad finishing as fifth fastest Viking on the day! Adrian So shined in his race debut this season, his 18:07 looked smooth and controlled. Kaden Ramos bounced back nicely from an early season sickness to finish at 18:09, a two-minute improvement from his time at the Moorpark Invite. Jake Robideau took on the F/S team leadership role today and was rewarded with a 1:20 PR on the COC course to finish at 18:50. The greatest PR on the day must go to Dillon Marshall! His efforts rewarded him with a nearly 5-minute improvement from last season! This squad holds so much potential to improve through the season and into next year; the strength and depth of the squad will surely put teams on alert that the Vikings are THE up-and-coming TEAM of the league. Frosh/Soph Girls: The Frosh/Soph girls were the second race of the day. The Vikings had a good showing with 14th ladies toeing the line. Bailey Haydamack was the first Viking finisher with a 13th place at 23:48 in her second three-mile race ever. Just behind Bailey we had 17th place Macy Redin and 18th place Sophia Langer showing pose, working that last mile to finish our 2nd and 3rd Vikings (24:21, 24:51 respectively). Rounding out the top five, Hayley Sykes and Emily Downs showed their grit and determination over the 3 miles. Next, we had a trio of ladies finish all within 30 seconds of one another: Arundathi Jathin, Sadie Salgado, Leela Ramesh. We love to see our Viking teammates working together! Freshman Ariana Reyes McCarthy & Avani Kashyap held their own out there pushing themselves on those steep hills. Way to stay strong out there ladies!! Varsity Boys: Our Varsity boys faced a super competitive field with three league teams ranked in the CIF Southern section. The never intimidated Ayden Buchanan led the Viking team to a fifth-place finish at 15:53 with Grant Young close behind in eighth at 16:03; this was a 30 second improvement for Grant over the same course last season. Frosh, Cash Klinger had a solid performance in his varsity debut finishing third on the team at 16:50 with Emilio Oviedo a couple steps back at 16:52. Alex Basin finished out the scorers with a 17:41 after a back-and-forth race with Adam Sandoval at 17:48, both earned course PRs of over a minute in their first varsity race! Noah Flores rounded out the team, soldering on at 18:04. These boys will be looking to pick off a few more places each at league finals with hopes of qualifying into the post-season as a team. Varsity Girls: Our lady Vikings were the youngest squad competing at the Varsity level with 4 sophomores and 3 freshmen. These ladies ran amazing and earned 3rd place despite their youth and inexperience. Emily Farrell was the first Viking, breaking in the top 10 with blazing 20:13. Just 8 seconds arears, with a blistering last mile, Liana Sushinsky was 2nd Viking and 13th place overall in 20:21. Three spots behind Liana, Emma Buchanan ran really strong, showing improvement with every race finishing 16th, just edging under the 21min mark at 20:55. To round out the top five, Mariaesperanza Lopez and Micaella Fenelon worked together, 24th and 25th respectively, running solid times with Maria at 22:11, and Micaella at 22:25. Another pair of Vikings who worked together to push each other, both in their first Varsity race, Kylee Weber and Zoe Baeza, our 6th and 7th Vikings for the day, finishing within a second of each other. So proud of all the Varsity performances! JV Boys: Our small team of JV boys saw each of them with significant improvements from their times here last year. Leading the group was Damien Turner, with a blistering last 100m to nab a couple of places and cross at 19:3, 1:18 better than before. Jacob Kunz was just back at 19:39; he improved 29 seconds from last year but finished knowing his fitness is there and wanted more. Justin Yuh was also better than last year with a 20:26. The last time racing the COC course as Vikings left this trio to reflect on their progress and accomplishments over a tough local course. JV Girls: Valencia had three JV girls out there showing their team spirit and strength. Samantha Armitage led the way with a 17th place finish. Next, Sophie Tran, showing her knowledge of the course was the 2nd Viking to cross the finish line. Emily Stimac was the 3rd Viking of the day, muscling her way up and down Killer Hill & Evil twin. Great job out there JV girls! Next week much of the squad will be at Griffith Park racing the Bell-Jeff Invitational and looking for competitive racing to push them to their personal best. Full Race Results: https://meetresults.net/extramile/meets/09232023foothill.htm Race Photos: https://prepcaltrack.com/2023/09/23/dylan-stewarts-photo-gallery-from-the-foothill-league-meet-ss/