Reynolds, Ernst, AG boys, SLO girls win Pac 7 League titles

Posted: Nov 1, 2012 6:20 PM by Andrew Masuda
Updated: Nov 1, 2012 11:50 PM

Ernst, Reynolds, AG boys, SLO girls win Pac 7 cross country titles

Arroyo Grande High sophomore Jocelyn Reynolds and San Luis Obispo High senior Joshua Ernst set new personal-best times as they captured their first-ever individual Pac 7 League cross country titles at the Fairbanks Course near Cuesta College on Thursday.

Reynolds won with a time of 18:54, breaking the 19 minute mark for the first time this season. "I'm just really happy that I won because all season I've been working really hard, my training has been consistent and I've been working hard with my teammates and I just really really wanted to do good for our team," said Reynolds.

San Luis Obispo senior Micayla Rennick finished second in 19:02, followed by AG freshman Angela Gemignani in 19:06, SLO senior Olivia Carmo in 19:14 and St. Joseph junior Beth Rigali in 19:26.

When it came to the overall team standings for the girls, AG and SLO finished tied for first with 47 points so it came down to the sixth finisher om each team. The Tigers' sixth runner was Emma Phillips. The sophomore finished 26th overall, which was ten spots better than the Eagles' sixth finisher. As a result, the Tigers won the tiebreaker, the final and the overall team title. AG finished second and Paso Robles finished third with 76 points. Atascadero finished in fourth with 86 points, followed by St. Joseph with 119, Pioneer Valley with 160 and Righetti with 170.

In the boys race, the lead pack included several Paso Robles, Righetti and Arroyo Grande High runners through the halfway mark. The Warriors won the Midseason League meet, while AG finished second and Paso Robles in third place.

But in the end, Ernst pulled away down the stretch to capture his biggest career win. The senior won in 16:07. "It's the best. I haven't won pretty much in a long time at least a year and it feels great. I've always been stuck with the group and haven't been able to make a move to break away until now," said Ernst.

Righetti's Conor McNamara finished second in 16:13, while AG's Jonathan Corley and Jake Sarver finished third and fourth with times of 16:15 and 16:16. Paso Robles' Aidan Farrell finished fifth in 16:19, while Blake Maule of AG came in sixth with a mark of 16:20.

Arroyo Grande finished with three runners in the top six and finished with a total of 43 points to win the final and the league title. Paso Robles had runners finish 5th, 8th, 10th, 11th and 12th to accumulate 46 points to claim second place. Righetti had three runners finish in the top nine to rack up 51 points and a third place oerall finish. SLO finished fourth followed by St. Joseph, Atascadero and Pioneer Valley.