ELK GROVE (MPG) Nov. 24, 2023 - As far as anyone around town knows Alana Farve may have pulled out an Elk Grove first. The Sheldon junior won the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I Cross Country Championship Nov. 11 at Willow Hills Reservoir in Folsom. She’s the first Elk Grove Unified student/athlete to accomplish that feat, according to at least three former coaches we’ve checked with.

In a tough five-kilometer race Farve outdistanced the pack from the outset, besting Franklin’s Jenna Calvert by four seconds. Farve’s winning time was 19:04.6.

“It’s one of the tougher courses in California,” Farve said. “It’s sort of my arch-nemesis course, but I was able to persevere on Saturday and come out on top.”

Like everyone cross country competitor it takes some special training that is flat out tough. The running surfaces are natural ground and there are plenty of changes of elevation throughout a typical cross-country course.

“Leading up I worked on getting my mileage in, getting my times down and training so I had the best possible chance at Section championships,” Farve said.

And, on Nov. 11 she was in peak form, and it showed; sort of amazing that this is just Farve’s second year of running cross country. She’s had just three years’ experience in running track where she runs the mile and the 800-meter run. She has also run a leg in the 4x400 meter relay.

On Nov. 18 Farve will run at the CIF State Cross Country championship which will be staged at Woodward Park in Fresno.

“Mentally, it’s tougher to run (cross country) than on a flat track,” she said. “You’ve got hills and different terrain. It’s harder. Track is just a flat surface and you’re just going. It’s just a different dynamic.”

Like most runners, there is no such thing as an off-season. Farve will be running the footpaths around Elk Grove during the off-season to go for back-to-back Division I cross country championships in 2024, which will be her senior year at Sheldon.

Elsewhere at the Division I race in Folson on Nov. 11 Calvert’s runner-up time was 19:08.0 while finishing eighth was Kylie Monson of Pleasant Grove with a time of 19:58.1. Franklin’s Scarlett Riddle was 13th in a time of 20:21.3.

Top local finishers in the boys Section championship race were Ryan Almog of Pleasant Grove who placed eighth in a time of 17:03.0 and Sheldon’s Derik Klipfel who was 13th with a time of 17:12.0.

Pride loses in Div V NorCal finals

A hearty congratulations to the Bradshaw Christian girls volleyball team who made it all the way to the CIF NorCal Championship game in Division V. After winning the Sac-Joaquin Section’s Division VI championship, the Pride rolled through 3-0 matches over Willows and Bear River. But in the NorCal game on Nov. 14 Bradshaw’s season ended when they dropped a match to Crystal Springs Upland, 25-18, 26-24, 25-20. The Gryphons (yes, that’s Upland’s nickname) went on to win the State championship Nov. 17 by defeating Oceanside, 3-2.

Congratulations to Pride coach Melissa Bowers. She doubles as the Bradshaw Christian school principal, too.

No surprise on most All-Delta League squads

In this issue of the Citizen, you’ll note the entire All-Delta League teams are listed. The fall season is now officially over for all sports. Our big congratulations to all those student/athletes selected. Some notes:

Football Defensive Player of the Year was Elk Grove linebacker Isea Liu, who richly deserved the honor, as did Sione Paongo who along with Davis’ C.J. Millican was named Defensive Lineman of the Year.

Kam Totten, who had a great season at Cosumnes Oaks, along with Jesuit’s Caleb Dixon, were named co-All-Purpose Players of the Year.

One person glaringly missing from the All-Delta League girls golf team was Alaythia Hinds of Pleasant Grove. But, there was a reason for that. The medalist at the Delta League’s third Center Match, the Division I championship and the Section Masters championship was recovering from an injury suffered in a traffic accident earlier this fall. Hinds missed a few early season matches, and the way golf works, the players earn individual points each match and the top ten are named all-league. Hinds didn’t have enough match points, but she did lead her team to the Division I and the Section Masters championships.

Deservingly, the MVP Award went to Hinds’ teammate Gianna Singh. She’s the sophomore who fired a 12-under-par 60 at Haggin Oaks on Sept. 11 then came back the next week and in a nine-hole match shot a 29 at WildHawk Golf Club.

Yee finishes T16 at CIF State

Just one local golfer played Nov. 15 at the CIF State Girls Golf Championships at Poppy Hills Golf Club on the Monterey Peninsula. It was Pleasant Grove’s Petra Yee and she finished in a tie for 16th with a two-over-par 73.

Zoe Jiamanukoonkit from Torrey Pines High School was the individual CIF State Champion after firing a five-under-par 66. The top NorCal girl at Poppy Hills was Emily Guan of Oak Ridge who finished just a stroke in front of Yee at a plus-one 72.

The State Championship banner went to Santa Margarita with a 366. Torrey Pines also fired a 366 but lost the tiebreaker. Granite Bay finished fourth with a 388 and Oak Ridge was fifth with a 395.

Make golf playoffs 36 holes

The girls golf season is now over and boys will tee it up in late February and we have seen lots of talent locally in our linksters. But, I want to start a campaign that all league championships (the last tournament of the season), the Section Divisionals and the Section Masters become two-day, 36-hole events, rather than the single day 18-hole tournaments they now play.

All who play the game know you can have one awful day (or conversely, one really terrific day) on the course. But, not many will put two terrible rounds nor two really good rounds back-to-back. Most of us will find a middle ground if we play 36-holes over two days on the same golf course.

School administrators may cry that’s missing too much school, but I really don’t think so.

What do you think? Email me, [email protected], and I’ll put your comments into next week’s Citizen.