The Dons cross-country team traveled to Hidden Valley Park in Martinez Wednesday afternoon to compete against 11 other schools in the season’s first DAL-wide meet. Both Varsity teams again had strong performances while the JV and Frosh-Soph teams also displayed some impressive efforts.

The Girls Varsity continued their strong season by easily defeating all other DAL rivals with the exception of a narrow loss to Campo (we’re coming for the Cougars next meet!). Sophomore Olivia Williams excelled again with a 2nd place overall finish in a blazing 18:04 over a challenging 3-mile course. Lauren Yee (19:31) and Elle Casselman (19:34) also contributed top ten finishes.

The Boys Varsity also impressed with Tyler Hunt (16:15) taking 4th overall on the 3-mile course and Loic Windfuhr Durand (16:53) coming in 8th. Other strong contributions came from sophomore Logan Farzan’s 17th place finish and Bennett Dodge coming in 24th.

The JV and Frosh-Soph teams competed on a two-mile course. The Dons’ JV Girls had an impressive overall performance with Kristina Ortmann (16:00) and Helen O’Neal (16:07) finishing in the top 14 with Abby Drake close behind at 16:40. The Boys JV team was led by Lucas Chow (13:40) and Liam Gallacher (13:41). The Frosh-Soph girls got the Dons off to a great start by taking four of the top 20 slots in their race, with Chloe Boyle (15:34) and Charlotte Sutherland (15:46) posting top 11 finishes along with good runs from Saide Poole and Abigail Palmer. The Boys Frosh-Soph team (pictured above) had Nathan Joseph and Evan Sverak contribute sub-14 minute finishes to lead the Dons.

The Dons will continue their daily training with an eye towards the next DAL meet on Wednesday October 20.