Malibu High School’s boys’ and girls’ cross country teams ran strong last weekend, notching several top finishes in the Brentwood Small School Cross Country Invitational. More than 40 schools and 400 athletes competed on a chilly Saturday morning on the campus of Brentwood High school.
Led by freshman Caroline Pietrzyk, who medaled individually for 13th place, a promising young MHS girls squad finished 12th overall among 23 female teams. In only the third race of her young career, Pietrzyk completed the hilly three-mile course in a personal best time of 20 minutes and 48 seconds. Pietrzyk was also the top Malibu runner in the first two meets of the year, the Seaside Invitational in Ventura and the Woodbridge Invitational in Costa Mesa.
“That was hard. You are going up those hills and your legs are killing you,” Pietrzyk said after the event. “But I did pretty well. I don’t think I could have pushed myself any harder.”
Nicole Harper, another freshman, also turned in a good race for the Sharks, finishing 38th with a time of 21 minutes, 52 seconds. Harper was happy with how the Sharks stacked up against some older, more experienced teams.
“I improved my time but I was really tired toward the end, though,” Harper said. “I wanted to walk, but I kept up with everyone. Our team did really well.”
Sophomore Emma London was the third Malibu runner to place in the top 60 with a time of 22 minutes, 41 seconds for 55th place. A total of 186 girls took to the challenging course, including four teams ranked in the top 10 for the California Interscholastic Federation Division V.
MHS assistant coach John Cary called it “a great day” as the girls registered progress on the most challenging course they had faced yet.
“The previous meets were run on flat ground and this one had six hills,” Cary said, noting that several girls recorded personal bests. “When you have personal bests on long hills at the same time, it makes a big difference. The girls are acknowledging what they should be doing as far as their pace change and cadence. I’m happy.”
The callow MHS squad does not have a single senior on the roster, consisting entirely of underclassmen. In spite of the Sharks’ youth-or perhaps because of it-Cary sounded excited about the state of the girls’ program.
“The girls are really improving,” Cary, also the schools’ track and field head coach, said. “We are young, but [we] have a bright future with Caroline and Nicole leading the way.”
Meanwhile, the Malibu boys also registered some impressive individual performances, placing four runners among the top 100. A total of 19 boys’ teams and 214 participants entered the meet. The Sharks finished 14th overall in a race that featured two teams ranked in the top 10 of CIF Division V.
MHS Coach Dino Quintanilla has been training the boys and girls since August 1. With the loss of last year’s Frontier League MVP Zack Hamilton to graduation, Quintanilla is looking to senior Harrison Barton, junior Scott Wesson and sophomore All-League returner Erik Rosenberg to lead the boys.
Wesson had the team’s best time in the season-opening tournament at Seaside, while Rosenberg did the same at Woodbridge. This time, it was a surprise effort by sophomore Dyer Pettijohn that captured the spotlight at Brentwood. Pettijohn finished the race with a strong sprint to place 67th overall with a time of 19 minutes, 17 seconds.
“I was extremely satisfied with my performance,” said Pettijohn, who is in his first year of cross country. “I just wanted to beat 19.42, which I got at Seaside. I really wanted to be as good as I could be.”
Running side-by-side with Pettijohn for the entire race was Rosenberg, and the pair edged Barton at the end with fewer than 100 yards to go. Rosenberg and Barton finished with times of 19 minutes, 17 seconds (70th) and 19 minutes, 25 seconds (72nd), respectively.
Freshman Alex Saltzman was the fourth Malibu competitor to finish in the top 100 with a time of 19 minutes, 47 seconds, good for 83rd.
Quintanilla harbored confidence for his team as they gear up for Frontier League action in the next week.
“We are improving and that’s all I want my kids to do,” Quintanilla said. “Just come out here and work hard. The girls ran really strong together and the boys did well too. We are stronger than last year when we went to CIF. We are getting better every day.”