Runner Caroline Pietrzyk will be seeking to out-pace the state’s best runners and claim her first California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) state title this weekend.
Pietrzyk, a Malibu High School senior, will be competing against girls from across the state in the 2014 CIF State Cross Country Championships at Woodward Park in Fresno on Saturday, Nov. 29.
Shawn Waco, Malibu’s cross country coach, said he expects Pietrzyk to run away with the state crown.
“She is only improving and keeps getting faster,” he said. “She has got really tough competition, but with the way she is running, she will get the title.”
Pietrzyk qualified for the 3-mile meet after winning CIF Southern Section Division IV championship for a second consecutive year on Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College (SAC) in Walnut. The star runner outlasted nine other girls from eight other Southern California schools and one Sharks teammate with a running time of 16:58.
The blazing time was the fastest of the day in all divisions and a Southern Section Division IV record at Mt. SAC. The time, which was also a personal record for Caroline, is the eighth-fastest time in girls high school section history.
Waco said Pietrzyk could have just cruised through the race and qualified for the state championship meet, but he knew she would want to win and wound up running her fastest time ever.
“She really put the hammer down, and just went for it,” he said. “She did what she needed to do. For the last mile she had it, no problem.”
If Pietrzyk wins this weekend, she’ll be the first cross-country state title winner in Malibu’s history.
“It is a huge event for her,” he said. “We are all really excited to watch the race and really excited for her. She has had such a great season, it would be so awesome if she could take this too.”
Sophomore Sharks runner Abby Blackwood also competed in the Division IV race. She had a time of 18:55 but did not advance to the championship meet in Fresno.
Waco said if Blackwood had matched her personal best of 18:45, she would have qualified for the state meet also.
“I was really watching what was going to happen with Abby,” he said. “To me, that is where the real race was.”
Waco said Blackwood, who was in her first year of distance running, stood out this season despite having other sports such as soccer and horseback riding “on her plate.”
The Sharks also had success as a team. The girls’ cross-country team competed in the Southern Section CIF preliminary meet on Nov. 15 for the first time in 10 years. They finished seventh out of 13 this year.
Pietrzyk won first place in the individual portion of the event, and Blackwood came in fifth.
In Fresno, races will start at 8:30 a.m. with the Division II Boys Race. The Division IV Girls Race, which Pietrzyk is a part of, will begin at 12:15 p.m. The last of the 10 races will begin at 1:20 p.m.
Pietrzyk has garnered multiple awards and titles during her four-year cross country career with the Sharks, with four CIF wins including two in track and field.
Waco said the affect of Pietrzyk winning a fifth CIF crown will be interesting.
“She will go in Malibu’s all-time record books,” he said. “Since she is a senior, running could die down a little bit, or this could inspire more runners to keep coming out and keep going.”