Championship Race!

The team!

The championship race went off yesterday afternoon as CAIS runners, reveling in their early dismissal from school, raced to fantastic finishes at Hellman Hollow in Golden Gate Park!

The course, one large loop which took runners along Speedway Meadow and through eucalyptus woods before looping around the polo fields and heading back up to the finish, tested runners with a variety of surfaces and environments. And after making the final turn onto Hellman Hollow and sprinting towards the finish, CAIS runners ended up with some excellent results!

In the 5th-6th boys race, team depth  once again propelled CAIS to victory! CAIS boys were the overall team champions, with 173 points to runner-up Children's Day. Finishers include Eon Kounalakis (6th), Diego Scanlon (7th), Caleb Chou-Green (12th), Jaxon Louie (14th), Kai Martell (18th), Kai Chang (21st), and Zachary McCall (29th). Congratulations to the 5th-6th boys!

The 5th-6th girls race featured a large and extremely fast field dominated by Burke's runners. The first non-Burke's runner to cross the finish line was CAIS' own Madison Han (5th), with a fantastic time of 10:12.18! Behind her were Hetti Hsia (15th), Lena Hsia (18th), McKayla Ly (41st), Colby Condon (44th), and Megana Higuchi (47th) - good for third place overall!

Below, a photographic interlude:

The 7th-8th grade boys race saw a 1-2 CAIS finish, with Christopher Herrick (8:57.0) followed closely by John Peabody (8:58.0)! Close behind them were Oscar Wong (8th), Neo Kounalakis (20th), and Simon Chang-Huang (34th). The team ended up just behind Live Oak for 2nd place overall!

And finally, the 7th-8th grade girls race saw yet another spectacular first-place finish by Mackenzie Jones (no surprise there...she's won nearly all of the races this season!). Close behind her were Kaitlyn Tran (4th), Emi Steedman (14th), Tianji Lukins (19th), and Sarah Adi (30th). Overall, the 7th-8th grade girls ran to a third-place finish.

It's been a great season! Ms. Douglass and I would like to thank all of the parent volunteers for providing transportation (and snacks!) at races and to weekly Golden Gate Park runs. But most of all, we'd like to thank the runners for all their hard work over the course of the past few months! Congratulations to all and we hope to see everyone next season!

More pics below:

Lindley Meadow Race '

Start of 5th-6th girls race

CAIS ran away to another set of impressive finishes at Lindley Meadow on October 17th! Under beautiful blue skies, students competed along a course much different from others they have run: two loops on dirt trails complete with hills, bumps, mud, and other natural surfaces. Real cross-country!

The 5th and 6th grade runners made up for the late race start by cruising to some excellent times and places. First to cross the line for the 5th and 6th grade girls was Madison Han, with yet another excellent 5th place finish! After Madison came Hetti Hsia (29th), Colby Condon (40th), and Megana Higuchi (41st) - together coming in 4th (of 11 schools) as a team.

The 5th-6th grade boys continued their dominance of the league, handily beating nine other schools to win their third meet in a row! Their success has been due to their ability to run as a pack and finish close together - very smart racing technique! Caleb Chou-Green came in 6th, Diego Scanlon in 9th, Eon Kounalakis in 10th, Jaxon Louie in 12th, Kai Martell in 14th, Kai Chang in 20th, and Micah Matheny in 22nd. Congratulations again to our amazing 5th-6th boys team - which is well-positioned moving into the Championship Race next Monday!

In the Varsity races, Mackenzie Jones completed a hat trick of wins by running away to yet another first place finish in the 7th-8th grade girls race! Close behind her were Emi Steedman (7th), Tianji Lukins (16th), and Sarah Adi (27th). CAIS came in third overall.

Christopher Herrick once again ran away with the crown in the 7th-8th grade boys race, with a close finish over a rival from Live Oak School. As the results provided were a bit scrambled, we're not quite sure which runners came in which places! Suffice to say that John Peabody, Oscar Wong, Neo Kounalakis, and Simon Chang-Huang had amazing races and CAIS places a close second as a team to Live Oak.

The blog has been silent for the past week as I (Jonas) have been away on the 7th-8th grade outdoor education trip at Pinnacles National Park. Each morning, I took some great runners out for a beautiful jog in the chilly predawn. The runners got some great training on spectacular trails which ran a beautiful natural environment of valley oaks, manzanita/chaparral, and ochre rock formations - a great way to start each morning.

Next up: the Championship Race, next Monday! More pictures below.

Ocean Beach Race!

And they're off!

Last Tuesday, CAIS runners traveled clear across San Francisco for a scenic race at Ocean Beach. Under cloudy skies, scudding clouds pushed relentlessly eastward by a swift fall breeze, the runners set off on a 1.5-mile out-and-back course across the wet-packed sands well below the high tide line. Pushing through salt spray and chilling winds, CAIS runners finished strongly to pick up some amazing finishes - with TWO team champions (5th-6th boys and 7th-8th girls) and TWO individual champions (Christopher Herrick and Mackenzie Jones)!

In the 5th-6th girls' race, the Hsia twins ran away to 12th and 13th place finishes respectively. They were closely followed by McKayla Ly (22nd) and Colby Condon (25th).

The 5th-6th boys race featured a very strong team of eight runners - who beat NINE other schools to come away with the team championship! Battling the salt spray, Caleb Chou-Green built off recent solid training to come in 7th, followed by Eon Kounalakis (10th), Diego Scanlon (12th), Jaxon Louie (15th), Kai Martell (16th), Kai Chang (18th), Micah Matheny (23rd), and Zachary McCall (30th). This was a great team effort, as many runners finished within a few seconds of each other!

The 7th-8th races featured a pair of first-place finishes: Mackenzie Jones for the girls and (in his first-ever cross-country race) Christopher Herrick for the boys! Simon Chang-Huang also raced for the 7th-8th boys, with an excellent 26th place finish. In the girls' race, close behind Mackenzie were a solid group: Kaitlyn Tran in 5th, Emi Steedman in 10th, Tianji Lukins in 12th, Georgia Lewis in 13th, Sarah Adi in 20th, and Leila Robarge in 29th. Congrats to the 7th-8th girls on winning both the individual AND team championships!

The next race will be this Friday at Lindley Meadow in Golden Gate Park at 4:30. The course map is below. Come watch the last race before the championships! More pictures below.

Lindley Meadow course map

Meet #2

The team!

Another fantastic meet for CAIS! Last Thursday, the Firedragons competed against nine other schools on a 1.5-mile course at Hellman Hollow in Golden Gate Park. Fielding full teams (i.e. at least 5 runners) in the 7th-8th grade girls and 5th-6th grade boys divisions, as well as partial teams in the 7th-8th grade boys and 5th-6th girls divisions, CAIS runners ran outstanding races at speeds normally reserved for the runways at SFO.

Led by strong showings from Eon Kounalakis (4th), Diego Scanlon (7th), and Caleb Chou-Green (11th), the 5th-6th grade boys took first in their race! Other finishes include Kai Martell (16th), Kai Chang (17th), Connor Ng (20th), Micah Matheny (21st), and Henry Frazier (45th).

While only two CAIS runners competed in the 5th-6th grade girls' race, both had strong showings: Madison Han came in an impressive 5th, while Megana Higuchi came in 35th.

The 7th-8th grade girls came in a close second behind perennial favorite Burke's. They were led by an awesome first place finish from Mackenzie Jones! Close behind her were Kaitlyn Tran (3rd), Emi Steedman (11th), Tianji Lukins (16th), Georgia Lewis (17th), and Leila Robarge (31st).

Ready to race!

While only four boys competed in the 7th-8th boys race, they all did well enough that they ended up scoring 3rd overall (despite - due to not fielding a full team - being assigned a phantom "5th team member" given the maximum possible amount of points!). Top finishers were John Peabody (4th, with a very fast time of 9:27), Neo Kounalakis (10th), Oscar Wong (13th), and Simon Chang-Huang (36th).

Congratulations to all CAIS runners! Next up: CAIS hosts a meet at Ocean Beach (Great Highway and Lincoln) on Tuesday, October 7th. We need parent volunteers to help with this race! Please contact Ms. Talbot for information.

First meet!

Maddie Han powering down the homestretch!

Sorry for the delay - it's been a difficult time getting SFAL scores for the meet! As such, I've given up and decided to simply make this post.

The first meet of the season went off last Friday afternoon under overcast skies at the Polo Fields in Golden Gate Park. For many CAIS runners, it was their first meet ever! The course, two laps around the Polo Fields track for a total of 1.5 miles, was a good warm-up for harder courses to come - not to mention a great spectator course, as everyone could see the entire event!

SFAL races are put on and scored in four categories: 5th-6th girls, 5th-6th boys, 7th-8th girls and 7th-8th boys all run separately. In each division, a team needs five competitors to field a full team. Results, when available, include both team scoring and individual placing.

The races were exciting, with large mass starts of 75-125 racers who shot off rapidly from the starting line. However, CAIS runners kept their cool and ran smart races, as we've discussed in practice: going out more slowly at a manageable pace, and waiting until later to pick it up. As a result, CAIS runners were passing lots of competitors on the second lap around the fields!

Mass start to 5th-6th girls race

There were a number of very impressive races, especially among first-time XC runners! Among the top ten finishes were:

Maddie Han (5th-6th girls)
Kaitlyn Tran (7th-8th girls)
Mackenzie Jones (7th-8th girls)
Emi Steedman (7th-8th girls)
Tianji Lukins (7th-8th girls)
John Peabody (7th-8th boys)
Neo Kounalakis (7th-8th boys)
Oscar Wong (7th-8th boys)

Complete results are below:

Great job, everyone! The next race is this Thursday at Hellman Hollow in Golden Gate Park. Below, some more pictures for your enjoyment!

Golden Gate Park

Yesterday was our first Golden Gate Park run! Eight runners spent a beautiful afternoon running under surprisingly blue and unfoggy skies in San Francisco's largest park.

We'll be doing optional Golden Gate Park runs every Monday (Wednesday on weeks with no Monday class). There will also be practice at CAIS these days.

If  you are willing and able to drive for these practices, please contact Jonas Crimm. We leave CAIS at 3:45 and drive to the Polo Fields (southwest corner, parking lot off Middle Drive). We practice until 5:10. Pickup is at the Polo Fields at 5:10 or at CAIS at 5:30.

If you'd like to drive a group of runners to another location in SF (Presidio/Crissy Fields especially) on Mondays (or another day), please also let me know. We're going for diversity of locations as much as possible.

Pics below from recent practices!

Alamo Square

More Alamo Square

Alamo Square

Racing to the finish

Golden Gate Park