By Cole Zellner, Class of 2016
November 7 – After a long season of practice and persistence, the OVS girls’ cross country team outpaced all runners Wednesday to earn the Condor League championship in the League Final at Dunn School. Senior Momoe Takamatsu also won the individual title, running the fastest three-mile race in her life by finishing in a blistering 21:11. Her nearest competitor was nearly 40 seconds behind.
“I was relieved for sure,” said Momoe, who was very emotional after the race. “I didn’t believe at first that I had won, but I worked so hard for this.”
It is the second time in four years that an OVS runner has won the Condor League individual cross country title. In 2011, Reika Kijima won the title. She is now running cross country and track for the University of Southern California. This is the first time in recent history that OVS girls have captured the team title.
In addition to Momoe’s fast finish, two other OVS runners, sophomore Gilim Bae and senior Vivian Yan, earned medals for their top ten finishes. Gilim finished in third place with a time of 22:43, and Vivian came in sixth with a time of 23:27. The OVS girls’ came within seconds of winning the Condor League title outright. For OVS cross country coach Fred Alvarez, the win wasn’t as important as the watching the girls learn to work as a team and do their best when it came time to their final race.
“I could not be more proud of the way these girls came together this year,” Mr. Alvarez said. “They ran in 100-plus degree heat, and they ran when they were sore, and they ran in the early morning darkness. They committed themselves to improving each and every day. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
The OVS boys’ team ended the season strong as well. Senior Andy Cheng (L11) ran his personal best in an astounding 19:06. Less than a minute behind, junior Victor Gong (L12) also ran his personal best with a time of exactly 20:00.
