Stanford Invitational
Stanford Golf Course
Palo Alto
Saturday, September 25, 2010

RESULTS AT BOTTOM OF PAGE

Joyce's Runner-up Finish Leads Boys' Shocker; Girls Pack Six in Top 25 to Crush Field at Stanford Invitational

With the bust-out race of the season to date, Thomas Joyce (12) sparked an awesome team performance as the varsity boys claimed Saturday's Division III title at the Stanford Invitational.

Dylan Laucher's (11) third place effort, along with four more Cougars in the top 25, including 12th and 13th place finishes respectively for Vinson Compestine (12) and Leland Wong (12), helped overtake highly touted section rival Petaluma in warm conditions on the looping 5k course.

Rounding out the scoring was the much improved Greg Garcia (11) in 22nd, while Keith Geiger (12) used a late race surge to close within one place of his teammate. It was Joyce's daring however, that set the tone from the start.

The junior positioned himself in the lead pack from the gun and clung to Petaluma's front running Forrest Shaffer for much of the race. Then, coming out of a hairpin turn with a mile to go, in view of his teammates running into the same turn, Joyce briefly took the lead. It was an act of inspiration for his teammates as much as an individual tactical maneuver. The Cougar's scoring five overtook 10 places in the final mile!

The 81:30 total team time eclipses the mark set by the 2008 state meet runner-up squad by two seconds. With the late afternoon race time in 2010, it is a favorable comparison that suggests this current group of mostly juniors has historic potential.

In the girls' competition, Haley Shipway (14) debuted at 5k with a solid 20:07 finish that placed her 25th out of 186 competitors. Veteran teammates Rachel Meadows (12), Sarah Orders (13) and Sara Mostatabi (11) packed into the top 16 to give the nationally ranked harriers a gaudy 44 point finishing total, 46 points ahead of the state's #4 ranked Corona Del Mar.

Leading the field once again were Carrie Verdon (12) and Grace Orders (11), who completed a one-two sweep of the division with the 7th and 13th fastest marks on the day out of the 1036 competitors from across the western United States.

GIRLS' VARSITY
Grd TOTAL PR CR Plc.
CARRIE VERDON 11 17:59 1
GRACE ORDERS 12 1810 2
RACHEL MEADOWS 11 1938 13
SARAH ORDERS 10 1943 15
SARA MOSTATABI 12 1949 16
HALEY SHIPWAY 9 2007 25
SYDNEY COE 10 2317 137
      

Campolindo 44, Corona Del Mar 90, Acalanes 150, San Luis Obispo 154, Maria Carrillo 163, Placer 218, Clairemont 224, Aptos 302, Valley Christian 329, Reno 335, Petaluma 339, North Medford 344, Agoura 358, Galena 379, Sacred Heart 399, Christian Bros 402, Redwood 408, Punahou 458, Moses Lake 487, Saratoga 504, McQueen 509, Willow Glen 519, Eureka 571, Notre Dame 626, Sonora 652, Galt 680, North Monterey 729

BOYS' VARSITY
Grd TOTAL PR CR Plc.
THOMAS JOYCE 11 1552 2
DYLAN LAUCHER 12 1605 3
VINSON COMPESTINE 11 1625 12
LELAND WONG 11 1626 13
GREG GARCIA 12 1642 22
KEITH GEIGER 11 1644 23
ADAM HATHAWAY 10 1704 38
      

Campolindo 48, Petaluma 115, Willow Glen 118, Corona Del Mar 151, San Luis Obispo 161, St. Francis 191, Maria Carrillo 203, North Medford 251, Sonora 254, Eureka 311, Redwood 314, Sacred Heart 350, Agoura 385, Acalanes 405, Azusa 429, Moses Lake 462, Aptos 489, Saratoga 495, North Monterey 531, Christian Bros 551, Clairemont 575, Burlingame 583, Mills 623, Monterey 737, Galt 783