Douglas Whichard and Rebecca Paddack earned MotW honors for their efforts at NCS and State. This dynamic duo have been great leaders all season and it’s wonderful to see them fulfill their goal of reaching the CIF Championships. When most people reach their goal, it can be very easy to relax and take it easy. Not with these two. They set a new goal of racing strong in their last high school cross country race.

At NCS, Doug stunned many runners with his best performance of the season, finishing in 2nd place and a blazing time of 15:34 on the 3 mile course (in 2005 he ran 16:23). He crushed the field from EBAL by about 20 seconds. “It felt easy,” said Doug of his race. One week later, when many runners go flat and are thankful for just making the big race, Doug ran a solid 16:23 at Woodward Park 3.1 mile course. He again finished as the first runner from EBAL.

At NCS, Becky was coming off of earning All-League honors and a 4th place finish at EBAL when she ran 19:19 and took 8th place at Hayward’s 3 mile course (in 2005 she ran 20:53). She was the 4th finisher from EBAL at NCS and led her team to a third place finish in DI. On Saturday, Rebecca had her best race of the season in Fresno, finishing the course in 19:44 for 5K, dropping a place to the 3rd runner from EBAL and the 6th runner from NCS.

Congratulations to an excellent cross country season Becky and Doug!

P.S. An honorable mention needs to go to Albert Harris and his father for driving down on Saturday morning to cheer on his teammates. Becky’s friend Annica (and former Matador XC runner) who moved near SLO also made the trip to cheer. And of course, Emily was there to cheer (and shop).