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Casa's Taylor pulls away to earn girls' state berth Freshman sets course record; Petaluma boys win first title By DEWEY FORGET FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT HAYWARD - Jacque Taylor runs for the sheer joy of running. The Casa Grande freshman doesn't even consider records, but she continues to put her name in the record books. Taylor added the North Coast Section girls cross country championship to her growing list of accomplishments Saturday at Hayward High, running 17:23 to break the course record for Division II. It was also the third fastest time ever at the Hayward course, behind Ukiah's Amber Trotter (16:15) in 2002 and Ariel Wright (17:15) of Campolindo in 2004. Carondelet's Nicole Hood, a frequent competitor of Taylor's , was second, with Kellie Houser (Carondelet) third. Carondelet, ranked No.1 in the state, captured the team competition. Taylor and Hood ran shoulder to shoulder for most of the first mile before Taylor began to pull away on the long, gradual climb up the only hill on the 3.10-mile course. After two miles, Taylor had increased her lead to 80 yards, then gradually built an insurmountable advantage. Taylor now gets a shot to run against the best next week at the state meet in Fresno. Also advancing to state were Shannon Rich (Rancho Cotate) and Santa Rosa's Emmy Cozine. "It felt really good. My plan was to stay right beside Nicole, then run away from her on the hill. I'm pretty good on hills," Taylor said. "Coming up the climb the second time, I looked back and thought, 'Yeah, she's far back, not even close to me.'" Petaluma's boys, who recorded a perfect score (15 points) in the Sonoma County League finals, continued to go where no other Trojan team has gone, defeating Eureka for the Division II title. It was Petaluma's first NCS title. "On June 12, we got together and set our goals for the season: Win the SCL, go to the NCS and win, and then on to state," said Petaluma coach Jim Lynch. "Back in 1978, Petaluma took a Redwood Empire 3A title, but this is the first time we have won anything of this magnitude. The kids ran their hearts out, they came prepared today." Blake McDowall, Montgomery's top runner and the race favorite in the boys' Division II, won in 15:40. Alex Davis (De La Salle) was second, and Petaluma's Sterling Lockert was third. "Blake ran a pretty smart race; he looked in control," Montgomery coach Val Sell said. "He didn't need the race of his life to qualify for state." Blake said he had plenty left in the tank. "I could have pushed harder, but I didn't need to," he said. " Winning NCS is nice, but state is all that matters." Maria Carrillo, the defending boys' and girls' Division II champs, again qualified for state, but this year in Division III. The Pumas' boys withstood a strong challenge from Acalanes for first place, with Carrillo's Calvin Thigpen running second behind Greg Drosky of Las Lomas. The Carrillo girls, led by Leanne Foggs' second-place finish, ran second to Campolindo. In boys' Division IV, Willits' Kenny Smith became the only Wolverine to qualify twice for state with a seventh-place finish. Joe Withers (Cardinal Newman) also qualified for state in Division IV.
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