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HUGH DOWDY: PETALUMA, SENIOR, CROSS COUNTRY
Published on September 16, 2009

BYLINE:    Eric Branch 
PAGE: C5

COLUMN: ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

WHAT HE DID: Dowdy finished second in the 120-man Division III race at the

Ed Sias Invitational in Martinez. Dowdy finished in 9 minutes, 55 seconds, the

fastest time for an Empire runner at the race and the third-fastest time in

the 25-year-old meet's history. Dowdy was runner-up behind Novato's Erik

Olson, one of the state's top 3,200-meter runners, who finished in a

meet-record-time of 9:45. Dowdy broke the Empire mark of 10:03.03 set last

year by Petaluma's Sterling Lockert.


SPEAKING OF LOCKERT: Dowdy also beat Lockert's record time at the Rancho

Cotate Invitational earlier this season. Dowdy won in 15 minutes, breaking

Lockert's mark of 15:11. Lockert, a freshman running at Loyola-Marymount, was

a two-time North Coast Section cross-country champion at Petaluma and led the

Trojans to three straight top-five finishes at state. ``My gauge so far has

been Sterling,'' Dowdy said. ``He's always been the leader and I've always

looked up to him. I didn't anticipate beating his times in any scenario.''

INCREDIBLE IMPROVEMENT: The 6-foot-1, 153-pound Dowdy ran 25 seconds slower

at the Ed Sias Invitational as a junior and 54 seconds slower at the Rancho

Cotate Invite. Petaluma coach Jim Lynch says Dowdy, the team's lone senior,

has embraced his leadership role. ``He's taken that role very seriously,''

Lynch said. ``He realized it was his time in the sun.''

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