2017 November PASO Magazine

PASO ROBLES CROSS COUNTRY LOOKS TO SET ANOTHER HIGH MARK
The long road to CIF State is a well-beaten
path, and the 2017 squad of Paso Robles High
School varsity boys cross country runners is
making its way in the footsteps of legendary
runners in recent history — and has a chance
to become the first PRHS team to make State
in Division 2.
Following behind last year’s Trad Berti and
Luis Armendariz, Gannon Chamberlain before
that, and Zach Chamberlain before that,
to name a few of the leaders that led PRHS to
CIF State, now led by senior Ian Young and junior
Pablo Cortes, the Bearcats have their eyes
set on State again.
With PAC 8 League finals looming on Thursday,
Nov. 3, the Bearcats are out pounding the
pavement, getting ready for the run to CIF.
You might see them around town, and a
quick “Go Bearcats” out the window will let
them know the community is cheering them
on as they run the 3-mile races they have
ahead of them. When they cross the finish
line, at times collapsing from exhaustion, the
visions in their mind might just include your
voice or smile from the window of your car
back in their hometown of Paso Robles — and
the “PR” they wear in the front of their jerseys
is backed by more than just a beating heart,
but a PRoud community.
If their success this season is any omen,
the Bearcats are on their way. They finished
second out of 35 teams in the Large School
Division at the Asics Clovis Invitational — otherwise
known as the “Pre-State Meet.” Taking the
starting line among the best programs from
San Diego to Sacramento, the boys held their
own.
Cortes finished fourth, with a blazing time of
16-minutes-01-seconds. Damian Gavilan took
11th, in 16:15.
Coming in behind highly-ranked Rocklin
High School, scoring between Paso Robles
and Bella Vista HS, Sacramento, was a dead-
lock.
Scoring for cross country is based on a team
finish, and each runner to cross the finish adds
points to the team total. When it comes to a
team finish, the team has to be fast of course,
but when it comes to winning, the slowest runner
on the team — who could beat most of us
on a given Sunday — often holds to key to the
win.
Alex Ruiz was the man for Paso at Asics. He
surged at the finish to take the Bearcats’ sixth
spot and break the tie between Paso and Bella
Vista.
“Throughout the race I was trying to keep a
good pace,” Ruiz said. “I had that determination
to get a good place, and I tried my best.
I didn’t know what place I would get … when
I was coming through, I was tired and in the
zone, but at the end I gave it all I had left.”
If you never see the end of a competitive
cross country race, then you need to know
these runners often collapse to the grass after
crossing the finish. They are exhausted, delirious,
and sometimes losing their lunch.
“Something you always have to remember
at the end is that you have to go back for your
team,” Cortes said. “You can’t just go off, you
gotta go back for everybody.”
Being a part of the team means having a real
part to play in all the success, and it doesn’t
just happen at the finish line. Those boys and
girls running all over town are the represen-
tatives for Paso Robles, and are preparing all
year for that final finish when they tote the “PR”
across the line as members of our community.
They are actually famous, and people from
around California know the names Chamberlain,
or Berti. Just ask Trad’s younger brother,
Cade.
“It is pretty cool,” PRHS junior Cade Berti
said. “People come up to me and ask if I’m
Trad Berti’s brother. Just seeing how he progressed
in this sport through school, it just
makes me want to catch that next guy every
race, and score those points for our team.”
The Bearcats’ finish at Asics put them into
the top 10 rankings for CIF Southern Section
Division 2, at No. 8 as of Oct. 16 rankings.
For many, the road to state began as a freshman,
looking up at the Chamberlain’s, Berti’s,
and Armendariz’s.
“Looking back at freshman year, it seemed
like such a long time ago, and now we are at
that level of running,” PRHS junior Pablo Cortez
said. “
Each year brings a new memory, and possibly
another league championship.
“I remember last year, for the league finals,
it was one of our hardest races,” PRHS senior
Ian Young said. “We each had to beat one of
Arroyo Grande’s guys. All season, there was
one guy that was always beating me in every
race. I finally got him in that one race where
it mattered the most. It is a good payoff in the
end.”
In the end, the final footsteps in the final
meet, this year’s Bearcats will have the chance
to make their mark in history. If all goes well,
the boys will be taking the starting line at
Woodward Park in Fresno on Saturday, Nov.
25. You can bet they won’t be running off any
turkey or pumpkin pie.
Stay updated on the Bearcats
progress at PASOmagazine.com,
and on Facebook @PASOmagazine.
November 2017, PASO Magazine 57