The scary thing about Rylee Blade breaking the race record in the girls’ race at the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic on Saturday night is that she believes she can run even faster.
The Corona Santiago senior ran the three-mile course at Great Park in Irvine in 15 minutes, 20.3 seconds, shattering the previous record by an astonishing 12.2 seconds. Seven runners ran under 15:50, and 53 girls finished under 17 minutes.
“I wanted to see how I felt after the first two miles,” Blade said. “I felt like I had a little more in me. There’s still a lot of races to go, but I’m happy where I’m at right now.”
Not only did Blade win the individual title, he also helped the Sharks finish third in the team standings with 215 points, behind only Lewisville (Texas), Flower Mound (157) and Ventura (193).
“What motivated me the most was running for my teammates,” Blade said. “I wanted to make them proud.”
She did, but she also left her competitors in awe.
Chiara Dailey of La Jolla was second in 15:28.2 and Lily Adler of Provo, Utah, Timpview was third in 15:28.9. In the girls varsity race, Erika Kirk of Vista Murrieta won in 16:33.0 and Gweneth Williams of El Toro was second in 16:35.1. El Toro (90 points) won the team title.
Sadie Engelhardt, a senior from Ventura, finished fifth in her season debut. As a sophomore, she took first at Woodbridge with a time of 15:42.6 (at the time the fastest three-mile time in a U.S. high school) and last fall she took third with a time of 15:37.4.
Herriman (Utah) won the boys sweepstakes race for the third straight year with 79 points, 150 better than runner-up Southlake (Texas) Carroll. Mira Costa was the top California team with a score of 413.
In a make-or-break race to the finish, Owen Powell of Mercer Island, Wash., defeated Josiah Tostenson of Central Point, Ore., Crater by two-tenths of a second to win the individual title in a time of 13:30.3.
Oaks Christians teammates Christian Yoder (14:15.7) and Cooper McNee (14:16.5) took first and second in the boys class.
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
