Falcons wrap season at sectionals

The Abbotsford cross country ran in their final event of the 2023 season on Saturday, competing in the Division 3 sectional meet held in Colby. The team took eighth place overall with 277 points, finishing in the top half of the 23 schools at the event and the 17 with qualifying teams.

The Assumption Royals took the top spot, finishing with 49 points to claim the sectional championship. Colby claimed the runner-up spot, finishing with 83 points, and Stratford was in a close third with 87 points.

The Falcons had a solid race on Saturday, posting three new personal bests.

“Sectionals went as well as it could have for us really,” head coach Dillon Novak said. “We had three PRs on the day which is always great to see and we saw the other three run right around what they had been running the whole season. It was great to see us finish above several other teams and finish on the upper half of teams that were there that day.”

Azul Diaz very nearly kept the Falcons season alive. The junior finished in ninth place and just missed out on the final individual state qualifying spot. The meet’s eighth place finisher, Kayla Casperson of Stratford, claimed the fifth and final berth for the state meet, finishing only four seconds ahead of Diaz. Diaz finished with a final time of 21:08.0.

“It was unfortunate that Azul wasn’t quite able to reel in the last girl to make it to state,” Novak said. “That’s how it goes sometimes though. We knew going into it that it was going to be a tough challenge and it was going to be close. Azul made so much progress throughout the season from last year so it was great just to see her competing for the spot.”

Teammate Iris Cruz came in as the Falcons’ second runner, posting a time of 24:40.8. The senior came in 56th place overall in her final cross country meet.

The next three runners all set new personal bests on Saturday. Freshman Monse Ochoa notched yet another new record for herself, cutting six seconds from her previous PR by finishing in 25:23.4. She earned 71st place for the Falcons. Sophomore Asia Atkinson followed, taking 85th with a time of 26:30.4, which was 11 seconds faster than her previous PR. Finally, senior Ana Flores ran her fastest race of her career in her final competition, posting a time of 27:30.0 to take 96th overall. Angie Chavez rounded out the Falcons’ runners at sectionals. The junior finished with a time of 27:52.3 and placed in 101st place.

With the season finished, there is now time for reflection and what one might expect next season.

“The season as a whole was a fairly successful season for us,” Novak said. “Almost everyone on the team improved from last year by a good amount and it seems like we are starting to get more and more comfortable with the sport as a whole.”