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Thursday was a bittersweet day for the St. Mary’s High cross country team, as the Panthers got one outstanding individual performance but saw their team hopes fall away at the Bay Shore Athletic League championship. 

Sophomore Gabriela Rios-Sotelo won the girls’ race by more than a minute, extending the St. Mary’s run of girls champions to four straight seasons. Current Cal runner Bridget Duffy won the last three BSAL titles for the Panthers. 

But it was Piedmont High that carried the day, winning both the girls’ and boys’ team titles. While the St. Mary’s coaches were prepared for the Highlanders’ depth to carry them in the girls’ race, the sloppy conditions and an outstanding effort from Piedmont kept the Panthers from contesting the boys’ race. 

After a steady downpour made the Joaquin Miller Park course a little muddy, a deluge just before the boys’ race made it a veritable pigsty. Combine steep, muddy hills with a pack of runners jostling for position and a fall is inevitable. Unfortunately for the Panthers, the tumble came from their best runner, sophomore Tino Rodriguez. Just after tossing his fogged-up glasses to coach Jeff Rogers, Rodriguez fell on a downhill stretch, moving him back three crucial spots. 

With each team’s first five finishers scoring points, the Highlanders looked like easy winners when their first four runners were in second, fourth, fifth and seventh place. The St. Mary’s runners came in almost as a pack, with Scott Howard taking eighth, Martinez ninth and Matt Mullarkey 10th. Emilio Flores and Jake Texara came in 12th and 14th, respectively, to close out the Panthers’ scoring, and all that was left was to wait for Piedmont’s fifth runner. St. Mary’s needed Joey Aurora to come in later than 34th, a hope that was dashed when he finished just behind the 24th competitor to lock up his school’s second title of the day. 

“I don’t think we lost it as much as Piedmont won it,” Rogers said. “They just ran a great race. Even if Tino hadn’t fallen, we wouldn’t have won.” 

On the girls’ side, Piedmont dominated the competition, but St. Mary’s sophomore Emily Olsen made a good showing. Considering her goal was to finish in the top seven, Olsen’s fourth-place finish was a remarkable achievement. But it was Rios-Sotelo who stole the show, increasing her lead on every lap and establishing herself as a favorite in the North Coast Section race in two weeks.