The following is an excerpt from The San Diego Union-Tribune article, “La Jolla’s Chiara Dailey coasts to state cross country crown; Cathedral’s girls take first team title.”

FRESNO —  Chiara Dailey had one goal — win a state cross country championship.

Multiply that times seven for the Cathedral Catholic High School girls, who used a daring strategy to capture the Division III team title on the 3.1-mile Woodward Park course.

One mile into the girls’ Division III race, two-time defending team champion Moraga Campolindo led Cathedral Catholic 48-148; the lowest score wins in cross country.

Right where Dons coach Dan Geiger wanted them — almost.

“I was a little worried at the mile,” admitted Geiger. “I told them to back off at the mile — run a good split but 10 to 15 seconds faster (than their best) would be too fast.”

Over the second mile, Cathedral Catholic shaved the lead from 100 points to 21, 73-94, and by saving themselves early, the Dons burned the final 1.1 miles to collect an 83-92 victory.

As often happens at the state meet, the official results weren’t immediately forthcoming after the race, so after a very nervous 20 minutes, the Dons were finally able to celebrate the school’s first girls’ title, joining the 2016 boys team.

“That boys team was a huge surprise, they weren’t even mentioned beforehand,” said Geiger. “The girls were ranked No. 3 for most of the year. This makes up for the disappointment last year when we finished second to Campolindo.

“I knew we had a better chance to win this year because we were healthy and this group really listens. We adopted a different strategy in that I told them to go out comfortably and then make their move. They made it work.”

Individually, Dons sophomore Lindsay Zimmer, who was injured a year ago, placed fourth at 17:45.1, senior Alexandria Pena was seventh in 18:03.6 and Scarlett Martin 14th at 18:20.8. Freshman Kristine Bickler (19:07.1) and sophomore Liesel Sellerberg (19:12.2) wrapped up the scorers.

Cathedral Catholic’s first three runners low-scored Campolindo’s first trio, 22-39.

Cathedral Catholic’s boys team finished 13th overall with a final score of 324. 

DyeStat.com – Interview with DIII Girls Champions