Royal misses goals at state but coach proud of runners

ROYAL CITY — Royal High School did not meet its goals at the state cross country meet in Pasco last week, but coach Ben Orth is feeling nothing but upbeat. His teams had another excellent year, and the future is bright.

All of the top five girls to run for Royal at state will return next year, and six of the top seven boys will return. The boys will be shooting for their 12th straight year at state, and the girls will be after their fifth consecutive appearance.

“I can’t say enough how proud I am of the guys and gals on this team,” Orth said. “They are a huge part of my life, and I’m blessed to get to work with them during the course of the year. They’ve got such fortitude, and I appreciate their work ethic. We ask them to do hard things on a daily basis, and it is so rewarding to watch them grow, not just as runners but, more importantly, as people.”

Cross country at Royal has been so successful that it’s a cause for pep rallies. The teams were given a nice send-off by the pep band last Friday.

“They had an awesome cadence with their percussion group before we loaded the bus.” Orth said.

The Sun Willows Golf course was covered in a low fog when Royal arrived Friday morning. By the time the 1A girls race started, however, the weather had lifted, and the conditions had brightened.

Royal’s girls ended up in 9th place on Friday. The Royal boys took 8th on Saturday.

“To be truthful, we had goals of placing higher as a team and, in then end, if was a very tight race,” Orth said. “If we could have just scored five fewer points on the girls side, we would have placed 7th If the boys could have scored six fewer points, they would have placed 6th. That is essentially just having each kid pass one more runner during the 5 km race. That is how close those spots were.”

Freshman Rodolfo Flores led the boys with a 39th place finish in 17:45. Junior Victor Garcia was 52nd in17:27.9, senior Christian Garcia took 63rd in 17:53.5, Freshman Victor Santillan ran 85th in 18:15.5, Sophomore Silver Beltran was 115th in 17:53.5 and junior Arturo Villa finished 123rd in 19:00.8.

Sophomore Kay Lester took 34th for the girls in 20:45.7, Freshman Elizabeth Guadarrama finished 37th in 20:47, junior Gracelyn captured 46th in 20:52.6, freshman Abigail Delay ran in 67th in 21:38.6, junior Caitlin Diaz captured 87th in 22:20.3, senior Meghan Mianecki landed 106th in 22.42.7, and senior Anahi Gomez finished 112th in 23:04.04.

There were some great performances by Royal runners. The highlights included five runners (Rudy Flores, Cristian Garcia, Elizabeth Guadarrama, Gracelynn Miller, and Abigail Delay) smashing their fastest 5 km times ever.

“Those runners, collectively, put together truly great individual efforts,” Orth said. In addition, “Kay Lester must have passed eight girls in the final 100 yards, and that was incredible to watch.”

“A student that we don’t always highlight but has been an integral part of our program these past years, is senior Cristian Garcia,” Orth said. “He had the race of his life and busted a personal record of 17:53.”

Cristian Garcia typically runs as Royal’s No. 5 runner but at state came in third. The team really benefited from his effort.

Rudy Flores, Royal’s standout freshman, raced very well, finishing in 39th overall and was the third freshman to finish.

“As we gear up for improvement next year, it will again come down to our runners making sacrifices, Orth said.. “The best way to improve in this sport is to collectively wear the bottom of our shoes off. In other words, lots of miles in the off-season.”

“I want to personally thank our seniors for their efforts over the years. They include: Salvador Horta, Cristian Garcia, Cesar Camacho, Ruben Hernandez Meaghan Mianecki, and Anahi Gomez.”

“I wish them all the very best in the next important chapters in their lives and hope that their experience as a Royal cross country member will be something that they are able to positively reflect back on.

“They all have very bright futures.”