Navigating a course 2,500 miles from home, Palos Verdes cross country runner Caitlin Stoner was beginning to doubt she could withstand the pace at the Iolani Invitational meet in Hawaii. But a familiar voice provided the impetus for the senior to persevere.
The voice was that of paddleboard legend Jamie Mitchell, a 10-time champion of the Molokai to Oahu race who provided advice and motivation to Stoner. Mitchell has a longtime relationship with Caitlin’s father, Jeff Stoner, an accomplished paddleboard shaper and racer whose boards Mitchell has used to win races such as the Catalina Classic.
“You’re a winner Caitlin, now go prove it,” Mitchell told Stoner prior to the race.
“The first mile was feeling super fast and I was thinking this might be a little too fast,” Stoner said. “Then I heard Jamie’s voice yelling at me and thought well, that’s all I needed coming from Jamie.”
Stoner finished second in the race at Kualoa Ranch in Kaaawa, Hawaii on Sept 17, only one second behind teammate Grace Catena’s winning time of 17 minutes, 49 seconds. It was one of many outstanding performances by the Palos Verdes girls team this season.
All seven on the girls team finished in the top 20 to capture the team title at the Iolani Invitational, a meet the Sea Kings have competed in five times beginning in 2007.
“We enjoy the meet because a trip to Hawaii serves as a great reward and motivation for all of the hard training during the summer,” Palos Verdes head coach Brian Shapiro said. “It gives the team something to look forward to during the dog days of summer. It’s also great for team bonding and refreshing to compete against a bunch of schools and runners that we are not familiar with. And who doesn’t love a trip to Hawaii?”
Following the finishes of Catena and Stoner were Camille Hines (4th, 17:58), Alex Regan (5th, 18:22), Olivia Polischeck (7th, 18:41), Emme Schaefer (15th, 19:14) and Madeline Babros (19th, 19:23).
The boys team placed third and were led by junior Ian Irish (8th, 15:48) along with sophomores Wade Nygren (11th, 15:52) and William Teets (14th, 15:57).
Shapiro said the highlight of the team’s trip to Hawaii came two days before the race.
“We had read about the great trails on the north shore known as the Koolau Summit Trail,” Shapiro said. “Over the course of 12 miles, we started at the beach and climbed 2,000 feet through some dense rain forest trails with great views. It had been raining that week and we encountered quite a bit of mud and had a blast.”
The Palos Verdes cross country program enjoys a variety of runs throughout the season beginning in August when the team joins the Mira Costa team at a training camp in Mammoth Lakes.
Last Saturday, the Sea Kings hosted the Palos Verdes Invitational, a unique meet that features a 2-mile course (shorter than the usual 3-mile courses at most meets) that includes hay-bale hurdles and a creek crossing while pitting each school’s No. 1 runners against those of other schools. Number 2 runners compete against each other in a separate race and so on through No. 7 runners. Scores from each race are used to add up a team’s total score.
Palos Verdes captured the girls team title with Catena (11:47.25) placing second to Malibu’s Claudia Lane (11:03.56) in the No. 1 race and Stoner (No. 2, 12:01.57), Hines (No. 3, 12:11.43) and Polischeck (No. 5, 12:34.46) winning their respective races. Placing second in their races were Regan (No. 4, 12:59.06), Schaefer (No. 6, 14:01.91) and Babros (No. 7, 13:25.90).
In the boys No. 1 race, Irish placed 4th (10:33.49) to lead the Sea Kings to a 3rd-place place finish. Winning their races were Teets (No. 3, 10:36.26) and Erik Anderson (No. 7, 10:53.46). Brandon Farnsworth (No. 5, 11:03.39) and Lance Meliota (No. 6, 11:16.32) were runners-up in their races while No. 5 Ryan Shikiya (3rd, 11:02.77) and No. 2 Nygren (6th 11:21.02) rounded out the Palos Verdes runners.
Palos Verdes’ girls team is ranked No. 1 in CIF-Southern Section Division 3 while the Sea King’s boys team is ranked No. 4 in the same division.
“It is always exciting to be highly ranked in CIF, but our athletes know that there are many good teams in the South Bay, the Bay League, and throughout the Southern Section and state,” Shapiro said. “The boys team is young and learning valuable lessons each day, seeming to get better with each practice. The girls team has a lot of savvy veterans and looks to repeat on last year’s Bay League, CIF, and State meet success.”
Palos Verdes will host the first Bay League meet on Thursday, Oct. 13 when it will be challenged by Redondo, who moved up to Division 1 this season and Mira Costa, a Division 2 team whose boys are ranked No. 4 and girls No. 7.
