On Saturday, November 5, 2022, the East Bay Athletic League (EBAL) championships were held in Newhall Park in Concord, and for many, was the end of the cross country season this year. With this in mind, Granada  accomplished something never seen before, winning all six races of the day, leaving not a single one of the other 10 schools competing with a victory. These beaten teams include De LaSalle, Dublin, Livermore, Monte Vista, Carondelette, Amador Valley, Dougherty Valley, Cal, San Ramon Valley, Foothill. Three out of the six races were also won with a perfect score.

Of the highlight performances of the day, many athletes achieved individual wins, with George Mikhael winning the frosh-soph boys race with a 16:33, Jenna Herscu winning the frosh-soph girls race with a 20:19.6, Hudson Sauder winning the JV boys race with a 16:10.4, Alyssa Eaton winning the JV girls race with a 21:15.7, and Roland Ruckman-Barnes winning the Varsity Boys race with a 15:17.1.

Hudson Sauder had a breakaway performance, gaping the second place Tanner Gray by almost an entire 40 seconds by the end of the race. Sauder said “I executed the plan well, just basically sat on him the whole time up the hill and through the first mile, and then he got dropped.”

While this was the end of the season for most of the team, both the varsity boys and girls teams are now looking to race, and win, at the North Coast Section championships (NCS) on Saturday, November 19. After that, both are looking to race at the California State championships in Fresno, California, where the boys team is facing off against the number one ranked team in the nation, Newbury Park, and is also hoping to beat San Clemente in terms of times.

Senior Roland Ruckman-Barnes stated, “We’re just hoping to win NCS.”

As for nationals, the girls team will most likely head to Alabama to compete in the Garmin Cross Nationals, one of the biggest national races held in the country. The boys team will likely go to Oregon to compete in the Nike Cross Nationals, arguably the most prestigious national race, with Nike only inviting the the top twenty-five boys and girls teams in the nation to compete for their national title. Both of these national races will be held on the first week of December.

Overall, the Granada Cross country team is ecstatic about the wins, with varsity runner Jake Walton saying, “As a team we performed really well, it was kind of how we expected it to go, and everything went as planned.”