Cross Country:
California State Cross Country Finals - 2021
Woodward Park, Fresno, CA
Saturday November 26, 2021
It was a beautiful Friday morning as the varsity Cross Country teams met to travel to the State Cross
Country Finals at Woodward Park in Fresno. After decorating and loading the vans, the teams left the CB
campus for what would be a wholly new experience for all of these runners – State Finals. With
expectations of some success, the team arrived in Fresno, had lunch, and then headed over to the park
to set up and check out the course. Then it was off to dinner and to bed early for the bug day that was
just around the corner.
On a chilly Saturday morning the runners geared up for their races. A change of shoes and a 2-mile
warm up was just what was needed to be ready for what was expected to be some very fast racing.
As the gun sounded for start of the D4 men’s race, the more that 200 runners sprinted their way across
the grass toward the asphalt looking like an amoeba swallowing its meal. At the first mile, it was evident
that this was in fact, as speedy as expected as the leaders came by the first mile in 4:42. CB’s own Ryan
Dong crossed first in 4:51 with CB runners Sam Nealon and Reign Saldana close behind. Unbeknownst to
his teammates (and coaches!) Sam Nealon dropped a shoe in the first three quarters of a mile and
would run the next two and a quarter mile in one shoe! But he stayed in the hunt till the end. While
watching the live results board, it seemed like CB was consistently 21 or 22 amongst the twenty-five
teams in the race. But when everything was counted, CB would end up finishing as the 19th team in the
State for D4 teams.
An hour later, it was the ladies turn and they did not disappoint. Like the guys, the first mile was very
fast. But the Falcons were not to be deterred. The Elise Perkins took the lead for the Falcons with Elise
Henderson a couple seconds behind. A third ninth grader, Marina Noey settled into the third position
and Allie Moyer into the fourth spot for CB as they moved through the race. As the runners crossed the
2-mile mark, both Perkins and Henderson moved up 16 and 13 places respectively and would hold on to
those positions until the finish. Noey made her move in the final stretch passing twelve other runners to
help cement an 18th overall team finish for the Falcon women.
As a team that was expected to be in the rebuilding phase, CB proved, once again why it is considered
on of the premier small school XC programs in the region and in the State.
Congratulations to Ryan Dong, Sami Bateman, Natalie Stone, and Paige Hardy for helping to make this
an exceptionally special season. As the Seniors on our team, their contributions will be missed next
season. Congratulations to the XC Teams and Coaches on a memorable season.
Next Up: CIM, and End-of-the-Season Banquet, Sunday December 5, 2021.
Women's Basketball:
Varsity: Lady Falcons had their first official game of the season last week against Inderkum High, right before Thanksgiving break. After getting off to a slow start, the Falcons found their stride, defense kicked in and they were able to prevail with a 68-53 win. The best part was that every member of the team got to play! 10 of the 12 players scored! This was for sure a fantastic team win! The defense really made a difference with some key defensive plays by Kemani Willams 23’ and Jene Wells 22’ that helped spark a run!
Leading all scorers was Aleyah Harmon 25’ with 15 pts, Leah Nelson 24’ with 14 pts and 6 assists, Jada Hunter was all over the stat sheet with an impressive 14pts, 9rebounds, 6 assists and 7 steals! Kaia Foster 24’ knocked down 10 to round out our top scorers and grabbed 8 rebounds.
Up next the girls are facing Grant High and getting ready for the Elk Grove Tournament.
GO FALCONS!
JV: Last Tuesday, 11/23, our JV Lady Falcons Basketball defeated Inderkum Tigers 39-35. A team effort on both defense and offense helped the lady falcons pull off the victory against the tigers! Leading the way with Rosemary Esmeih with 10 points and Lily Talamantes with 8 points! With the win, the JV Lady Falcons are now 2-0 and will face Grant High School on Wednesday 12/1 at 5:30!
Men's Basketball:
Varsity: Men’s Varsity had a rough week with back-to-back losses against Inderkum and Oak Ridge. The Varsity team is looking to find consistency in playing 32 minutes of basketball while limiting turnovers and 2nd chance opportunities. Varity has a another tough challenge ahead this week in facing the # 3 team in the city Elk Grove Thursday in their annual Bill Cartwright Classic tournament.
Freshman: Men's freshman basketball started the season 2-0 with a win against River City 69-21 and Oak Ridge 54-49. We have our first tournament this week at Inderkum and we are looking forward to it. We are led by a well balanced attack of Stephen Hewitt, Josh Lewis, Markus Salud, and Alan Cordano.