For the first time since a CIF NorCal Open Division Boys Basketball Semifinal game against Sheldon on March 10, 2020, Dublin High School played host to an athletic event on campus. After an over 11 month hiatus of sporting events due to COVID, the Gaels’ Boys and Girls Cross Country teams hosted a meet this past Saturday, February 13th against California, Livermore, and Granada. Despite the fact that it lacked the trappings of a championship basketball game or a major race invitational, following such a large break from competition the student-athletes participating were excited nonetheless to simply have the opportunity to compete.
The event featured Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Frosh-Soph races for both boys and girls, and was held on a flat 3-mile course which started and ended in Gaels Stadium while meandering throughout the 46-acre campus. Race protocols for the multi-school event were presented to the Alameda County Public Health Department ahead of time to ensure that they were being safely conducted in compliance with the California Department of Public Health Youth Sports Guidelines. Saturday’s event was the first of several meets which will be hosted at DHS this year, with future meets slated for February 27th, March 6th, and March 20th.
The most exciting moment of the day outside of the actual starting gun of the Boys’ Frosh-Soph race that officially signaled that sports were back was the thrilling finish to Boys Varsity Cross race. Dublin’s Daniel Trampe and Granada’s Wesley Chiba entered the Stadium for the final 400 meters nearly neck-and-neck until Trampe pulled away in the final 100 meters to edge out Chiba by two seconds with a time of 15:14. Dublin’s Cole Turpin (15:38) and Joshua Turpin (15:44) rounded out the top five to help pace the Gaels (23) to a team victory over the Matadors (34), Grizzlies (89), and Cowboys (106).
Maia Marquez was Dublin’s top finisher in the Girls’ Varsity race coming in 5th place overall with a time of 18:40. Marquez helped lead Dublin (73) to finish in 3rd place as a team behind Granada (26) and Livermore (50) and ahead of California (84).
