Peters, Heerema capture sophomore race titles

David Peters of Shadow Ridge and Jeneke Heerema of The Meadows were the winners of the sophomore races and posted the fastest times of the day Tuesday at the Bud O’Dea Frosh-Soph Championships held at Desert Breeze Park.

Peters led from the start and was never seriously challenged. Centennial’s Dajour Braxton hung tough early but Peters pulled away in the last mile, finishing the 2.5-mile race in 13 minutes, 46.1 seconds. Braxton (14:22.2) held off a fast-closing Flimon Fre of Clark (14:24.1). Palo Verde sophomore’s

Andrew Goldsmith (14:32.2) and Christian Castellanos (14:39.0) finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

“It wasn’t how I planned it,” Peters said of leading from the start, “but once I was out there, there was no turning back. I felt good.”

Peters led the Mustangs to the team win with 60 points, topping Green Valley (85) and Arbor View (118).

Heerema’s win was a bit of an upset, over the favored Brooke Locey of Desert Oasis. In fact, Locey led early but couldn’t hold the lead and eventually finished 10th. Heerema and Arden Holden of Centennial passed Locey at roughly the midpoint mark of the race and from there it was a two-person sprint. Heerema pulled away in the final straight, winning in 16:48.1.

“This was my race from the gun,” said Heerema. “I felt confident that I would give it everything. I had sprained my ankle in practice this week and I was a little worried about that, but it didn’t bother me. Once I caught (Brooke) Locey, I felt I could win it.”

Holden (17:09.2) was second, followed by The Meadows’ Bailey Gosse (17:26.5), Arbor View’s Madison Fletcher (17:37.2), and Palo Verde’s Bailey Dunlop (17:47.7).

Arbor View won the sophomore girls team title with 64 points. Palo Verde (96) was second and Desert Oasis (103) was third.

Bishop Gorman’s Robert Daselar won the freshman boys race in 14:11.4. Coronado’s Colin Schaefer led at the end of the first loop over the three-loop course, with Daselar back in a pack of three other runners, but the Gael freshman took the lead with a half mile to go and pulled away to win rather handily over runner-up Schaefer (14:35.3).

“It was a pretty tough race,” Daselar said. “I held back in the beginning. There were a lot of really competitive runners. But I felt strong and once I got the lead, I felt really good.”

Faith Lutheran’s Chase Wood (14:47.5) was third, followed by Green Valley’s Derrick Sumner (15:11.8); and Palo Verde’s Noah Landers (15:19.0).

Green Valley won the freshman boys title with 50 points, besting Palo Verde (69) and Coronado (72).
Kate Vanderstelt of Palo Verde led wire-to-wire to take the freshman girls race in 18:31.8. Shadow Ridge’s Daytona Whittemore was second in 18:38.6.

“I felt good; I was happy with what I did,” Vanderstelt said. “I felt comfortable, within myself. It’s been a good season so far.”

Green Valley’s Jayda Knemeyer (18:50.4) finished third, and Cimarron-Memorial’s Marieta Wright (19:00.0) and Liberty’s Elizabeth Noel (19:02.5) rounded out the top five.

Whittemore helped the Mustangs win the freshman girls team title with 40 points, edging second-place Palo Verde (49). Green Valley finished third with 86.