Plendcio ends Bulldog cross country career at state
Ramona High School senior Gabe Plendcio concluded his high school cross country career by finishing 29th in the Division III boys race of the CIF state meet at Woodward Park in Fresno on Saturday.
Although Ramona did not qualify as a team, Plendcio qualified for the boys race as an individual and junior Gwendalyn Gibson qualified for the Division III girls race in which she finished 81st.
“I thought they both raced very well,” said head coach Sherri Edwards. “Both went out fast.”
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The boys and girls each utilized a 5,000-meter (3.1-mile) course. The girls race started at 8:30 a.m., and the temperature when Gibson began her race was 48 degrees.
“That was new for her,” Edwards said.
Gibson completed the first mile in 5:49. That was her fastest start ever. Her previous fastest first mile took 6:10. The second mile, which included a hill, took Gibson 6:46 while the final 1.1-mile segment added 6:52 to Gibson’s final time of 19:27.
“She did well,” Edwards said.
The Division III girls race had 191 runners.
“It’s her first time there and I thought she was really competitive,” Edwards said.
The top three teams in each division at the San Diego Section meet, which took place Nov. 21 at Morley Field in San Diego, qualified for the state meet as a team, and the fastest five individuals who were not part of a qualifying team also earned the right to participate at the state meet.
Ramona’s boys finished fifth in the team standings and the Bulldog girls placed eighth, but Plendcio was fourth in the boys race to earn his qualification as an individual while Gibson was the 11th girls finisher and the second-fastest runner from a school which did not qualify as a team. In 2014 Ramona’s boys won the section Division III championship and qualified for the state meet as a team, although Plendcio’s sixth-place finish last year would also have qualified him as an individual. Gibson was the 19th-place finisher in the 2014 section race in which Ramona’s girls placed fifth.
Edwards expects Gibson to return to the state meet in 2016. None of Ramona’s first three finishers at the CIF meet are seniors and a crop of current eighth-graders may allow Gibson to be part of a qualifying team.
“I’m planning on trying to take a girls team next year to state,” Edwards said.
Gibson is also involved in bicycle racing and has not participated on Ramona’s track and field team, but Gibson and Edwards will work with Gibson’s cycling coach to see if Gibson can run some races and possibly set new school records.
“She’s kind of excited to try the 400 and 800 or the mile,” Edwards said.
The temperature had warmed to 53 degrees by the time the boys race began at 9:40 a.m. Plendcio, who set a goal of 5:10 for his first mile, covered that distance in 4:59. He then took 5:16 for the second mile and 5:39 for the final 1.1 miles.
“Gabe ran well,” Edwards said.
Plendcio’s time of 15:54 not only made him the 29th finisher among the 195 Division III boys runners but was also an improvement from his 37th-place time of 16:06 at the 2014 state meet.
“That just caps off a great year for him. Every race I felt he competed to his full potential,” Edwards said.
Although neither Ramona’s boys nor the Bulldog girls qualified as a team, several Ramona harriers traveled to Fresno to support Plendcio and Gibson.
“It was a fun trip,” Edwards said.