Morro Bay High School’s Boys’ and Girls’ Cross Country Teams pose after their great performances at the CIF Central Section Meet in November. Both teams qualified for the State Finals Meet for the first time since 2008. Neither team took home hardware at the State Meet however one of the girls, Shelby Taylor was fifth and medaled. Pictured back row from left are: Ahti-Veikko Carroll Johnson, Nathan Fuller, Dominic Holst, Lucas McAlpine, Abe Gade, Joaquin Cuellar, Eli Waldman, Cameron D’Aunoy, Owen Meichtry, and Coach Jackie Wilson. Front row from left are: Head Coach Jennifer Frere, Lilith [Lily] Buller, Shelby Taylor, Wendy Wilson, Astrid Barnett-Davis, Phaedra Fernflores, Cecilia Petacci, and Mia Bennett. Photo Courtesy MBHS Cross Country
Morro Bay High harriers, both the boys’ and girls’ teams, qualified for the State Cross Country Championships at the end of November, the first time both teams have made state since 2008.
Morro Bay’s sophomore sensation, Shelby Taylor, was the school’s sole medalist, finishing fifth in the Div. 4 race, held in Clovis at the Woodward Park course.
Taylor led the girls’ team to a 12th place finish overall, as Junipero Serra Catholic H.S. won the D-4 race, scoring just 21 points. All five of Serra’s scoring runners finished in the Top 17.
Taylor ran the course in 17-minutes 57.3-seconds, and broke the school record of 18:05 for the State Meet that was set in 1990 by her coach, Jennifer Frere. She was the top girl finisher among all SLO County schools, according to Coach Frere.
But the coach was also a State Champion back in the day, something that seems well within Taylor’s grasp, given she has two years left in high school.
Of the four runners that finished ahead of her, three are juniors and one is a senior. She would seem to be the cream of the crop among sophomores this year.
Coach Frere said the Top-10 runners in the race win medals. Taylor has built up quite a medal haul in just her first two seasons.
Last year she won the Central Section Div. 4 Championship and was third this year. She fell off the pace at State last year finishing 22nd but still recorded the fastest time a freshman has ever run for Morro Bay. She adds a medal from State this year and has also gotten two Ocean League Championships among her growing list of accomplishments.
The notion that Morro Bay’s talented girls came in 12th is testament to how competitive the world of cross country is in California. The Girls’ Team time is No. 4 on Morro Bay’s all-time team list for the Woodward Park course, Coach Frere said.
Morro Bay’s second runner was another sophomore, Wendy Wilson in 19:22 and 49th place. Her time landed her 13th best all time for Morro Bay High runners in the State Meet.
Junior, Phaedra Fernflores was 100th in 20:23.4; senior Mia Bennett was 108th in 20:36.9; and sophomore, Liliy Buller finished 181st in 23:07.1.
The team’s combined time of 1:41:27 places them as the fourth fastest in school history. The Div. 4 race had 201 runners.
The 2024 State Finals marked the first time the boys’ team has been to State since 2013, Coach Frere said.
The Pirates finished 17th overall in Div. 4, well behind race winners Oaks Christian H.S., which scored just 61 points. Morro Bay scored 444 points in 17th place, but they were just behind rivals McFarland (408 pts). Going into State, McFarland had won the Section Title, but Morro Bay was a close second.
Sophomore, Abe Gade finished 60th for Morro Bay in 16:24.8. “He just missed our Top-10 performers list by one second,” said Coach Frere.
Nathan Fuller was Morro Bay’s next runner in 101st place and 16:48.6. Dominic Holst, a junior, was Morro Bay’s next runner in 17:20.4 and 126th place; followed by Eli Waldman, a senior, who was 127th in 17:22.6. Lucas McAlpine, a sophomore, was 155th in 17:50.8 to round out Morro Bay’s Top-5 scoring runners. Joaquin Cuellar, a junior, also ran for Morro Bay (180th, 18:29.7). There were 204 runners in the Div. 4 boys’ race.
