After a long wait, Beckman and Foothill cross country runners among first to compete

Boys teams from Foothill (dark uniforms) and Beckman were the first to compete on Saturday at Beckman. (Photos courtesy Beckman athletics)

It was a big day Saturday for cross country runners at Beckman and Foothill high schools as they headed to an-campus course at Beckman in Irvine for one of the first meets of the season in Southern California.

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High school athletics have been shut down since the middle of last March due to the coronavirus pandemic but officials with the California Department of Public Health and the CIF gave the OK for cross country to begin under safety protocols.

The lifting of the Southern California stay at home order made it possible for cross country to start even though Orange County is in the most restrictive purple tier.

Under sunny skies, athletes from the two teams were able to compete in a meet for the first time. The start of the season has been delayed since the fall.

“Our administration and district personnel were anxious to have our kids get out and compete once the stay at home order was lifted,” said Beckman boys athletic director Steve Fischel. “So it was just a matter of putting together the course and having everything set up properly so that we felt we could do it the right way.”

The athletes were excited to be competing for the first time this season, Fischel said.

‘They loved it,” he said. “They enjoyed the course itself and were just grateful they had the opportunity to compete and run against somebody other than their teammate,” Fischel said.

No spectators were allowed and the three-mile course was held on the spacious Beckman campus, beginning and ending on the school track. The meet was limited to coaches, administrators and athletes, Fischel said. The boys race started at 7:45 a.m.

“There were three loops, fortunately we ran it on a Saturday, so we could close off the parking lot,” Fischel said. “Part of the course was through the parking lot and all portions of our athletic facilities.”

In the boys meet, Beckman defeated Foothill 22-34 (in cross country the team with the lowest score wins) behind a solid performance by senior Joshua Schuld, who took first shattering the school record (14:53) in a time of 14:28.1.

Zeid Hussain of Beckman was second (14:44.7), Grant Sweningson of Foothill was third (14:53.9), Zachary Blum of Beckman was fourth (15:33.4) and Isaiah Duport of Foothill fifth (15:46.30.

Foothill won the girls meet 26-30 but Beckman junior Estella Knobbe took first in 18:04.8. Emma Silves of Foothill was second (18:08.1), Sophia Dudley of Foothill was third in 18:11.8, Courtney Copeland of Foothill was fourth in 18:14.5 and Joy Weber of Beckman was fifth in 18:20.1.

All safety guidelines were being followed and under state and CIF guidelines, athletes are not required to wear masks during their competition, Fischel said.

“There were typical check-in procedures for the athletes with their coaches just to make sure health procedures were being followed,” Fischel said. “Kids were wearing masks at the starting lines and taking them off right before the gun was being set off and then they were putting masks on as soon as they crossed the finish line. The coaches did an exceptional job of making sure their kids were prepared for how things were going to go and being able to actually follow through all on it.

“It was really competitive and a lot of fun for the kids regardless of the outcome our results and obviously in a few weeks, we’re going to see the kids improve greatly once they’ve had a chance to settle in.”

Cross country is the only sport allowed to compete at this time. The start of other sports depends on whether counties have reached specific tiers.

-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com