Petaluma distance runners strong in opener

Junior Madison Parratt, a state qualifier last year, placed 13th in the small schools girls varsity race and sophomore P.J. Lynch and freshman Danny Marzo led Petaluma to a stunning start in the boys varsity race as the Trojan cross country team opened the 2014 season in the 30th Annual Ed Sias Invitational last Saturday.

The all-day event attracted more than 2,200 runners from 48 teams competing in 11 races.

Parratt, who was running as high as ninth place, passed four runners in the last stretch featuring grueling Finale Hill on the two-mile course at Hidden Valley Park to clock in at 13:28. PHS sophomore Sophia Hospodar, who was on Parratt’s heels late in the race, placed 24th in the field of 106 runners in a time of 13:44 followed by sophomores Emily Herbst (38th, 14:16) and Helena Abbott (44th, 14:53) and junior Alison Roper (58th, 15:36) as the Trojans finished seventh out of 13 teams.

Petaluma’s boys drew the attention of the race’s public address announcer when he announced that the Trojans had four runners in the Top 10 at the first turn in the race.

Marzo, who two years ago starred on Petaluma’s Little League Baseball World Series team, was the surprising leader early in his first-ever high school race.

Lynch eventually passed Marzo and the two crossed the finish line in 40th and 45th place, respectively, in the 120 runner field with times of 11:39 and 11:47, far behind the winning time of 10:08 by Bishop O’Dowd senior Colin Burke. Petaluma juniors Edden Yashar (60th, 12:13), Ty Pearson (68th, 12:19) and Brock Albee (69th, 12:23) rounded out the PHS varsity runners.

The second fastest time recorded by the Trojans on the day (11:46) was by freshman Will Dunbar, who placed 29th out of 213 competitors in the boys frosh/soph race.

In the boys junior varsity limited race, juniors Trygve James (54th, 12:42) and Dakota Tomas (65th, 12:50) were Petaluma’s top two finishers among 176 runners.

In the girls JV race, sophomore Siena Lambert led PHS runners by placing 43rd with a time of 16:07 among 159 competitors. In the girls frosh/soph race, freshman Shelby Metten topped PHS runners, finishing 50th in a time of 15:12. Sophomore Gracie Thomas was the next Trojan competitor to finish (67th, 15:36) in a field of 171.