Sports
Albany High Cross Country Wins NCS Title, Advances To State Meet
Albany junior Sean Morello won Saturday's NCS Div. IV race. Senior Sophia Nordenholz placed second for the girls' team, which placed fifth.
ALBANY, CA — Sean Morello has taken Albany High into uncharted waters.
The junior cross country standout led the Cougars to their first state meet appearance in program history after they upset Archie Williams of San Anselmo (Marin County) Saturday to win the North Coast Section Division IV championship Saturday at Hayward High School.
The NCS champions will compete as a team at Saturday’s state meet for the first time since Craig Stern became Albany’s head coach 12 years ago. It is the first time Stern is take a team to the state meet in his 27-year coaching career (he's gone to the state meet with 15 runners who qualified as individuals).
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Morello placed first individually in the Division IV race, running the three-mile course in 15 minutes, 16.3 seconds, and teammate Lucas Cohen (15:31.5) placed third, leading all sophomores.
Senior Sophia Nordenholz (16:33.6) placed second to lead Albany’s girls’ team to a fifth-place finish.
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The state meet will be held at Woodward Park in Fresno. The boys’ Division IV race is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. and the girls at 10 a.m.
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