OPINION: Cross Country is College Prep's Best Sport

By Andrew M. '27

Shot by Mike Chan

As a cross-country runner, I have often heard other athletes say, “Your sport is our sport’s punishment!” While this may be true, the sport in question, Cross country, just cemented itself as arguably College Prep’s best sport. 

Over the last few years, it has been quite clear that the College Prep cross country teams have been pretty strong–or at least increasingly improving. This year, College Prep swept BCL league titles, winning both JV Boys and Girls races and both Varsity races. The JV Boys’ team was led by Nathanel Lee ‘27, followed by freshmen Sam Prateepvar, Beckett Ragasa, Loup Daubet, Elliot Sweet, Alan Fairbairn, and sophomore Emiliano Paredes-Ortiz. The JV Girls team was especially impressive, taking the top 7 spots in the race and scoring the lowest possible score, 15 points. The team included Vera Petajisto ‘29, Meda Borghei ‘27, Desiree Bauer ‘26, Mikaela Ho ‘29, Norah Huang ‘28, Aanya Bakhru ‘29, and Kristen Ho ‘27. 

Onto varsity: 

For some context on the boys' team, they qualified for state in 2022 and 2023 (winning the NCS title in ‘23) before a shockingly disappointing performance in 2024. In 2024, all the cross-country pundits had CPS as a shoo-in for the State qualification, but unfortunately, the boys' team was 1 point away from qualifying. This disappointing performance was tragic for two reasons: most obviously, the team (which had the potential of being the men’s fastest team in school history) had not made state. The second reason was less apparent, but still on everyone’s minds: qualifying in 2025 would be much harder without three seniors: Emiya Rendall-Jackson, Saahil Bakhru, and Renzo DiGrande. The loss of these three vital runners meant that the boys' team would need to push if they wanted revenge for not making state the year before. In 2025, Cross Country Express consistently ranked the boys team as a bubble team, unsure about CPS’s chances of making it to Fresno. The entire season had been building up to one day, one race, one last spot to state. The team consisted of Isan Skarbinski ‘26, Kai Savage ‘26, Noah Petajisto ‘27, Aiden Fong ‘27, Andrew Martinovsky ‘27, Zane Vigus ‘27, Alejandro Benito ‘29, and Sasha Berek-Collier ‘27 as the alternate. Many on the team had faced injuries and illnesses affecting members at the last moment, as Sasha Berek-Collier stepped up in Zane Vigus’ place because of lingering injuries. 

The girls’ team had not been to state since 2022, and going into this season, they knew they were strong enough to claw their way back to Fresno. The team charged into the season with incredible motivation and new teammates. In the first BCL Meet at College Prep’s hilly home course, Joaquin Miller Park, the ladies beat our rivals, Head Royce, by a mere 2 points. The girls knew that the last spot at NCS was in contention between them and the Jayhawks, so they began training harder and locking in on improving their small gap over Head Royce. At BCL 2 at Crab Cove, the girls’ lead slightly increased with CPS at 34 and Head Royce with 39 points. Still, the difference was way too small for comfort. At the penultimate meet, BCL 3 featuring the Athenian school’s hilly campus, the girls crushed their opponents and scored 26 points over Athenian’s 44, and Head Royce’s 103. Their work was paying off, and in the championship meet once again at Crab Cove, the girls sailed their way to victory with 26 points over Head Royce’s 35. The NCS race was a nailbiter; the girls went through the first mile in 5th place–exactly where they had to be to make the state meet- but at the second mile, they had fallen to sixth, with Head Royce taking their spot. Their last mile proved to be fatal for the Jayhawks, and the girls reclaimed that fifth spot, punching their ticket to state. This team was comprised of Sophie Martin ‘28, Katelyn Roberts ‘26, Sophie Dapice ‘26, Enna Gerking ‘28, Nadja Skarbinski ‘28, Eliza Ballard ‘27, and Lucy Meyer-Resnik ‘28. 

Because of both teams’ grit and determination, they pushed their way through the North Coast Section and made College Prep one of only seven schools across all divisions to send both teams to State. In Fresno, the girls’ team placed 7th, and the boys 16th, marking the end of a hard, but wildly rewarding season. (un)officially making Cross Country College Prep’s best sport.