Nighthawks girls cross country fighting back for No. 1 spot

Del Norte cross country coach Chris Jacobs was asked if his girls, ranked No. 4 in the section this week, were the best team in school history.

Jacobs chose his words carefully.

“This could be the best,” said Jacobs, emphasizing the word ‘could.’

Consider that the Nighthawks are the three-time defending Palomar League and San Diego Section Division 1 champions.

“We’re a little banged up right now,” said Jacobs, “this team will really have to work to be the best.

“For three years we had no adversity, we were super deep. When someone had a bad day, there were always several runners who could, and did, pick them up, so no one noticed.

“This year is different. Our top group is very good, but our 7-to-11 runners will need to improve — and I’m confident they can.”

A little banged up? How about the team’s No. 1 runner, junior Eliza Hong, not having run yet this season after suffering a foot stress fracture at the end of track season.

Hong is the defending league champion, the third place finisher from the 2024 section championship meet, and 20th place finisher at state.

“She’s running, just not racing,” Jacobs said. “She’ll be who she’s supposed to be when she comes back, but our timetable for her is fluid. She’s well into rehab and she’ll try to come back when she’s ready.

“Our girls are established, surprises won’t happen, but I’ll admit that losing to Mt. Carmel and Poway at the Ravens Invitational was a wakeup call. These girls have never lost in league or CIF, which can be good or bad. Good because they run with great confidence but bad because since they’ve never known adversity, they may have to run with a different mindset.”

Del Norte was ranked No. 2 in the section heading into their first cluster meet last Saturday, behind only Scripps Ranch, which is a Division 2 school, like Mt. Carmel. The Nighthawks were just ahead of Poway, which is the team that could well put an end to their league and CIF dominance.

In the cluster meet, the Nighthawks took care of business, finishing second to Mt. Carmel 40-49 while topping Poway, 49-65, but slipped behind Mt. Carmel and Point Loma in the rankings.

The Nighthawks are led by current No. 1 Addison Shannon and No. 2 Lilah Enyedi and Jacobs expects they’ll continue to lead the way as they have the last three years.

Sophomore Olivia Bartolay, last year’s big find as a freshman, has settled in at No. 3 with Samhita Legisetti, Diem Schneider, Savannah Harpster and Baylee Mrazek running solidly behind them.

Unlike previous years, though, there is little movement among the top seven with five seniors manning those spots. Harpster also plays tennis in the fall and Mrazek is really just in her second season of running.

The huge movement comes weekly in spots 8 through 11 where there are four runners who any week could challenge for a Top 7 spot but do not have the experience and confidence three championship seasons brought the others.

“They are anywhere from 15 to 30 seconds behind the others,” said Jacobs. “By the end of the season any one of them could be in the top seven, but right now they haven’t given us the depth we almost took for granted all those years.

“Physically, they’re fine but they’re not mentally ready — yet.”

Enyedi and Mrazek are the team captains and Jacobs says they two have done everything they’ve been asked to do.

But those numbers that gave them a buffer in previous years, just aren’t there, which Jacobs admits puts a little more pressure on him to put the right runners in the right places.

“I think we’ll be fine because the top seven runners have experienced league, section and state championship meets, so they know what it takes,” he said. “For once we’re looking closely at the two league cluster meets, which are 25 percent each leading into the league championships which are 50 percent.

“The Cluster meet (Saturday) was a stepping stone. Traditionally, we run best at the end of the season but we’re not where we want to be. I was not unhappy.

“It’s a different feeling but the ability is there.”