Last year around this time, Aptos senior Maya Schiro was preparing for her trip to the California Interscholastic Federation State Cross Country Championships as the lone runner on the girls’ team.
That won’t be the case next week.
Schiro and her teammates will all make the trek this time around as the Mariners qualified as a team following an outstanding performance at the Central Coast Section Championships on Nov. 15.
Schiro placed third in the Division IV race in 17 minutes, 48 seconds on the grueling 2.95-mile course at Crystal Springs in Belmont, helping Aptos finish second as a team with a score of 54 points.
Scotts Valley junior Hanna Shehorn won the race in 17:36.9, outpacing teammate senior Ava Decleve (17:46.7) in second while helping the Falcons secure a fifth consecutive D-IV title.
“It felt like any other race this season,” said Schiro, referring to her earlier battle against Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League rival Scotts Valley. “I love racing against [Shehorn and Decleve].”
Schiro, who committed to run at Chico State next year, set a personal best mark by 24 seconds with her third place finish at Crystal Springs.
“I feel like I’ve been improving a lot, just throughout the season,” she said. “And I’ve stayed injury free, it’s been really good.”
The Culbertson sisters—junior Kenzie (19:11.5) and freshman Pierce (19:11.5)—finished side by side in fifth and sixth, respectively, for the Mariners.
Teammate junior Mata Overby (19:34.5) took 12th, while junior Bella Hartnett (21:05.6) placed 38th. Junior Olive Hooker (22:28.1) placed 58th for Aptos, which was edged by Scotts Valley by two points for the D-IV team championship.
“Very pleased with their performance,” Aptos head coach Dan Gruber said. “I wish we could have done it, but I know at State we’re aiming for top 5.”
Next up, the CIF State Championships at Woodward Park in Fresno on Nov. 29.
On the boys side, Aptos senior and SCCAL individual champion Brady Bliesner took fifth in 16:03.7 to punch his ticket as an automatic qualifier into the CIF State finals.
“It’s pretty rough, today wasn’t exactly my day but I’ll take a fifth [place finish] any day,” he said. “It was a crazy race.”
Carmel junior Jasper Bolante won the race in 15:42.9, followed by Half Moon Bay junior Alex Sukhorukov (15:57.3) in second, Santa Cruz junior Nico Van Der Meer (16:00.7) in third and El Camino junior Dylan Bullentini (16:01) in fourth.
“I honestly wanted to go for the win, props to Jasper,” Bliesner said. “Should have gone with him, because he played it really smart. Get out fast and kind of take it from the beginning, which was really smart.”
The Mariners placed sixth as a team with a score of 154. Mills won the D-IV title with a score of 91, followed by The King’s Academy (101) in second and Riordan (129) in third.
Aptos junior Sam Hansen (16:53.6) placed 26th, followed by freshman Zachary Fitch (17:16.3; 41st), junior Anthony Sandford-Carroll (17:17; 42nd), freshman Enzo Farrar (17:45.6; 65th) and senior Sean Mullen (17:49; 67th).
Gruber said he was a bit disappointed for Hansen, who is still trying to get back to full speed after recovering from an illness, for not being able to extend his season for one more week.
Bliesner is returning to the CIF State finals, yet it will be bittersweet for him. He said the only reason he was able to go last year was because the Mariners qualified as a team in 2024.
Now it’s up to Bliesner to represent the Mariners at the upcoming CIF State Championships.
“Brady’s got to carry the torch for us, and Brady will,” Gruber said. “He’s had a good second half of the season. He won the league with a very good race.”
Bliesner was coming off a win at the SCCAL Championships at Pinto Lake County Park on Nov. 6. He also had a victory in a league dual meet against Scotts Valley on Oct. 23, and placed 12th at the prestigious Crystal Springs Invitational on Oct. 11.
“Just getting here has been tough,” Bliesner said. “I had a really good summer, which is nice, and training has been good. Fingers crossed, staying healthy. I’m super happy.”
