(Originally Published October 1, 2024)
The Pacific Grove Cross Country team began their official season on August 28th by competing in the Brian Rogers Jamboree hosted on the York School campus. Among the 104 boys competitors from a variety of local schools, runners Antony Gabrik (11), Betinho Zunguze (10), and Tadeo Ortiz (11) took 5th, 10th, and 11th places respectively, while Nika Berezina (10) came in at 4th place among 54 competitors in the girls’ race. Regarding the start of the season, second-year coach John Gabrik remarked, “There’s a fair amount of energy this year, a lot of new athletes, and some pretty intense workouts early in the season that will hopefully pay off later”.
A lot had happened since the end of Cross Country’s 2023 season. For example, the Breakers’ track team had won a league title for the boy’s and girl’s teams, a prize many cross-country runners had shared, and the team learned that their division had undergone realignment. As the school year ended, Coach Gabrik strived to keep his team in shape by coordinating group runs and practices three times a week starting in the first weeks of June. In addition, toward the end of July, the team embarked on a six-day camp with Runner’s Workshop in Yosemite National Park.
The camp was remembered as a great bonding experience for the team. Team captain Tony Gabrik (11) reflected on the camp by stating, “It was valuable training for the team, and it also showed how fun running can be–even if the (out-of-running) camp activities were the best part”. Nika Berezina (10) added, “The food was great as well”. While there, the team enjoyed the outdoors, difficult workouts, and activities such as a “casino night”. The Breakers also got to know other teams throughout the state such as the Napa High School team whom they became pretty close. About the camp, Coach Gabrik commented, “Hopefully we started a tradition (of going to camp) that can be replicated for a long time”.
After York, the Breakers’ next meet was on September 7th at the Jackie Henderson Invitational in Castroville. The event was much larger than previous meets attended by PG with around 47 teams compared to the York Invitational’s 10. In the Frosh-Soph races, Sophomores Betinho Zunguze and Nika Berezina finished eighth and seventeenth in their respective events.
Most recently, on September 18th, the team had their first league meet at the Palo Corona course in Carmel. In the varsity boys’ competition, the Breakers won the top position handily against second and third-place finishers GB Kirby and Soledad. Junior Antony Gabrik got first place, while runners Betinho Zunguze, Tadeo Ortiz (11), Milo Nothnagle (11), Aidan McFarland-Walton (10), and Jonah De Leon (10) all fell within the top fifteen, in second, fourth, ninth, twelfth, and fifteenth places respectively. Additionally, Nika Berezina claimed a second-place finish in the varsity girls’ race.
