By PHIL BARBER
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

HAYWARD — The coaches of the Maria Carrillo and Casa Grande cross country teams were hoping their kids could pull off a rare feat at the North Coast Section Meet of Champions — a one-two finish for the North Bay League in both boys and girls divisions.

They came pretty close, too. The Carrillo boys and girls both claimed section titles in Division 2 on Saturday. The Casa boys finished second, and the girls were third, just nine points behind second-place Alameda.

The bad news for the Redwood Empire: Just one other team, the Piner boys, will be joining all those Pumas and Gauchos at the CIF State Cross Country Championships in Fresno next Saturday.

“I’m feeling really confident,” Maria Carrillo senior Ryan Anderson said. “I think we’re probably going to run our team’s fastest time there. We’re looking to get into the top 10.”