LAKE COUNTY — In a matchup of No. 1 runners that certainly lived up to its billing and then some, Middletown High School junior Isaac Rascon withstood a furious sprint by St. Helena senior Jordan Reilly down the stretch to win a Coastal Mountain Conference cross country race that took place nearly a year ago today at the Highland Springs Course south of Lakeport.

Until the COVID-19-delayed 2020-21 sports season starts in December, the Lake County Record-Bee will take a look back at the high school happenings of a year ago and the teams and athletes who were making the headlines.

Cross country

Rascon trailed Reilly early in the race but built a small lead over his St. Helena opponent on the back end of 3.2-mile course, setting up a thrilling sprint to the finish line as Reilly closed on Rascon over the final 100 yards. The finish was so close that both runners officially clocked in at 19 minutes, 4 seconds.

Middletown’s Jordan Rego finished third in 20:41, Clear Lake’s Quinn Wynacht nailed down fourth place at 20:49, and Middletown’s Isaiah Diaz was fifth in 21:04.

Middletown won comfortably in head-to-head team scoring with St. Helena, 20-44.

While Middletown’s girls also prevailed in team scoring over St. Helena, the Saints’ Harper McClain ran to an easy win, finishing 3 ½ minutes ahead of her closest pursuer, Brooklyn Huffman of Middletown. McClain, only a junior, went on to win the CIF State Championship in Division 5.

Both of Middletown’s teams – varisty boys and girls – later clinched undefeated North Central League I pennants, continuing the school’s league domination.

Volleyball

In a North Central League I varsity volleyball thriller played nearly a year ago today, the host Lower Lake Trojans scored a 25-16, 18-25, 21-25, 26-24, 15-12 marathon victory over the Clear Lake Cardinals behind strong efforts from Samantha Hughes, Jordan Rivera, Shelby Sapeta and Kayla Doud.

Hughes had two momentum-turning blocks in the final game after the Trojans forced a fifth set with a dramatic 26-24 win in the fourth set. Rivera, the Lower Lake setter, had 25 assists and 12 service points, Sapeta finished with eight kills, three aces and 14 digs, and Doud pounded out 12 kills. Joy Ingalls led the Cardinals with nine kills and Emma Boatright added seven more.

Lower Lake improved to 2-6 in league play as Clear Lake fell to 3-5.