It was the last race of the day, so many athletes and spectators had already left Fresno's Woodward Park. But the people who lined the course were loud and spirited in support of Fernandez.
As Fernandez passed the one-mile mark in 4 minutes, 28 seconds, a sportswriter asked if the clock was correct. It was, and he already held a massive 17-second lead over the second-place runner (Mission College Prep-San Luis Obispo's Jordan Hasay had an even bigger lead at one mile -- 22 seconds -- on her way to a Division V girls win). Fernandez looked like he was on an easy jog.
The roar that came from fans at the two-mile mark showed that something special was happening. He crossed that point in 9:12, a time that would win most high school track races at that distance, let alone an up-and-down cross country race.
His face had a strained look -- it was obvious that the next 1.1 miles would not be easy for him. His lead was 47 seconds at that point.
Fernandez crossed the finish line in an astounding 14:24 for the 3.1-mile race. He collapsed one step after the line but almost immediately got up and proceeded through the finish chute. His time would win many college track events at that distance.
Tyre Johnson of Palma-Salinas was more than a minute behind at 15:38, by far the biggest gap between first and second place in California boys state meet history. The previous biggest gap was 43 seconds in the Division IV race in 2002.
Fernandez's time shattered a 21-year-old high school record for the legendary course, which has hosted every CIF state championship meet and also other top-flight invitationals. Marc Davis of San Diego set the previous mark of 14:38 in the 1986 Kinney Western Regionals.
HASAY'S RUN: Hasay was just as dominant in her race. After her mammoth lead at the one-mile mark, she crossed two miles in 11 minutes, a fine track two-mile time. She had a 58-second lead at that point. She finished in 17:05 -- 98 seconds ahead of teammate Annie Mooney.
The time broke Hasay's previous Division V state record and was the sixth-fastest time ever run in the CIF state championships for any girls division.
TEAM TALK: The Monte Vista boys team had never qualified for the CIF state championships before this season.
It took advantage of the opportunity, finishing 10th in the Division I race with 296 points.Bhavik Kanzaria led the way with a 43rd-place finish (16:01), followed by scoring teammates Dustin Harris (78th, 16:21), Mike Roderick (81st, 16:22), Harry Nunns (99th, 16:31) and Clinton McAdams (105th, 16:33).
De La Salle had an incredible 23-second gap between its first and fifth runners, as it earned a fifth-place finish in Division II. Eric Johnson was the Spartans' No. 1 runner in 35th place (16:20). Other scoring teammates were Spencer Sheaff (45th, 16:30), Robb Van Wyck (46th, 16:30), Will Forrester (55th, 16:39) and Matt Savage (65th, 16:43).
DFAL RULES IN DIVISION III BOYS: The Diablo Foothill Athletic League placed four runners in the top nine in the Division III boys race, the best showing by a league in any boys division.
Besides James Attarian's winning time of 15:17, Acalanes' Nate Beach placed fourth in 15:36, Attarian's Dublin teammate Jeremy Grace was eighth in 15:45, and Las Lomas' Greg Drosky was ninth in 15:50.
"That was awesome, NCS being represented. It was cool, showing that we can compete with the Southern guys," Attarian said.
FOOT LOCKER: Attarian is among the local athletes who will be competing in the Foot Locker Western Regionals on Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut. He is entered in the boys seeded race at 11:15 a.m. The girls seeded race is at 10:30 a.m. The top eight finishers in each of the seeded races qualify for the Foot Locker National Finals on Dec. 8 at Balboa Park in San Diego.
The Fall Notebook covers a different high school sport each week. Contact Phil Jensen at pjensen@bayareanewsgroup.com.
