Coach John Litzenberg was 1st overall in Sonoma’s annual Vintage Run

John Litzenberg is turning out to be the top runner on the Sonoma Valley cross country team this year: he came in first overall in the 2019 Vintage Festival 12k race, with a time of 46:07. Not bad for a 49-year-old.

The cross-country team he coaches had their most recent interlock meet canceled on Sept. 25, a match-up with Piner at Windsor High, due to the extreme heat. Other sports events were canceled as well, including the Sept. 24 tennis match in Sonoma against Napa (which has been rescheduled to Oct. 7).

The junior boys cross-country runners were up early for the Eye Opener Invite at Petaluma’s Schollenberger Park on Saturday, Sept. 28 – the day before the Vintage Run. The meet was run with separate races organized by class and gender, and the top three for each team counted in the scoring in each race.

“The course was 3 miles on flat trails in the park,” said Litzenberg. “The weather was nice and cool, high 60’s, though there was a blustery wind.”

As a team, the boys came in eighth of 12 teams, top runner for the Dragons was Ryan Hengehold with 18:20.7. Brother Drew Hengehold had a time of 20:18.1, but Christopher Rivas was slightly faster with 20.15.5.

Next local meet for the racing Dragons is Wednesday, Oct. 2, when there’s a VVAL meet at Maxwell Park, beginning at 4 p.m.