FRESNO — Everything was perfect for the Mountain View High School cross country team Saturday.
The weather was cool and cloudy, perfect to run the California Interscholastic Federation state meet.
The only thing missing was support from family and friends. A few moments before the race, the Spartans saw friends from school who made the 3-hour drive to the Central Valley.
Then the Spartans rewarded their fans by winning the boys Division II race with 98 points.
Garrett Rowe led the Spartans, placing fourth, with teammate Ian Myjer taking sixth.
"You couldn't ask for better conditions," Myjer said.
The two talked prior to the race about finishing in the top five.
"Winning the team title is much better," Rowe said. "It's not that often that you can get a team to perform like we did."
The Spartans, the top-ranked team in the state this year, were favored to win. But that didn't keep coach Evan Smith from worrying.
"A lot of things could have gone wrong," he said. "Someone could have gotten sick or hurt. Everything worked out perfectly for us."
Patrick Schuh finished in 15:45, good for 23rd, with Alex McGuirk (46th in 16:08) and Aubrey Myjler (52nd in 16:10) rounding out the scoring for the Spartans.
"They passed about 30 guys in the last mile," Smith said.
That allowed a comfortable 60-point between the Spartans and second-place Glendora.
The Mountain View was the only area team to take home hardware. But the Spartans' top two finishers weren't the only locals to finish in the top 10.
Palo Alto's Phillip MacQuitty was 10th in 15:23. The Vikings were 12th with 304 points.
Pioneer's Weston Strum was sixth in the Division III race in 15:24, with his brother Nathan 17th in 15:46.
"I was hoping to finish in the top 10," said Weston Strum. "I thought it would be tough."
It didn't start well for Strum, the Central Coast Section champion.
"I was 50th at the first part of the race," he said. "Luckily, the pace slowed down."
Allison Sturges of Mountain View had the fastest time among girls from the area.
She finished 25th in her Division II race in 18:28.
"The first mile went out at 5:30," Sturges said. "I tried to stay with the front pack. But the pack kept spreading out."