Rachel Shimabukuro, above competing in the Central Coast Section Championships at Crystal Springs in Belmont, recorded an 18:51 at the section meet to advance to the state championships.
Even though it was her senior year, Rachel Shimabukuro didn't experience the "sophomore slump."
Not even a blip on the cross country radar two years ago - she didn't compete during her freshmen and sophomore seasons - the San Benito harrier qualified to state as a junior after a two-year absence from the sport, then did it again as a senior just last month after she recorded an 18:51 at the Central Coast Section Championships.
Not surprisingly, San Benito head coach Josh Morales wouldn't mind two more years of his cross-country star, the team's top runner and The Weekend Pinnacle's most outstanding girls fall athlete.
"She led by example and ran really good for having only two years under her belt," Morales said. "Most runners have two to three years just to get their times up. People weren't watching her as a junior, but she did awesome."
Shimabukuro hadn't ran cross country since the eighth grade when she made her triumphant return her junior season. Coupled with state-qualifier Courtney Allen that year, the two Lady Balers trekked all the way to state, where Shimabukuro recorded her best time of the year - a 19:35 at Fresno's Woodward Park.
"I'm constantly trying to get up to the point where she was," Shimabukuro said of Allen, who graduated from SBHS in June and runs cross country for the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. "It had a big effect on me, to have someone (like Allen) to compare myself to."
And Shimabukuro's success only carried over to her senior year. Without the running services of Allen along beside her, the senior harrier needed less than half a season to eclipse her PR when she clocked a 19:33 during a dual meet with Gilroy in September.
"My junior year, I was really surprised I made [state]," said Shimabukuro, who stressed the difficulty of returning to the sport after two years off. "I was expecting to barely make the JV team.
"My senior year was a little different and I had a better sense of what I was doing, even though I think I missed the first week or two of practice."
Trying to balance school, work and sport, Shimabukuro missed two weeks of practices at the start of the season, but didn't appear to lose a step after she recorded a 19:52 at her very first meet - the Chieftain Classic on Sept. 19.
"I wish I would have ran for four years," Shimabukuro said. "Even though I didn't, it's still OK ..."
Who knows what her times would have been then?
In just her second year of competitive running, Shimabukuro finished her senior season with a personal-record time of 18:51 at the CCS Championships in Belmont to take eighth place overall. Although she was disappointed with her 19:26 at state just two weeks later, even if it was an improvement over last year's time, it is difficult to hang your head after qualifying to the exclusive state meet two years in a row.
"I was pleased, pretty pleased with my year," she said.
"I would have liked to have been at least 30 seconds better than last year. I was expecting to improve more than I had done. But overall, I'm happy with my season."
As of right now, Shimabukuro plans on attending Hartnell College in Salinas next year, with the hope of eventually transferring to somewhere in Southern California. But San Benito coach Jess Morales said Shimabukuro is getting looks from other colleges, even a few serious ones from schools in San Francisco.
"There's quite a few teams wanting her," Morales said. "She definitely has it. She only has two years of cross country, but I think she's gonna have a good track season, too.
"She's young, she's gonna get better, and it's her decision how good she's gonna be."
Andrew Matheson Andrew Matheson is a sports writer for South Valley Newspapers. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 334 or at amatheson@svnewspapers.com.
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