NORTH COUNTY — Sports are back in the North County, and with each passing day, it seems a new one is kicking off the start of their season. Friday afternoon, at Atascadero High School, the Greyhounds and Bearcats dove into swim season with a friendly dual meet to knock the rust off. While swim is just beginning its season, other sports like tennis and cross country are nearing some important games in their league schedule.
North County Football teams have begun holding practices and weekend two-a-days as they prepare for a shortened season of around five or six games. Track and field, baseball, and softball will also be returning to the field soon as local high schools will soon be full of athletes from sun up to sun down as they try and accommodate multiple sports that use the same fields during the spring.
Atascadero High School
The Greyhounds swim team held their first competition of the year on Friday afternoon when they welcomed the Bearcats for a duel meet. Atascadero swam hard, but Paso Robles came out with a victory for both the boys and girls. The Bearcats boys team beat the Hounds 136-13 while the girls won 102-65.
Atascadero’s cross country teams were also in action this past weekend and traveled to Arroyo Grande to face the Eagles. The two teams took on a two-mile course, but in the end, the Eagles took home the victory in both the girl’s and boy’s races.
The Arroyo Grande boys took each of the top five places in the race on Saturday, followed by Atascadero sophomore Kyle Shatwell in sixth place with a time of 10:30.61. Tyson Rigby came in second for the Hounds and eighth overall with a time of 10:38.45.
Faith Rocha was the only Greyhound able to crack the top five against Arroyo Grande and came in fourth with a time of 12:18.41. One of the performances of the day went to freshman Kelsie Rigby who finished seventh and set a personal record with a time of 13:00.80. Rigby was followed by fellow Greyhound Anna Archibald, who finished eighth with a time of 13:05.22.
Kyle Shatwell 
Chelsea Stilts 
AHS Boys Cross Country
Templeton High School
The Templeton Eagles girls tennis team is fully in the swing of things as they have played three matches already this season and are off to an undefeated start. The Eagle girls are 4-0 to start the year after back-to-back victories over the Morro Bay Pirates on Feb 22 and Feb 24.
Not only are the Eagle girls undefeated, but they are also playing at the top of their game and absolutely blowing away all of their competition. Before Thursday’s match, Templeton tinkered with its line up a bit due to Morro Bay being short on players, the Eagles had won 30 of 31 sets and were outscoring their opponents 193- 67. The team is led by
The team is led by no. 1 player Madeline Murray but has six strong players filling out their lineup. Sophia Sanchez is currently playing in the no. 2 position, followed by Ashlyn Miller, Carmen LaCaro, Aida Terrizzi and Ashlyn Janzen.
The Templeton Eagles cross country team is also off to a strong start with a record 2-1 after defeating Mission Prep, 29-35. The Eagles have been led this season by their outstanding freshman Josh Bell who once again came in first place and, for the first time, had someone within shouting distance when he crossed the finish line. Bell finished with a time of 16:25 in the 5000 meters, which broke the school record by one second. The former record was held by Paul Denlinger and was set in 2008.
There was no girls race because Mission Prep does not currently have a girls cross country team.
Ashlyn Janzen 
Josh Bell 
Madeline Murray
Paso Robles High School
The Paso Robles cross country teams bounced back this weekend with a big win over Righetti. Both the boys and girls teams stacked the top ten with runners and won big; the boys defeated the Warriors 18-40 while the girls won 19-42.
The two teams raced on a 3.1-mile course, with Bearcats taking the top spot in both races. The Lady Bearcats were led by Charlotte Castelli, who finished with a time of 19:28.6. Paso Robles took each of the top four places on Saturday, with Sidney Moore finishing second with a time of 20:52.1, followed by Jaden Anguiano (21:06) in third and Sophia Berry (21:40.8) in fourth.
Cameron Leclair paced the boys and cruised to a 30-second victory with a time of 17:31. Righetti’s top finisher Corey Cambell came in second place, followed by a pack of five Bearcats. Diego Ortega (18:07) placed third, followed by Jason Scruggs (18:15.9), Joseph Martinez (18:25.8), Manuel Cruz (18:43) and Tristan Poggi (18:50).
Upcoming
This week the Atascadero and Paso Robles girls tennis teams will face off twice to kick off their season. The Bearcats will host the Greyhounds on Tuesday and will then be on the road on Thursday. The new tennis courts at Atascadero High School are not yet finished but are expected to be completed in the near future.
