South Coast high school sports return at Dos Pueblos-Santa Barbara cross country meet

GOLETA, Calif. - For the first time since last March, the Santa Barbara area saw a high school sports competition on Saturday.

Dos Pueblos hosted a cross country meet Saturday morning, with Santa Barbara High School the only other school participating.

Boys and girls teams from each school ran a 5,000 meter (3.1 mile) course. All athletes wore masks except for during the races and no spectators were allowed.

 "It feels really good to compete again," said Santa Barbara freshman Blaise Snow, who won the boys competition at 16:36 in his high school debut. "I was very doubtful that we were gonna compete [this year]. But I'm glad that we were. And I think that we've all been pretty safe; we're always wearing our masks, except for when we're running." 

Dos Pueblos senior Ella Kenly finished at 19:57 to win the girls race.

Athletic directors from Dos Pueblos, Santa Barbara and San Marcos were in attendance. Next Saturday, San Marcos and Santa Barbara plan to hold a similar meet on the same course with Dos Pueblos and San Marcos set to compete the following weekend.

Improving COVID-19 case rate numbers could clear the way for more sports competitions to return in Santa Barbara County as soon as this week.