Submitted photo – The St. Bernard’s girls soccer team.

By Ray Hamill — A pair of Eureka Loggers closed out the H-DNL cross country season with big performances this past weekend, and that earns them the nod for this week’s athletes of the week.

And they weren’t the only Loggers to impress this past week.

On Friday afternoon, the Eureka girls soccer team continued its remarkable run of success in the North Coast Section playoffs, winning a fourth straight section championship in the Division-1 bracket.

Equally impressive, the St. Bernard’s girls soccer team also continued its recent run of dominance in the NCS playoffs, winning a fourth section crown in five seasons.

And that makes both of them our co-teams of the week.

Sophomore Claire Gast capped a hugely impressive run through the H-DNL cross country season with another big performance in the league championships, which were held at the Arcata Marsh on Saturday.

The sensational sophomore won for the sixth time in six league races in the league finale, taking home a league championship for her school.

And she saved the best for last, setting a new PR for a 5K course and comfortably out-distancing the field.

And she wasn’t alone.

In the boys race, her senior teammate Everett Docherty also won a league championship and also saved his best for last.

The experienced senior, who has been among the top runners in the H-DNL for the past few years, also set a PR on the way to the win.

Claire Gast

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

Claire Gast, Eureka Cross County, Sophomore

Everett Docherty, Eureka Cross Country, Senior

Gast has enjoyed an outstanding season and she not only won all six league races she competed in this year, but she did so by a sizable margin each time.

It’s been a remarkable fall for the young Loggers standout and she should only continue to improve over the next couple of years.

Gast finished in a time of 20 minutes, 47.9 seconds, which was more than a minute faster than the second-placed runner.

Docherty also impressed on his way to victory, which was his second win in the last four H-DNL races.

The standout senior finished in a time of 16:03.2, although it was a much tighter finish than in the girls race, with the second-placed runner just eight seconds back.

For more on the two Eureka standouts and their big week, see Eureka duo crowned league champs; Tigers take team titles …

The Eureka girls soccer team

TEAMS OF THE WEEK

Eureka Girls Soccer

St. Bernard’s Girls Soccer

The H-DNL girls teams have dominated the NCS in recent years, and even considering the diluted nature of the section fall soccer brackets it’s still a noteworthy achievement nonetheless.

The Eureka girls defeated Fortuna 2-1 in their championship game, with Grecia Ortiz netting the decisive goal late in the game.

There were several standouts for the Loggers, none more so than influential seniors Paige Rodgers, Lorena Hernandez and Angelina Conant, who became the first-ever athletes in H-DNL history to win four NCS winners medals in the same sport during their high school careers.

The Crusaders were just as impressive in the Division-3 tournament, securing a pair of road wins against higher seeds on their way to the championship.

The SB girls defeated top-seeded Mendocino 2-1 win in the final, and just like with the Loggers there were several standouts in the victory, including standouts Sahara Tupua, Eliana Sellars, Alyssa Boham and Amber Smith, each of whom enjoyed big seasons with the team.

Interestingly, both NCS championship teams were led by first-year head coaches, Melania Valdez of Eureka and Jeff Sellars of St. Bernard’s.

For more on the Eureka girls’ big win, see Eureka girls prove the doubters wrong, win fourth straight NCS …

For more on the St. Bernard’s girls’ big win, see St. Bernard’s girls continue their remarkable NCS success …