Santa Rosa’s Hanne Thomsen has some impressive hardware to show off, after winning first place in the CIF Div. III State Cross Country Championship in Clovis.
The first-year runner from Montgomery High School won the North Bay League cross country title to qualify for the state finals. At state, she topped the field with a time of 17 minutes, 37 seconds. She is pictured above with coach Melanie Karpinsky.
Thomsen has been running since the fourth grade, and broke the record for the 1600m at her middle school with a blistering mark of 4 minutes, 51.5 seconds.
For added pride, Thomsen is the great-great-granddaughter of Seijiro Shibuya, one of three students who founded The Rafu Shimpo in 1903.
— Photo courtesy Lily Nakatani