Stanislaus County Distance: WEEK 3 (TVL 1, Sierra Inv, Lowell Inv)

TVL/Southern #1 (Legion Park, Modesto)
Competing StanCo TVL teams are Hughson and Riverbank. Competing StanCo Southern League teams are Denair, Orestimba, and Waterford.
The meet began late because there had been a fire in the park earlier in the day (some of Modesto's finest citizens practicing their pyromania hobby I suppose). I also was surprised to see all of the Southern League teams present (I had never seen XC runners from Denair or Gustine before). Unfortunately I learned that in the future the two leagues will be holding separate meets...I do understand the rationale, but I think it is a loss for both of the leagues (and especially the Delhi boys program).

Husky VG dominating

Let's start with the VARSITY GIRLS. I predicted that the Hughson girls would have 5 runners in the top 8 (and they did exactly that). They (Hughson) started slowly. However by the half way point they were thoroughly in control with six runners in the top seven. Kayla Jacklich (Ripon) appeared to be "the one that got away," as she had a huge lead out in first. But after the 2mi mark Abigayle Mitchell (Hughson) left her team mates in hot pursuit of Jacklich. With 400m left she caught and passed Jacklich to take the victory in impressive "come-from-behind" fashion. On the team side it was a Husky rout.

Abbi showing some intensity

1. Abigayle Mitchell (Hughson) 21:33
2. Kayle Jacklich (Ripon) 21:42
3. Emily Fife (Hughson) 22:00
4. Nora Nash (Escalon) 22:12
5. Kinsey Langley (Hughson) 22:17
6. Arianna Lara (Hilmar) 22:24
7. Esmeralda Campos (Hughson) 22:29
8. Elizette Ysias (Hughson) 22:33
9. Renae Mechuca (Mountain House) 22:34
10. Alondra Hernandez (Riverbank) 23:09
11. Valeria Aguiniga (Riverbank) 23:14
12. Josocelyn Romaro (Waterford) 23:21
13. Jessie Lawrence (Hughson) 23:33
14. Marisol Aguayo (Escalon) 23:37
15. Makeila Hinrichsen (Ripon) 23:39

On the VARSITY BOYS' side I had predicted that Hughson would put 5 runners in the top ten...they did manage 4 in the top six and easily ran to the team title. Surprisingly it wasn't a Husky who took the individual victory but a DELHI RUNNER! That is so cool for that small school program! On another note there were no Riverbank VBs in the top 15...has that ever happened before...ever?

Hughson VB pack

1. Andrew Vasquez (Delhi) 18:18
2. Christian Lee (Hughson) 18:28
3. Josue Esquivel (Hughson) 18:29
4. Jaymie Jackson (Hughson) 18:30
5. Zack Gardner (Escalon) 18:34
6. Carson Boice (Hughson) 18:38
7. Samuel Fletcher (Escalon) 18:41
8. Eddy Calderon (Escalon) 18:44
9. Brandon Hagood (Delhi) 18:49
10. Luis Munoz (Ripon) 18:55
11. Christian Pelaez (Ripon) 19:01
12. Dalton Santiesteban (Hughson) 19:08
13. Rex Robbins (Escalon) 19:23
14. Gabriel Romero (Escalon) 19:29
15. Tim Cribbet (Ripon) 19:30

PHOTOS and RESULTS

SIERRA INV (Legion Park, Modesto)
For me, this meet always marks the true beginning on the Fall XC season. As the years have progressed more and more local teams either shy away from this meet or don't enter their top athletes. With all that said their always are some solid marks posted at this meet.

Turlock VG team

For the Varsity Girls Turlock continues to impress as a team. They finish second out of 23 teams and are still missing their #2 runner.
1. Pleasant Grove 59; 2. Turlock 86; 6. Oakdale 182; 7. Pitman 205; 16. Patterson 475; 17. Ceres 489; 18. Modesto 501; 20. Central Catholic 548; 23. Central Valley 622

Fredeen and Legan with Perry in the background

1. Rachel Victor (Pleasant Grove) 19:11
8. Maria Varela (Turlock) 20:45
11. Kayden Legan (Oakdale) 21:07
14. Adelae Fredeen (Turlock) 21:17
20. Sofia Andres (Turlock) 22:11
21. Macie Ericksen (Turlock) 22:13
23. Megan Drew (Turlock) 22:16
24. Kristen Aguilar (Oakdale) 22:16
27. Mikayla Perry (Pitman) 22:23
32. Jazmine Martinez (Oakdale) 22:32
34. Jaecelyn Romero (Waterford) 22:47
35. Dalina Holmes (Pitman) 22:55
36. Priscilla Bazan (Pitman) 22:56
40. Kendra Branch (Oakdale) 23:01
48. Sarah Siegel (Pitman) 23:38

Oakdale VB team

On the VB side Oakdale had the best local team showing (and the was even without 2 of their top 7).
1. Willow Glen 29; 4. Oakdale 172; 7. Pitman 231; 12. Turlock 313; 16. Ceres 443; 18. Central Catholic 466; 19. Patterson 473; 21. Central Valley 530; 24. Modesto 707; 25. Waterford 715

Bosquez and Virgen

1. Zach Walker (Willow Glen) 16:17
10. Tomas Virgen (Patterson) 17:06
11. David Bosquez (Turlock) 17:27
15. Anthony Vasquez (Central Catholic) 17:34
19. Justin Crescenti (Oakdale) 17:38
21. Andy Rojo (Central Valley) 17:48
22. James Forkner (Oakdale) 17:49
36. Kristian Robles (Pitman) 18:23
38. Josh VanAllen (Pitman) 18:25
40. Josh Tasho (Pitman) 18:29
41. Cesar Garcia (Oakdale) 18:30
42. Cameron Hyde (Oakdale) 18:31
49. Cade Middaugh (Oakdale) 18:46
55. Russell Pabalan (Oakdale) 18:53
56. Christian Linarez (Ceres) 18:53
58. Ethan Collins (Pitman) 18:55

RESULTS

PHOTOS (F/S and JV)
PHOTOS (Varsity)

LOWELL INV (Golden Gate Park, SF)
Competng StanCo schools were Gregori, Beyer, Grace Davis, and Hughson. This meet is certainly a cooler (temperature and destination) when compared to the Sierra Inv. For some schools this is their big travel event of the season. The competition is extremely strong as it draws in most of the top schools from around the Bay plus a sprinkling from the Valley and beyond.

Gregori VBs at Lowell--photo credit: Karen Reeves

VARSITY BOYS
Gregori and Hughson are two of the top boys' programs in StanCo. They seldom run on the same course on the same day. In this meet they ran in the same section was a direct comparison could be made. Hughson was missing one of their top five runners, but with or without him, Gregori would have and did get the better of the racing on this day. There were two VB sections (that were fairly evenly split competition-wise). Gregori finished 2nd in their section and 4th overall out of 65 total teams. Hughson was 16th in the the same section; Beyer was 19th; Davis was 31st. Hughson was missing Christian Lee who would have probably knocked about 100 pts off of their total score, which still would have placed them well behind Gregori.The Varsity races were 2.93 miles.

Hughson VBs at SF after Lowell Inv--photo credit Joel Bernard

8. Santiago Ruiz (Gregori) 15:31
13. Mason Reeves (Gregori) 15:39
27. Sebastian Croncite (Gregori) 16:04
35. Matthew Marsh (Gregori) 16:21
36. Carson Boice (Hughson) 16:22
46. Hunter Reeves (Gregori) 16:31
53. Andrew Anderson (Beyer) 16:37
55. Jose Esquivel (Hughson) 16:38
62. Jared Bingham (Beyer) 16:47
68. Jaymie Jackson (Hughson) 16:57
95. Roman Franzia (Gregori) 17:18
98. Eddie Charles (Beyer) 17:21
100. Daniel Turn (Gregori) 17:24
113. Daniel Torres (G Davis) 17:37
119. Dalton Santiesteban (Hughson) 17:42

VARSITY GIRLS
A direct comparison between Gregori and Hughson didn't materialize on the lady's side of the competition as Gregori split up the top athletes over different divisions. The Husky Ladies ran well and placed 4th in their section and tied for the 9th best team effort when the two sections are combined.

Hughson VGs at Lowell--Photo credit Joel Bernard

1. Rylee Bowen (Sonma) 17:03
25. Abigayle Mitchell (Hughson) 19:00
34. Emily Fife (Hughson) 19:22
38. Esmeralda Campos (Hughson) 19:29
46. Kinsey Langley (Hughson) 19:43
50. Elizette Ysias (Hughson) 19:56