2026 XC South SJS Distance MidSeason 1 Rankings

Nothing seems to get  my audience's attention like when I post rankings. A few of the comments on the PreSeason rankings were just unpleasant...but my mission is to promote HS distance running, and if this post creates debate and discussion, then it has been successful. Okay so how did I come to these rankings? I looked at the results from the first league clusters; but let's be honest, many of the teams didn't need to go all out. So I focused on the results from 1. Kim Duyst (because the vast majority of these teams and individuals competed there) 2. Woodbridge results. 3. Frogtown results, and 4 cluster meet results. Even using these meets proves challenging as the GV girls ran poorly at Kim Duyst. Certainly some of you won't agree with something in this article. As I have said before, I suggest you use that disagreement to fuel your training...SHOW me how wrong I am. Just as important is the fact that if you are ranked highly, don't let it go to your head...being ranked on this list gets you nothing.

 

BOYS INDIVIDUALS

1. Weston McGhee (Oakdale) beat all South SJS runners at Kim Duyst

2. Yair Gonzalez (Atwater) beat Urteaga, Barajas, and Wilson at Woodbridge and CCC 1 

3. Dominic Urteaga (Golden Valley) Barajas beat him at CCC 1, but the order was reversed at Woodbridge

4. James Barajas (Golden Valley)

5. Ivan Rodriguez (Modesto) beat Wilson at Kim Duyst and won CCAL 1

6. Landon Wilson (Sonora) won TVL 1 but has been slightly injured and lost to 1-5 at Kim Duyst and/or Woodbridge

7. Quinn Baca (Oakdale) beat all those below at Kim Duyst

8. Porter Petty (Turlock) 2nd at CCAL 1 (beat beat Berg, Vargas and Sherman at Kim Duyst)

9. Armando Garcia (Riverbank) won MLL 1 (beat Berg, Vargas and Sherman...at Woodbridge)

10. Lucah Sherman (Atwater)

11. Isaian Vargas (Atwater)

12. Michael Garcia (Atwater)

13. Manny Ruiz (Hughson) 

14. Jorge Hernandez Acala (Patterson) 

15. Asher Berg (Sonora)

15. Gavin Martin (Turlock)

15. Aden Cavanaugh (Oakdale) 

 

BOYS TEAMS

1. Oakdale (beat all South SJS teams at Kim Duyst)

2. Atwater (beat GV at CCC 1 and Woodbridge)

3. Golden Valley

4. Turlock

5. Hughson (the 4/5 ranking is difficult as these team have not run against each other) 

6. Beyer (even shorthanded they beat Sierra, Patterson, and Modesto at Kim Duyst)

7. Sierra

8. Patterson

9. Sonora

10. Modesto/Central Valley/Riverbank 

 

GIRLS INDIVIDUALS

1. Fernanda Cortez (Golden Valley) is undefeated against South SJS competition

2. Anahi Ruiz Velasco (Beyer) beat Hampton at Kim Duyst

3. Eleanor Hampton (Merced)

4. Addison Wylie (Oakdale) beat all but above at Kim Duyst

5. Anna Dittman (Sierra) although Fast beat her at Kim Duyst, she beat Wylie and Fast at VOL 1, and was fastest South SJS runner at Frogtown

6. Chelsea Chavez (Golden Valley) ran porrly at Kim Duyst but really well at Woodbridge

7. Kylie Fast (Oakdale) sqeezed past Carrillo at Kim Duyst and VOL 1

8. Jaylynn Carrillo (Patterson) was injured but is coming on recently

9. Gabriela Hicks (Golden Valley) finished with same time as Carrillo at Woodbridge but ran slowly at Kim Duyst.

10. Roselynn Dominguez (Modesto) was ill to begin the season. Won CCAL 1

11. Taylor Reams (Oakdale) beat all below at KD 

12. Annie Servin (Beyer) beat Thompson and Villa at KD

13. Aubri Villa (Golden Valley)

14. Grace Benitez (Hughson) beat Thompson by a lot at TVL 1 but ran slower than her at Woodbridge 

15. Sadie Thompson (Sonora) 

  

GIRLS TEAMS 

1. Golden Valley (barely beat Oakdale at KD)

2. Oakdale (finished only 8 seconds behind GV at KD)

3. Beyer  (may be the best team but has only run their full team at WAC 1)

4. Hughson (won TVL 1)

5. Turlock (won CCAL 1)

6. Sierra (2nd VOL 1)

7. Gregori (2nd CCAL 1)

8. Hilmar (1st SS at Frogtown, 2nd TVL 1) 

9. Atwater (2nd CCC 1)

10. Riverbank (1st MLL 1)

11. Ripon/Manteca/Orestimba 

 

An Interview with CIF SJS Assistant Commissioner Will DeBoard Regarding Reallignment

Will is a lifelong resident of the Sac-Joaquin Section. He graduated from Hughson High School in 1990, where he played on the school's inaugural soccer team as well as running for the cross country and track and field teams. His athletic claim to fame with the Huskies was scoring a goal during the Loma Prieta Earthquake; his teammates still say the quake and its distraction is the only reason he scored. He moved on to the Modesto Bee newspaper, where he covered high school sports from 1992-2009. During his time at The Bee, Will won state and national awards for his coverage, including multiple citations by California Newspaper Publishers Association and Associated Press Sports Editors as well as the prestigious James Madison Freedom of Information Act Award. He joined the SJS in 2009 as its first Director of Communications and was promoted to Assistant Commissioner in 2017. He serves on the CIF State Editorial Committee and it is his pleasure to serve for our member schools. Two of the sports that he is responsible for are cross-country and track.

1.      1. What were the major reasons for such a drastic realignment proposal?

Over the last eight years – two previous realignments – the vast majority of our schools have brought up that they would like to see football-only leagues. Football is generally the sport that drives the realignment bus, and sometimes schools were placed in leagues because of a strong football program and all of their other sports struggled. Conversely, you don’t want to put a school in the opposite situation, either, where the football team is winning every game via running clock but its other sports are in a competitive situation. By expanding the number of schools within a league and splitting into two tiers, it hopefully puts both sides into a more competitive situation.

2.     2.  Some leagues have been in existence and seemingly thriving for many, many, years such as the TVL. Was any consideration given to keeping those leagues together? And what was the rationale for breaking it up?

Not going to lie, it’s personally upsetting to me that some of the leagues that were eliminated were some with some of the longest and proudest histories in the Sac-Joaquin Section. I grew up competing in the TVL and I’ve always enjoyed watching games of any sport between teams in the TVL. The decision was made in our office to use a more numbers-based system to determine where schools go, and that, in combinations with the expansion of the remaining leagues, meant some leagues were eliminated and some long-time league rivalries were eliminated. Had we gone with the traditional league format, there were still some probably changes to be made; certainly Orestimba has struggled there, but there could have been a possibility that one of the larger TVL schools such as Ripon could have been moved up. The specific structure that was chosen certainly works a little better in the north than the south in the sense that there are a lot more schools in the north to spread the leagues out a little more. In the south, some of the more competitive schools, regardless of enrollment, are in the TVL. Once the leagues expanded, the smaller schools in the south that are highly competitive – the TVL – were going to be placed with schools that are larger.

Plus, realignment has always been a bit of a different animal in the two regions. The South has fewer schools and fewer leagues, so the adjustments in the south (Lodi-Merced) are usually more fine-tuning adjustments. In the north, much larger adjustments are made and it’s somewhat rare for a school to be in the same league for a decade. There’s always a lot more movement in the north than the south.

As this being said, the leagues can name themselves whatever they wish. We’ve already heard that most of the TCAL wants to be named the SJAA and it wouldn’t surprise me if there were a couple changes like that.

3.      3. I believe that on the video it was stated that the “All Sport %” numbers was the primary figure used when grouping teams into leagues and then separating the league into two different tiers (Capital-higher and Valley-lower)…is my understanding of this concept correct?

This is correct. In football-only, the Capital tier is stronger than the Valley tier, while in some leagues, the Capital and Valley were more split by location. Travel plays a larger role in the all-sports side vs. the football-only side, because there are quite a few more contests.

4a. I believe the video said after a year if league members agreed there could be a shuffle between Capital and Valley tiers (ie if Buhach dominated the Valley and Ripon Christian struggled in the Capital they could swap tiers)…am I understanding that correctly?

        This is correct. Schools can apply to make changes between tiers at the two-year point.

4b. I have heard coaches call this two-tier system the “conference model.” They say the the CCS uses this model, but they (the CCS) shuffle tiers by sport every year (or so I am told). Would any shuffling in the SJS be for all non-football sports together or each sport individually? Why?

        Fair statement. The SJS proposed a conference model last year that included conferences of 24-40 schools and they determine how tier leagues within would be separated. This was voted down. These are larger leagues with two tiers within said leagues, but I totally get the sentiment. We’re keeping all non-football sports together, with a couple of exceptions, because our schools did not want to be in different leagues for every sport. They were willing to do it for football because that particular sport brings some unique challenges, and being in the wrong league for football can be dangerous for a team. But there were too many moving parts to separate for every sport. The exceptions I mentioned earlier are for sports such as water polo and tennis. Only some of our schools play water polo, so we’ll have to put those leagues together separately (as we do now). And some of our schools play girls tennis in the fall and boys in the spring, while our smaller schools play coed tennis in the spring. We’ll have to make sure the tennis leagues have the same format.

5a. There was a new qualification model for track that began last year in the SJS. Leagues are assigned a division that in the past was loosely based on enrollment. And then athletes qualify from the league championship meets to the divisional meet…Do you see this process continuing?

          I do. In general, people seemed to like the new postseason setup. Was it perfect? No. But we’ll improve on what was a pretty fun (and long) divisional championship meet at Hughes Stadium. We will assign divisions to each tier and the qualification format will be similar. We don’t know what those divisions are yet, because this realignment proposal isn’t final. Schools are currently making proposals for changes and we have public meetings to address these proposals in December. Once realignment for 2028-32 is finalized, we start working on things like track divisions.

5b. If this process continues, what division do you see a league tier like VOL Valley comprised of (Downey D1, Enochs D1, Patterson D2, Escalon D4, Hughson D4, Ripon D4, and Sonora D4) fitting into?

 

        

 

 

 

  

 

 It really depends on the other tiers and how they look. These will loosely be based on enrollment, so my first thought would be D3. But schools that are currently D3 might be in D2 or D4, so assigning a division now is tricky because it really depends on who else is in that division.

6. I have some very specific questions/suggested changes in the existing plan—please rationalize why the suggested plan is better than my changes…

a. Central Catholic (63.4) swapped with Mountain House (61.3). They have comparable All-Sport % and it would be a better geographic fit for both teams. The biggest complaint I have heard from VOL Capital teams is transportation time to MH. If football is the over-riding issue, then could something be done like with Modesto Christian where CC is in TCAL and MH in the VOL for only football ?

 

         

 

 

 

 

    

 

 We’re trying to go away from all one-offs as much as we can. It would take a very special case for a school’s programs to be in different leagues. Modesto Christian’s boys basketball program is one of the strongest boys basketball programs in all of California. And its other sports compete in the Southern League. That’s a huge difference. It isn’t the same with Central Catholic/Mountain House. But if there were? Yeah, that would be something to consider.

b. Ripon Christian (61.7) swapped with Patterson (64.7). I have heard almost every CCC coach I have spoken to say “poor RC.” The swap would put Patterson back with CCC teams that it was with prior to the last realignment and RC back with 4 of its current TVL teams (keeping a core of the TVL together).

           

 

   Fair statement. I don’t love that placement, either. The travel alone is a bear. Some justification would be that Patterson compiled that score while playing in the D3 VOL while RC is competing in the D5 TVL. But both of those leagues are really great leagues. I remember way back when I was on the other side covering realignment, and a Section official told me that “realignment is a giant puzzle and sometimes, all the pieces don’t exactly fit.” I would not be surprised to see some proposals involving Ripon Christian in this particular realignment.  

c. Delhi (131.4) and Denair (120.5) swapped in the MLL with BVC (93.3) and Riverbank (112.4). This would take the two weakest teams in the MLL Capital and exchange them with two stronger teams in the MLL Valley. It also keeps more of the current MLL together and more of the current SAL together. To an outsider like me it looks like these teams were mixed just for the sake of having them mixed and with no consideration of the All-Sport %.

 

           

 

 

 

 

    

Another fair statement. The thinking there was Denair and Delhi were the most highly-competitive schools in the Southern League while Riverbank and Big Valley were 5^th and 6^th in the MLL. But yeah, personally, I would have flipped those schools. I wouldn’t be surprised that a proposal comes for that.

d. Hughson (79.1) compared to Hilmar (77.4)…it appears to me that Hughson was put into a tougher league (with bigger enrollment schools anyway) and Hilmar was put into a league of smaller schools…but at face value Hilmar has a slightly better all-sport %. Is this a case of football being the major factor?

              That was the gap. As it turned out, one school was going to the VOL while the other was going to be in the MLL. You look at everything there, and Hughson had a much stronger football score (26.7-47.0). What’s the better position there? Hilmar is currently in a league where it’s potentially going to winning a lot of league titles, but not as prepared for the postseason as a school facing tough challenges throughout the second half of the season. Meanwhile, Hughson is in an all-sports tier with three current TVL rivals as well as Patterson – who used to be in the TVL back in the day – and two Modesto schools who don’t appear to be poised to run away with that tier.

I want to finish by saying I appreciate that none of this proposal was done without a lot of consideration. It is a seismic shift from the way things have been done forever. Although I am not a big change kind of guy, I realize that much of what I see could really work. And the only real change in much of it is the name of the league or tier. CCC Valley is still mostly the WAC, CCC Capital is still mostly the CCC, (with my switches) MLL Capital would be the MLL and MLL Valley would be the SAL. VOL is more of an issue…if RC was swapped with Patterson then VOL Valley would mostly be TVL…

2026 XC South SJS Distance Week 5 Preview

 Compared to last week this one will be pretty quiet.

 

WED 9/23 SAL 2 @ Riverbluff Park, Ceres

The competing South SJS teams will be Denair, Delhi, Waterford, and LeGrand

 

It will be interesting to see how the VB battle between Delhi and Denair plays out after how close it was at SAL 1.

 

FRI 9/25 GOLDEN EAGLE INV @ Woodward Park, Fresno

The competing South SJS teams will be Oakdale, Denair, Central Valley, El Capitan, and Patterson

 

 

It will be interesting to see how Oakdale fairs. They have only run twice and there should be some challenging teams. 

 

SAT 9/26 MONTEREY BAY INV @ Toro Park, Salinas

The competing South SJS teams are Big Valley, Buhach Colony, Turlock, and Calaveras.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

SAT 9/26 TRUCKEE INV @ Ponerosa Golf Course

The competing South SJS team is Sonora 

 

SAT 9/26 BELLARMINE-SACRED HEART INV @ Crystal Springs, Belmont

The competing South SJS team is Downey 

 

 

2026 XC South SJS Distance Week 4 Runners of the Week

 With such a busy week (followed by very little action next week), I went heavy with ROW. With that said the selection was still difficult with so many worthy performances.

 

IVAN RODRIGUEZ (Modesto)-- won CCAL 1 in 16:15 which is the fastest time on that course since COVID

 

YAIR GONZALEZ (Atwater)--placed 1st at CCC 1 in 15:18 leading the Falcons to the team win. He also placed 7th at Woodbridge in the Gold Var B race in 14:40.8; the fastest South SJS time at the meet.

 

ELEANOR HAMPTON (Merced)--placed 2nd at CCC 1 in 18:20. She also won the Red Var race at Woodbridge in 17:17. 

 

ANNA DITTMAN (Sierra)--Placed 1st at VOL 1 in 19:18 and 3rd at Frogtown in the VG LS race in 19:11 (the fastest South SJS girl on the day.

  

SEBASTIEN PATERSON (Sierra)--placed 4th at VOL 1 in 17:09. He also has the fastest South SJS time at Frogtown placing 4th in the LS VB race in 16:58

 

BENJAMIN CERNA (Orestimba)--placed 7th in the small school VB race at Frogtown in 17:29 which was a 2:30 improvement from last year.

 

JAMES BARAJAS (Golden Valley)--placed 2nd at CCC 1 in 15:21; Placed 11th in Gold Var B at Woodbridge in 14:46 a 34 sec improvement from last year.

 

DOMINIC URTEAGA (Golden Valley)--placed 3rd at CCC 1 in 15:48; Placed 9th in Gold Var B at Woodbridge in 14:41 a 57 sec improvement from last year. 

 

OTHERS I CONSIDERED

MICHAEL GARCIA (Atwater) had a pivotal roll in Atwater's CCC 1 victory and there team performance at Woodbridge 

CHELSEA CHAVEZ (Golden Valley)--placed 3rd at CCC 1 in 18:51 helping the Lady Cougars to the team win; Placed 71st in Rated Varsity race at Woodbridge in 17:58.4

ENOC REYES (Central Valley)--placed 17th in the LS VB race at Frogtown in 17:40 which was a 1:46 improvement on this course.

ABBY FRASER (Sierra)--placed 14th in the LS VG race at Frogtown in 21:50 which was a 1:12 improvement 

ALYSIA SINCLAIR (East Union)--placed 12th in the LS VG race at Frogtown in 21:15 which was a 1:19 improvement

JADE CARMONA (Orestimba)--placed 2nd in the SS VG race at Frogtown in 20:43.

ARMANDO GARCIA (Riverbank)--won MLL 1 in 16:40.6 which is #4 all time for the course. He also won the White Sr race at woodbridge in 15:32.1 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2026 XC South SJS Distance Week 4 (CCC 1; CCAL 1; MLL 1; VOL 1; Woodbridge; Frogtown; Tom Leikane)

Four league cluster meets, Frogtown and Woodbridge all made for a busy week

WED 9/16 CCC 1 @ Atwater HS, Atwater

The competing South SJS teams were  Atwater, Buhach Colony, Merced, Golden Valley, El Capitan, and Los Banos. The varsity races are 3mi

 

VB

1-ATW 32; 2-GV 34; 3-LB 95; 4-MER 113; 5-BC 123; 6-EC 148

 

Gonzalez and Barajas

1. Yair Gonzalez (Atwater) 15:18

2. James Barajas (Golden Valley) 15:21

3. Dominic Urteaga (Golden Valley) 15:48

4. Lucah Sherman (Atwater) 15:50

5. Isaian Vargas (Atwater) 15:51

6. Isaiah Salvatier (Los Banos) 16:05

7. Manuel Elizarraraz Pedraza (Golden Valley) 16:06

8. Mariano Ibarra (El Capitan) 16:07

9. Michael Garcia (Atwater) 16:11

10. Daniel Valencia (Golden Valley) 16:11 

 

VG

1-GV 19; 2-ATW 51; 3-MER 71; 4-EC 115; 5-LB 116

 

Ortiz Nunez, Hampton, Villa, Hicks, Cortes, Chavez

1. Fernanda Cortes (Golden Valley) 18:07

2. Eleanor Hampton (Merced) 18:20

3. Chelsea Chavez (Golden Valley) 18:51

4. Gabriela Hicks (Golden Valley) 18:59

5. Aubri Villa (Golden Valley) 19:08

6. Katerin Ortiz Nunez (Golden Valley) 19:55

7. Abigail Garcia (Atwater) 20:58

8. Hailey Hurtado (Atwater) 21:14

9. Mariah Yanez (Buhach Colony) 21:19

10. Ilene Aguilar (Atwater) 21:21 

What I found interesting was the ease that GV put five girls in the top six finishers. The Atwater vs Golden Valley battle in the VB race was epic. It was truly the only real "race" that took place the whole day. Scored as a dual meet Atwater would have won 28-29. On a different day the outcome could be reversed.

  

RESULTS

 

PHOTOS varsity

 

WED 9/16 VOL 1 @ Mistlin Park, Ripon

The competing South SJS teams were Mountain House, East Union, Sierra, Manteca, Patterson, Central Catholic, and Oakdale. The varsity races will be 5K

 

VB

1-OAK 19; 2-SIE 56; 3-PAT 76; 4-MH 97; 5-EU 115

 

1. Quinn Baca (Oakdale) 16:55.98

2. Weston McGhee (Oakdale) 16:56.18

3. Aden Cavanaugh (Oakdale) 16:56.63

4. Sebastien Paterson (Sierra) 17:09.19

5. Roman Moreno (Oakdale) 17:20.50

6. Max Perex (Sierra) 17:25.02

7. Jorge Hernandez Acala (Patterson) 17:35.08

8. Ezekiel Perez (Oakdale) 17:37.69

9. Trevor Powell (Oakdale) 17:39.46

10. Thiago Carneiro (Mountain House) 17:44.98 

 

VG

1-OAK 23; 2-SIE 44; 3-MAN 75; 4-MH 104

 

1. Anna Dittman (Sierra) 19:18.36

2. Kylie Fast (Oakdale) 20:08.91

3. Jaylyn Carrillo (Patterson) 20:09.44

4. Addison Wylie (Oakdale) 20:10.37

5. Emma Lynn Hogan (Central Catholic) 20:15.60

6. Tenley Wylie (Oakdale) 20:49.98

7. Taylor Reams (Oakdale) 20:50.03

8. Alysia Sinclair (East Union) 21:35.54

9. Abigail Fraser (Sierra) 21:35.54

10. Avina Harrington (Manteca) 22:22.32 

What I found interesting was that Oakdale rolled easily through both the boys and girls races. I thought the battle for second between Patterson and Sierra would be a lot closer though.

  

RESULTS

  

WED 9/16 CCAL 1 @ TRRP (Legion), Modesto

The competing South SJS teams were Turlock, Pitman, Modesto, Downey, Gregori, and Enochs. The varsity races are 5K

 

VB

1-TUR 28; 2-MOD 55; 3-PIT 69; 4-ENOC 85

 

Martin, Petty, Pimentel, and Rodriguez

1. Ivan Rodriguez (Modesto) 16:12.14

2. Porter Petty (Turlock) 16:31.80

3. Gavin Martin (Turlock) 16:43.99

4. Eli Pimentel (Pitman) 16:56.62

5. Charles Griffin (Modesto) 17:23.63

6. Zayn Hamilton (Turlock) 17:28.56

7. Vince Wu (Enochs) 17:31.53

8. Austin Hall (Turlock) 17:49.38

9. Logan Oliveira (Turlock) 17:50.63

10. Joey Barragan (Turlock) 17:51.46 

 

VG 

1-TUR 31; 2-GRE 46; 3-MOD 69; 4-PIT 81

 

Dominguez

1. Roselynn Dominguez (Modesto) 20:00.63

2. Mylie Olson (Turlock) 20:59.42

3. Evelyn Avalos Amaya (Gregori) 21:10.97

4. Gretchen Nass (Turlock) 21:25.43

5. Edie Leach (Downey) 21:30.00

6. Isabel Richter (Turlock) 22:17.74

7. Joselyn Vasquez Gomez (Modesto) 22:40.15

8. Malaina Gallegos (Gregori) 22:42.78

9. Amrit Kour Sahota (Turlock) 22:48.56

10. Elianna Jigour (Pitman) 23:11.13 

 

What I found interesting was that even short-handed (missing #2) the Turlock girls rolled over the rest of the league...and the Turlock boys were even more dominant. Even with that dominance in the CCAL, they will need to be a lot better to move to State in D1. Ivan Rodriguez' time was the fastest on this course since COVID.

  

RESULTS

 

PHOTOS (FS)

PHOTOS (Varsity) 

 

WED 9/16 MLL 1 @ Jacob Meyers Park, Riverbank

The competing South SJS teams were Riverbank, Big Valley, Linden, Summerville, Bret harte, and Calaveras. 

VB

1-RBK 24; 2-SUM 56; 3-BVC 86; 4-LIN 95; 5-BH 96 

 

Garcia and Whitcomb

1. Armando Garcia (Riverbank) 16:40.54 (#4 all time)

2. Thomas Whitcomb (Summerville) 17:12.35 (#8 all time)

3. Brant Moes (New Geneva) 17:37.90 (#11 all time)

4. Giancarlo Reyes (Riverbank) 17:38.12 (#12 all time)

5. Landon Ponce (Big Valley) 17:41.13 (#14 all time)

6. Amanpal Dhaliwal (Calaveras) 17:57.97 (#19 all time)

7. Yael Montesinos (Riverbank) 18:01.75

8. Spence Osako (Riverbank) 18:20.84

9. Malachi Arnold (Big Valley) 18:25.84

10. Zander Dumas (Summerville) 18:30.13

 

VG

1-RBK 31; 2-CAL 44; 3-BH 74; 4-LIN 86

 

Rael, Golding, and Lee

1. Zuri Golding (Riverbank) 21:06.39 (#7 all time)

2. Josie Rael (Bret Harte) 21:20.90 (#12 all time)

3. Lisa Lee (Calaveras) 21:22.99

4. Lesliee Valdez (Riverbank) 21:52.30 (#17 all time)

5. Abigail Meza (Linden) 22:04.04

6. Kendra McGee (Calaveras) 22:52.86

7. Antoinette Wilkerson (Riverbank) 23:18.29

8. Lillian Faul (Calaveras) 23:20.43

9. Crystal Vigil (Riverbank) 23:27.59

10. Margherita Majer (Riverbank) 23:50.11
 

What I found interesting Riverbank's depth on both the boys' and the girls' side is the real story here. Calaveras girls and Summerville boys have some strong runners but it just wasn't enough to over come the Bruins.

  

RESULTS

 

PHOTOS (Varsity)

 

FRI/SAT 918 and 9/19 WOODBRIDGE @ Great Park, Orange County

The entered South SJS teams were Buhach Colony, Sonora, Hughson, Riverbank, Merced, Atwater, and Patterson. Everyone ran the same course, so I have compiled the locale results by time and only indicated the place in any particular race if it was significant.

 

GIRLS (sub 20:00)

Fernanda Cortes (Golden Valley) 16:39.3 (1st Rated Var) 

Eleanor Hampton (Merced) 17:17.2 (1st Red Var)

Chelsea Chavez (Golden Valley) 17:58.4

Gabriela Hicks (Golden Valley) 18:13.8

Jaylyn Carrillo (Patterson) 18:13.8 

Aubri Villa (Golden Valley) 18:27.4 

Grace Benitez (Hughson) 18:34.5 

Sadie Thompson (Sonora) 18:37.0 

Maggie Becchetti (Hughson) 18:45.4

Katerin Ortiz Nunez (Golden Valley) 19:07.5

Sophia Aguiar (Hughson) 19:21.4 

Zuri Golding (Riverbank) 19:53.1 (1st in Soph White) 

 

BOYS (sub 16:30)

Yair Gonzalez (Atwater) 14:40.8

Dominic Urteaga (Golden Valley) 14:41.7

James Barajas (Golden Valley) 14:46.4

Landon Wilson (Sonora) 14:51.9

Armando Garcia (Riverbank) 15:32.1 (1st White Sr) 

Lucah Sherman (Atwater) 15:38.8

Isaian Vargas (Atwater) 15:40.8 

Michael Garcia (Atwater) 15:42.0

Manny Ruiz (Hughson) 15:44.5

Jorge Hernandez Acala (Patterson) 15:46.8 

Mason Hoyle (Hughson) 15:51.2 

Asher Berge (Sonora) 15:54.0 

Giancarlo Gutierrez (Buhach Colony) 15:58.1

Manuel Elizarraraz Pedroza (Golden Valley) 16:00.1

Xavier Glenn (Atwater) 16:02.0

Aaron Zuniga (Patterson) 16:04.6 

Juan Palos (Hughson) 16:05.0 

Daniel Valencia (Golden Valley) 16:07.0 

Giancarlo Reyes (Riverbank) 16:13.3

Melvin Leon (Golden Valley) 16:14.8

Ramon Ramirez (Patterson) 16:15.2 

Aiden Deniz (Merced) 16:16.7 

Francisco Medrano (Atwater) 16:19.7

Julian Arochio (Golden Valley) 16:24.8

 

What I found interesting wow there were some fast times!. Fernanda Cortes might run right out of her shoes. Yair Gonzalez, Dominic Urteaga, and James Barajas are so closely matched it is fun when they go head to head like they did twice this week. Atwater also nipped GV as a boys team once again. BUT it is that Atwater boys' pack that saved the day with three between 15:38 and 15:42. 

 

RESULTS

  

SAT 9/19 FROGTOWN INV @ Calaveras County Fairgrounds, Angels Camp

The competing South SJS teams were Atwater, Bret Harte, Buhach Colony, Calaveras, Central Catholic, Central Valley, Ceres, Chesterton, East Union, El Capitan, Escalon, Hilmar, Hughson, Johansen, Los Banos, Manteca, Mountain House, Oakdale, Orestimba, Pitman, Ripon, Ripon Christian, Sierra, Sonora, New Geneva, and Waterford. There are a lot of big name teams listed here that won't be running there "Big Guns" for one reason or another.

   

SSVG

1-HIL 37; 2-OREST 64; 3-RIP 65; 6-ESC 116

 

Carmona

2. Jade Carmona (Orestimba) 20:43.0

3. Sophia Jung (Ripon) 20:53

4. Emma Lynn Hogan (Central Catholic) 21:18

5. Breahna Alves (Hilmar) 22:02

6. Lisa Lee (Calaveras) 22:13 

  

SSVB

2-RIP 105; 4-OREST 172; 6-HUGH 193; 7-HIL 212; 8-CC 220; 9-BH 246

 

Cerna

7. Benjamin Cerna (Orestimba) 17:29

9. Carmelo Rodriguez (Ripon) 17:40

15. Lucas de Vera (Ripon) 18:08

17. Amanpal Dhaliwal (Calaveras) 18:09 

 

LSVG

5-SIE 133; 10-MAN 255

Dittman

3. Anna Dittman (Sierra) 19:11

12. Alysia Sinclair (East Union) 21:15

14. Abby Fraser (Sierra) 21:50

19. Avina Harrington (Manteca) 22:16 

 

LSVB

3-SIE 112; 5-CV 166; 10-EU 300

 

Paterson

4. Sebastien Paterson (Sierra) 16:58

10. Max Perez (Sierra) 17:26

11. Thiago Carneiro (Mountain House) 17:31

14. Eli Pimentel (Pitman) 17:32

17. Enoc Reyes (Central Valley) 17:40

18. Mariano Ibarra (El Capitan) 17:42

20. Isaiah Salvatier (Los Banos) 17:44

21. Eliseo Madrigal (Central valley) 17:46 

 

What I found interesting without Hughson, Atwater, Golden Valley, Beyer, Sonora, Turlock, Oakdale, Riverbank, Patterson...all of the teams that placed at the top of the league cluster meets there was quite a drop off. But it did give some teams and individuals who are often overshadowed a chance to medal and shine. 

 

RESULTS

 

PHOTOS (middle school and SS FS)

PHOTOS (SS Var)

PHOTOS JV and coach

PHOTOS (LS Var)

PHOTOS (LS FS)

 SAT 9/19 TOM LEIKANE INV @ Pinto Lake Co Park, Watsonville

The competing South SJS teams were Pacheco and Lathrop.

 

VG

4-Lath 94; 8-Pach 189

 

14. Morgan Emery (Lathrop) 20:05.40

15. Terra Campos (Pacheco) 20:08.27

24. Mackenzie Collins (Lathrop) 21:08.70

 

VB

8-Lath 211; 12-Pach 280

 

30. Raul Vides (Lathrop) 17:23.21

32. Tristan Ramirez (Lathrop 17:26.29

38. Rex Betschart (Pacheco) 17:33.94 

  

RESULTS