STATE MEET

Yesterday I headed down to Woodward Park in Fresno for the 2017 CIF XC Championships, better known as the State meet. Since I grew up in Fresno, I was at this park several times a week either racing or training. Consequently, just being there brings up a lot of memories for me. However yesterday, I was there to cap off the 2017 XC season for 12 StanCo runners.

On the whole I would say that most of the StanCo kids didn't have their best races. Some ran the races of their lives at SJS just to qualify. It is difficult to duplicate that sort of feat. Additionally the State meet races are crowded. The runners are all good, and the fields don't thin out very much. Some runners that are used to being mostly alone at the front, find themselves buried in a pack. It is difficult to find room to move up...well being able to say that you "ran in the State meet" is something that can never be taken away. They should all be proud of their amazing seasons regardless of how this final race turned out.

DI BOYS
The Gregori boys would join Modesto's Alan Guerrero in this race. Alan got out well. The others were mostly buried in the herd. Santiago and Mason had small PRs over their times from a month ago. Jack Duchala turned his ankle at the start of the race and hobbled through the 5K.

H Reeves and Marsh in a crowd

 As a team Gregori placed. 16th. I was thinking that they would do well to place in the top 10. Had Duchala had a normal race (about 1:30 faster) they would have easily placed in the top 10. Jaxon Reeves, Guerrero, and Duchala are all non-seniors and will have another chance next year.

M Reeves and Ruiz

32. Santiago Ruiz (Gregori) 15:50.2
50. Mason Reeves (Gregori) 16:07.4
99. Alan Guerrero (Modesto) 16:33.0
117. Matt Marsh (Gregori) 16:39.9
140. Sebastian Cronkite (Gregori) 17:01.9
159. Hunter Reeves (Gregori) 17:14.6
182. Jaxon Reeves (Gregori) 17:50.7
187. Jack Duchala (Gregori) 18:07.8

DII BOYS
Moises represented the first Downey boy to qualify for State. He got out fairly well but faded over the hillier second mile.

Benavides

 131. Moises Benavides (Downey) 17:09.2

DV BOYS
Anthony ran at State last year. Unlike the other StanCo runners, he got out pretty fast...maybe a bit too fast, and he ran almost the exact same time as last season.

Vazquez

33. Anthony Vazquez (Central Catholic) 16:48

DIV GIRLS
It was only the two Hughson girls in this race. They had both run at State last year, but never really looked comfortable on this day. Both ladies will likely have a chance to redeem themselves next year.

Ysais

 108. Elizette Ysais (Hughson) 20:56.8
117. Emily Fife (Hughson) 21:04.5

RESULTS

PHOTOS