Stanislaus County Distance: 2021 ALL STANCO TRACK TEAM

The past several years I have been naming the All StanCo Track (Distance) Team. Unlike the All StanCo XC team, which has been decided the past several years by a vote of the coaches, to make this team an athlete must achieve a certain time mark. For the boys the times necessary to make the list are sub 2:00 (800); sub 4:30 (1600); and sub 10:00 (3200). For the girls, the times are sub 2:20 (800); sub 5:25 (1600); and sub 12:00 (3200).

With the shortened season and the lack of invitationals, one might guess that the times would be off this year; but it seemed to be a year of feast or famine. The top runners excelled. But there was a big gap in the middle, as the total number of young runners was way down for most of the teams. This fact could translate into some down years in the future. But for this year there were some very strong performances. It is interesting that clearly Pitman's and Oakdale's distance crews dominated as they earned 10 of the 12 team spots.

I have listed the athletes in alphabetical order.

Appel, Garcia, Sanchez, Daley

SIMON APPEL (Oakdale) 11th--Simon started the year of slowly but seemed to be finding his past form by the end of the season. His bests were 9:50(H) (3200m) and 4:34.97 (1600m).

Balderas, Garcia, Appel, Daley, Sanchez

CHRISTIAN BALDERAS (Pitman) 12th--Christian had an up and down career over two different schools, but there has never been any doubt that he is a competitor. His best time of 4:27.84 (1600m) was his highlight of this season.

Barajas and Day

MELISSA BARAJAS (Modesto) 11th--HUGE improvement this year with times of 11:49.52 (3200m), 5:27.78 (1600m) and 2:30.71 (800m).

Cavanaugh and Robles

CALEB CAVANAUGH (Oakdale) 10th--The only runner on this list who met qualifying marks in all three distance events--1:58.2(H) (800m), 4:24.37 (1600m), and 9:37(H) (3200m)

Daley and Sanchez

DAX DALEY (Oakdale) 10th--top times of 9:52.83 (3200m) and 4:30.46

Day, Humble, Laska

MACI DAY (Pitman) 10th--She won the County in the 3200m. Her top times of 5:19.57 (1600m) and 11:53.81 (3200m) both qualify her for this team.

Garcia, Cavanaugh

DAMIAN GARCIA (Pitman) 11th--He was the 1600m County champion. His best time of 4:23.81 was the County's top time. He also ran 2:02.43 in the 800m

Humble

HALEIGH HUMBLE (Oakdale) 11th--This season marked Haleigh's return to health and incredible running. Her 5:06.82 (1600m) was a school record and is # 15 all-time StanCo. Her 800m time of 2:19.43 also led the County

Kackley and Humble

MADISON KACKLEY (Gregori) 12th--Honestly this was not the year she hoped for, but most runners would kill for her times of 5:11.82 (1600m) on a huge wind day, 2:24.97 (800) and 12:08.92 (3200)

Laska

CHARLOTTE LASKA (Pitman) 11th--Her improvement continues as she turns in marks of 11:51.80 (3200) and 5:29.10 (1600)

Robles leads Balderas, Cavanaugh, and Garcia

DOMINIC ROBLES (Oakdale) 12th--what an incredible go from the gun runner this season. His bests of 4:25.74 (1600m) and 9:47.73 (3200m) both show he deserves to be mentioned here.