2026 XC South SJS Distance Week 6 Runners of the Week

This was a busy week and I'd normally be looking at a bunch of strong PRs when comparing Cluster meet 1 to Cluster meet 2 BUT the unseasonable heat on both Wednesday and Saturday put a damper on a lot of individual performances. But even given all of that, it was the differences between those two league meets that I was analyzing. There were some athletes who did improve. I also want to say that there were also some athletes who had BIG improvements, but I deemed in some cases that was due to such a below standard race at the first cluster meet.

 

MATHEW MCGUIRE (Grace Davis)--sometimes I am reminded that this sport is not always about who wins and where someone stands on the all time list. Mathew runs for Grace Davis. He never fails to say Hi to me, even back before I knew his name. I had seen that Mathew ran with a brace on his left leg. He says "I have a mild form of Cerebral Palsy in the left side of my body, affecting the muscles and tendons on my left side, so the brace was needed until I actuality started to seriously strength train." He ran up to me after his race Wednesday and was really excited by his performance. He had placed 55th and run 23:02. It was not a performance that I had really taken note of, but after his excitement I dug a little deeper. I noticed that he no longer needed the brace that he had worn since he was 7. That Wednesday's race was his first 3 mile race ever and his time was almost exactly the same as he had run for 2 mi his Frosh year. I knew that this story is a personal one for Mathew and I didn't want to embarrass him, so I asked him. He said,  "That sounds like a good opportunity to empower others with similar situations." Sometimes I need to be reminded that XC is really about so much more than running. Mathew, thank you for your strength. You are a great role model.

 

EMMA LYNN HOGAN (Central Catholic)--at Amanda Garcia she placed second in the Championship race in 18:48.5 which was her first time breaking 19 for 3 miles. She also placed 2nd at VOL 2 running 19:58 which was a 17 sec improvement from VOL 1

 

CARMELO RODRIGUEZ (Ripon)--in maybe his best race of the year he placed 2nd in 17:25.7 at TVL 2 which was an improvement of 5 places and almost 30 secs. Additionally he placed 3rd in the Championship race at Amanda Garcia  in 15:48. 

 

ISAIAN VARGAS (Atwater)--placed 2nd in the Championship race at Amanda Garcia in 15:37 which was a 14 sec PR and helped the Falcons win the team title

 

OTHERS I CONSIDERED 

MADISON VIDES (Beyer)--ran 20:19 at WAC Cluster 2 to place 4th and help Beyer overwhelm the rest of the league. Her time ranks her #15 on the Forebay course.

RILEY MCCABE (Beyer)--ran 20:26,2 (#16 all time) to place 5th. Her time improved about 1:30 between cluster 1 and 2.

VICTORIA FREGOSO (Beyer)--placed 8th at WAC Cluster 2 in 21:07 which was an improvement of more than 2:30.

ALEXIS RODRIGUEZ (Johansen)--placed 7th at WAC Cluster 2 in 17:37.5 which was about a 2:30 improvement.

ALVINA HARRINGTON (Manteca)--placed 8th at VOL 2 in 21:39.6 which was an improvement of 42 sec between cluster 1 and 2

ALYSSA RODRIGUEZ (Sierra)--placed 9th at VOL 2 in 21:44.8 which was an improvement of about 1:20

ALVIN VARGHESE (Sierra)--ran 17:06.4 at VOL 2 to place 8th. That was an improvement of 10 places and 1:20 from VOL 1. 

PRANAV NITTALA (Mountain House)--placed 9th at VOL 2 in 17:09.5 which was an improvement of 14 places and 1:33 from VOL 1 

MARITZA GONZALEZ (Hughson)--improved 7 places and and 41 secs from TVL 1 to TVL 2.

PAIGE THOMAS (Ripon)--she improved 5 places and 25 secs between TVL 1 and 2 

ISAIAH HILL (Sonora)--when most runners ran slower he improved 13 secs and 5 places between TVL 1 and 2 to help Sonora to the team win. 

AARON GABRIE (Riverbank)--placed 5th at MLL 2 in 18:08 which was an improvement of 23 secs (when almost everyone else ran slower) and 6 places. 

SANTOS MENDOZA (Atwater)--At Amanda Garcia he placed 8th in the Championship race in 16:20 which was a 37 sec PR on that course.