CROSS COUNTRY: Immanuel girls varsity team flies away with Division 5 championship

FRESNO – For the next two weeks, Woodward Park will be the center of the running universe as several of the best athletes from the southern San Joaquin Valley and the Central Coast flock to compete for cross country supremacy. 

The top qualifiers in five divisions for both boys and girls competed at the Central Section Championships from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the north Fresno park’s 5,000 meter layout. The state meet is scheduled to be held on Saturday, Nov. 30.

In the Mid Valley Times region, the Immanuel Eagles varsity girls team scooped up the Division 5 Championship on Nov. 21. The varsity boys team ran admirably, but finished second in Division 5. The Reedley boys varsity team placed third in the Division 3 boys championship with 84 points. And the Sanger girls varsity team took home fifth place with 159 points.

County Metro Athletic Conference/North Yosemite League

Sanger’s Anthony Rubio clocked in with a time of 16:16.13 in division 1. Because Rubio placed within the top 15 individual runners, he also qualified for the state championship on Nov. 30. Fellow Apaches’ runners Anthony Cortes and Javier Rojas-Gutierrez finished with times of 17:19.63 and 17:19.91 respectively. Overall, the Apaches boys team finished in 8th place. For the Sanger girls, Sahara Wyrick (23, 20:05.73) paced the way on the course. Alexa Vaca (32, 20:33.87) finished with a respectable time. 

Northwest Sequoia 

The Fowler boys varsity team gave it their all, but lost their bite towards the end. The Redcats best runner of the day was Paxton Vaughn, who finished with a mark of 18:45.86. Followed behind Vaughn were Emilio Pineda (80, 20:28.69) and Julian Lopez (88, 20:54.13).

Tri-River 

Immanuel’s varsity girls team dominated the track with seven runners that finished in the top 10. Clara Riddle won the individual championship with a best time of 18:44.39. The other Eagles runners who soared mighty include: Erin Solis (3, 19:49.01), Bailey Robb (4, 19:56.52), Emily Thomas (5,  20:04.40), Ashlyn Lloyd (6,  20.10.27), Lexi Schartmann (8,  20:34.64) and Ainsley Jackson (10,  20:57.68). 

The Eagles boys team had three runners place in the top 10 in Div.5. Reid Bishel finished in fourth place at 16:33.75. He was followed by: Koen Ensz (5, 16:34.69) and Noah Stumpfhauser (10, 17:17.15). The varsity boys team finished second overall in division 5 with a total of 48 points. 

Reedley varsity boys finished third in division 3 with 84 points. Mauricio Herrera led the way for the Pirates by finishing second at 16:03.62. The Pirates’ varsity girls were paced by Emma Hall (15, 21:18.36), Savannah Torres (36, 22:51.87) and Xitlali Cortez (51, 23:34.91). Kingsburg’s varsity girls finished with 260 points in Div.4. 

West Yosemite

The Dinuba boys varsity team ran hard but managed to finish 18th overall in Div.2 as a team. The Emperors were led by Marcus Carillo (81, 00.19:14.00), Raul Reyes (87, 19:23.99) and Brayan Gutierrez (99, 00:19:52.46). 

The CIF State Cross Country Championships are scheduled to begin on Nov. 30 at Woodward Park. As of publication, press times haven’t been announced.