Runners from across the region came together in Frogtown at the Calaveras County Fairgrounds for the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Sub-Section meet on Saturday, an event that saw every varsity team and several individuals from Turlock, Pitman, Hilmar and Hughson punch their tickets to this weekend’s section competition.
Stealing the show in the Division I girls three-mile race consisting of 125 runners was Turlock freshman Maya Day, who finished with a 19:40.9 time, good enough for fourth place. Day was the only top 10 finisher between Turlock and Pitman and has qualified for the Section meet. Day’s efforts — along with those of junior Daizy Gonzalez and her 19th place time of 20:42.6, senior Lila Brackett’s 37th place time of 21:23.6, junior Lilly Edgerton’s 38th place time of 21:45.0 and Jayden Jimenez’s 47th place time of 22:08.8 — helped Turlock’s girls team as a whole earn fifth place with a score of 136 to qualify for this weekend’s event.
The ladies of Pitman High finished right behind the Bulldogs in the team standings, with the Pride putting up a sixth place score of 155. The Pride’s top runner was sophomore Avery Carlson, who claimed 14th place with a time of 20:24.6. Junior Nayeli Mattison grabbed 26th place with a time of 20:55.0 while senior Aubrey Lascano finished 29th with a 21:03.7 time. Emerson Newton ran a 22:03.0 for 43rd place.
In the D-1 boys race of 151 runners, Turlock grabbed fourth place as a team with a score of 116. Senior Logan Petty led his team with a 16:50.3, 14th place finish. Fellow senior Daniel Zaragoza crossed the finish line in 18th place with a time of 17:01.0. Junior Theodore Santos finished 20th with a time of 17:03.9 while senior Behniya Esmaeilabadi rounded out the top 25 with a 17:17.3 time. As for Pitman’ boys, they earned ninth place in the D-1 race with a score of 303. Senior Julius Camacho was the only Pride runner to finish in the top 50 with a time of 17:22.5 for a 32nd place finish.
Over in the Division IV boys race of 186 runners, Hilmar’s boys placed sixth place with a score of 196, while Hughson claimed seventh with a 220 score. Hilmar junior Jeffery Mendonca was the highest finisher of the two school’s grabbing seventh place with a time of 16:56.8. Bobby Nieto of Hughson was the next quickest as he grabbed 19th place with a time of 17:37.0. Fellow Husky Dominic Haupt, a senior, earned 26th place after finishing his three miles in 17:54.1. 38th place was claimed by Hilmar senior Braxton Belerique with a 18:23.5 while teammate, fellow senior Finley Harrison, was the last of the two schools’ top 50 runners with a 41st place time of 18:25.4.
In the Division IV girls race of 123 runners, Hilmar claimed fourth place with a score of 141 while Hughson finished sixth with a score of 151. The Yellowjackets had a pair of top 15 finishers in sophomore Sidney Logsdon and junior Sophia Lopes. Logsdon finished in seventh place with a time of 20:36.8 while Lopes grabbed 14th with a time of 21:34.9. Hughson junior Alejandra Gonzalez was the top finisher for her school with a 22:01.4, 21st place finish. Also finishing in the top 50 was Hughson’s Noeli Gomez-Orozco (22:24.8 for 26th place), Maggie Scarioni (22:56.6 for 32nd place), Pearl Bunch (23:35.6 for 45th place) and Cailin Kelley (23:38.7 for 46th place). For the Yellowjackets, it was Violet Pinheiro (23:02.4 for 33rd place) and Sarah Anderson (23:12.7 for 39th place) who rounded out their top 50 finishers.
Turlock’s Day and Hilmar’s Mendonca and Logsdon each qualified to Sections as individual runners with their top ten finishes.
The CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Cross Country Meet will be held Saturday at Willow Hill Cross Country Course in Folsom, adjacent to the Folsom High School campus. The event is expected to get underway at 9 a.m.
