For the second straight year, the Turlock High School girls cross country are preparing to take another trip to Fresno for the CIF State Cross Country Championships following a strong showing at last Saturday’s Sac-Joaquin Section meet at the Willow Hills Reserve in Folsom. 

The Bulldogs squad consisting of Ellison Williams, Gisela Hernandez, Mylie Olson, Elizabeth Christopher, Gretchen Nass, Claire Johnson and Adeline Walsh will be joined by THS teammate Gabriel Avalos on the boys side, each of the Hughson High varsity teams, and Hilmar senior Sidney Logsdon at the 38th annual state meet at Woodward Park on Nov. 29.

“It’s very exciting for all of us to see everyone’s hard work paid off,” said Hernandez, a freshman. “It’s something you think about and talk about forever, you dream about it, so it’s pretty special when you’re able to finally accomplish a goal like this.”

The ladies from Turlock High qualified to state by finishing third as a team in the Division I race, where the top three teams are awarded an automatic berth. The Bulldogs finished with a team score of 87, trailing Oak Ridge (43) and champion Davis (26).

The Hughson High boys qualified by lifting the Division IV championship banner with a low-score of 85, edging Sacramento's West campus by three points. The Lady Huskies, meanwhile, had 63 points to finish 10 behind D-IV champion Placer. 

Avalos and Logsdon qualified with top ten finishes in their respective races to qualify as individuals.

Avalos described the Willow Hills course as “super rough,” especially as after it had rained the previous day, creating a number of puddles and causing slippage as the runners navigated the twists and turns up and down the slopes.

Pacing Turlock’s girls’ team was sophomore Williams, finishing the 5,000-meter race with a second–place time of 18:05.4. She was just 12 seconds off of winner Avery Wolk of Davis.

“I was hoping to win, but anything better than last year because I didn't even place,” said Williams with a laugh. As a freshman last season, Williams posted a 14th-place time of 20:04.3 at the section meet. “Two minutes faster is huge. I've been working a lot harder, especially through the summer. I've kind of dedicated my life to the sport at this point, and I just keep working harder and harder every day to get to this point.”

Williams, Olson and Nass were members of last year’s qualifying team. Olson finished 19th at the section meet with a time of 20:30.5 while Nass finished 29th at 21:10.8. Just ahead of Olson in 18th place was Hernandez, crossing the finish line at 20:24.6. Senior Elizabeth Christopher was sandwiched between Olson and Nass with a 23rd place time of 20:49.2. Sophomores Claire Johnson (21:53.8) and Adeline Walsh (22:25.7) finished 37th and 47th, respectively, in the field of 75 to wrap up the scoring for the THS girls.”

“In the moment, we didn't really know if we were going to make it (to finals). Nobody really knows for sure,” Nass explained. “But when we were pushing in the race, every time we passed someone up, it made us more and more confident.”

Olson, meanwhile, was able to multitask and do some mental math in her head. “All of us — me, Liz and Gisela — were really close, and I was counting the people from the other teams in my head while we were racing,” she said. “Comparing our group to where the others were at, I knew we could do it. I just knew we had it in the bag.”

Christopher described the feeling of helping the program clinch another trip to the state meet in her senior season as incredibly fulfilling. “Every single practice, we just talked about how much we wanted to go to state, and especially for it being my final year, to make it there feels like such a big step. It just feels like everything I've been working towards has paid off. It’s honestly such a great honor.”

Added Johnson: “I'm so proud of everybody because this is only my first year, so watching all the other girls work hard and PR has really encouraged me and the others to do well. I know there was a period of doubt for state, but we kept pushing and made it happen. It was such a team effort.”

Avalos joins Williams, Olson and Nass as qualifiers to the state meet for the second consecutive season. At last week’s section meet, Avalos turned in a time of 16:20.4, finishing in 10th place overall and earning one of the five fastest individual times outside of the runners on teams in the top three of the team standings. The Bulldogs finished fourth as a team with 83 points, 15 points behind Folsom for the final team qualifying position.

“It feels great to qualify, though it's unfortunate that we didn't make it as a team,” Avalos said. “Our section is super competitive, and everyone there is super good.

“The last 200 to 300 (meters), I knew I was 11th because I heard someone in the crowd say it, and I wanted that top 10 medal so bad. I was just kicking and kicking and passed a runner from Oak Ridge at the very end and it felt so surreal. I collapsed on the floor because it was the hardest race I ever ran. I immediately went to look for my parents and my brother to hug them.”

Last year, the boys team qualified to state collectively. 

“That experience last year was unbelievable,” Avalos said. “We worked hard all year, and that was our peak. It’s a dream come true to be able to go. I'm super proud of this group. We run every single day together, so I see all the work that we put in and how much they wanted it.”

Over in the boys’ Division IV race, the Hughson program won the blue championship banner despite being without top runner Alessandro Pimmentel due to injury and having no runners finish in the top 10. It was a matter of consistency for the Huskies, whose fastest runner on the day was junior Mason Hoyle and his 12-place time of 17:19.5. Five seconds back, finishing behind him was fellow junior Carlos Maximiliano-Nava.

Also putting up times for the Huskies in the race of 78 runners were junior Manuel Ruiz (20th-17:43.1), senior Richard Stites (25th-17:51.3), sophomore Juan Palos (26th-17:54.9), junior Samuel Alvarado (40th-18:22.3) and junior Shane Lockwood (53rd-18:46.3). 

All but Ruiz were on the state-qualifying lineup from a year ago.

Someone who has become accustomed to state competitions is Logsdon of Hilmar. In the girls’ Division IV contest, Logsdon placed sixth with a time of 19:37.9 to qualify to the state meet for all four years of her high school career. The Lady ‘Jackets squad finished fifth overall with 117 points, which was 54 points behind runner-up and final team qualifier Hughson.

Hughson’s top finisher was senior Sophie Benham, placing fifth with a tie of 19:32.9. This will be Benham’s second straight appearance at the state meet. Meanwhile, Sophomore Maggie Becchett was 11th at 20:31.3 and senior Noeli Gomez-Orozco placed 13th at 20:34.1. Also pitching in for the Huskies were junior Grace Benitez (16th-20:57.8), senior Bailey Bilson (29th-22:01.1), freshman Jaelyn Anguiano (59th-24:03.8) and freshman Melanie Sanchez (66th-25:10.0).

Woodward Park will pose a similar challenge to that of Willow Hills, especially if rain or moisture decide to make an appearance. (As of Tuesday, no precipitation was in the forecast.) The 5,000-meter course in Fresno consists of hard-packed dirt trails with some grass and asphalt. It features mild ups and downs over rolling hills with one steep, short hill. The top three teams and 10 individuals in each race Saturday will receive awards in all five divisions for both boys and girls.

“A lot of people have experienced it, but quite a few of us on this team have never been to state,” Walsh said. “It’s a really big meet, a big experience, so I know we’re all looking forward to it all and to go against the tough competition.”