Ceres High's varsity boys cross country team suffered another narrow loss.
The Bulldogs were edged out by the Patterson Tigers, 27-29, in 98-degree weather on Wednesday at Ceres River Bluff Regional Park.
Los Banos beat Ceres High by the identical score the previous week.
"All of the guys are pretty bummed," Bulldogs head coach Katie Timmermans said. "We should have won. We're not expecting to lose anymore."
Christian Linarez paced Ceres High with a third-place showing.
Linarez completed the 3.1-mile race in 19 minutes, 27 seconds.
Bulldog teammates Haaydn Martinez (19:40), Roman Acosta (20:09), Noah Holloway (20:16) and Ismael Ontiveros (21:31) finished fourth, fifth, sixth and 11th, respectively.
The Tigers topped the Bulldogs thanks in large part to the performances of Thomas Virgen and Lolyn Tejeda.
Virgen (17:54) and Tejeda (18:56) took first and second, respectively.
Sergio Rodriguez (20:23), Noah Mirelez (20:34) and Alejandro Sanchez (21:16) placed seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively.
Ceres High also competed shorthanded versus Patterson.
Aaron Alarcon, Ceres High's No. 5 runner, didn't finish the race.
Timmermans pulled Alarcon halfway through the competition.
"His knee has been really bothering him for the past couple of weeks," she said. "Hopefully, it will get better."
Los Banos, 24, Ceres High 33
Ceres High's varsity girls cross country team dropped to 0-2 in the WAC dual-meet standings following last week's 24-33 loss to visiting Patterson.
"The heat was a huge factor," Timmermans said.
The Bulldogs' top runner was Brisa Gonzalez, who completed the 3.1-mile race in 24 minutes, 58 seconds on her way to a third-place finish.
Cristina Arreola (26:20), Destiny Suarez (26:47), Maria Diaz (27:10) and Peyton Jones (28:03) took sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively.
"I think they can all perform better," Timmermans said.
Marylin Ventura (first, 23:36) led the Tigers, followed by Desirae Ibarra (second, 23:37), Xylona Gama (fourth, 25:03), Eze Ogbuli (fifth, 25:17) and Kelsie West (12th, 28:52).
Ceres High will compete against visiting Livingston today.
Joshua Madariaga will make his 2016 debut with the Bulldogs.
Madariaga attended his first practice on Sept. 26.
Josh placed fifth overall at the WAC championships last fall.
"He's very talented," Timmermans said. "He's going to help us a lot."
