Ceres High's varsity boys water polo team wrapped up its preseason schedule with a respectable showing at the McNair Tournament this past week.
The Bulldogs placed fourth in Stockton for the second year in a row.
"Overall, I'm happy," Ceres High head coach Bill Campbell said. "Everybody contributed in one shape or form. There are always things we can work on to get better."
The Bulldogs compiled a 2-2 record at the eight-team event.
"There were some really good teams there," Campbell said. "When we played well, we played as a team. We were sharing the ball."
Ceres High lost 13-6 to Tracy during the third-place match Saturday afternoon.
Elliott Lewis scored a team-high three goals in defeat.
David Johnson, Adam Rantz and Ryan Baranski chipped in with one goal apiece.
Caleb Cannella made 17 saves.
The Bulldogs won two of three matches while competing in the B bracket.
Ceres High topped Calaveras 16-9 Saturday morning.
Sebastian Alvarado poured in a team-high six goals.
Johnson added four goals.
Lewis and Ethan Letras both contributed two goals.
Rantz and Joseph Rodriguez scored one goal each.
Cannella totaled 19 saves.
The Bulldogs defeated Stagg 18-9 and lost 15-6 to West on Friday.
Johnson had a team-high five goals against Stagg.
Letras and Rodriguez netted four and three goals, respectively.
Alvarado, Lewis, Rantz, Cannella, Baranski and Jacob Black all tallied one goal.
Cannella and Alvarado finished with 13 and five saves, respectively, while splitting playing time at goalkeeper.
Letras collected a team-high two goals versus West.
Black, Rodriguez, Johnson and Daniel McElwain all scored once.
Cannella had 10 blocks.
"They learned how important conditioning was by the end of the tournament," Campbell said. "They were pretty tired."
Letras was voted Ceres High's Most Valuable Player for the tournament.
"He was outstanding on both sides of the ball," Campbell said. "He was our best all-round player."
Cannella starred at goalkeeper despite competing under the weather.
"He had a chest cold and still played really well for us," Campbell said.
Ceres High will begin Western Athletic Conference play this week.
The Bulldogs will travel to Los Banos today to face the Pacheco Panthers.
CROSS COUNTRY
Central Valley High School's varsity cross country program split with host Livingston during the opening week of the Western Athletic Conference dual-meet season.
The visiting Hawks won the boys' competition, 18-37, on Wednesday at McConnell State Rec Area in Ballico.
"I'm not surprised," head coach Veronica Moreno said. "My whole team has been training really hard."
Andres Rojo led the way by finishing first with a time of 18 minutes, 32 seconds on the 3-mile course.
Isaiah Sanchez (second, 18:47), Chase Bogart (fourth, 18:59), Christian Balderas (fifth, 19:04) and Enrique Martinez (sixth, 19:11) also contributed to Central Valley's point total.
Sebastian Pena (13th, 20:07), Javier Cuevas (17th, 20:21), Favio Gonzalez (18th, 20:31), Sabino Urrutia (19th, 20:33), Alejandro Orozco (21st, 21:11), Alejandro Gonzalez (24th, 21:37), Carlos Prado (25th, 21:55), Patric Senesom (26th, 22:15), Ruben Sanchez (27th, 22:22), Gerardo Solis (28th, 22:24), Eric Andrade (30th, 22:36), Fidel Castillo (32nd, 23:24), Ivan Villegas (34th, 24:09), Aaron Vander Wal (35th, 24:25), Sergio Garcia (37th, 24:34), Estevan Leyva (39th, 25:30), Samson Gonzalez (40th, 26:06), Antonio Castillo (42nd, 28:36) and Sanvir Dhillon (46th, 30:22) represented the Hawks as well.
The Hawks lost the girls' competition, 18-42, to the Wolves.
Central Valley's top five runners were Ramandeep Kaur (third, 23:22), Emily Curiel (eighth, 25:35), Kimberly Haley (ninth, 25:56), Vanessa Contreras (10th, 25:58) and Dana Miranda (12th, 26:26).
Hawk teammates Rosa Vazquez (14th, 26:39), Melissa Ceja (15th, 28:02), Aryanna Jimenez (16th, 28:53), Cynthia Robles (18th, 30:16), Rubi Gonzalez (20th, 31:59), Brittney Smith (21st, 33:15), Johana Valdavinos (22nd, 34:28), Alexis Eproson (25th, 36:15) and Melanie Jaime (26th, 36:50) also competed.
"Every race is a learning opportunity," Moreno said. "We'll improve."
Tigers sweep Bulldogs
Ceres High's varsity boys and girls cross country teams dropped their Western Athletic Conference dual-meet openers to visiting Los Banos last week.
"I was pleased with their individual performances," Bulldogs' head coach Katie Timmermans said. "A majority of the kids ran faster than they did the previous week. You always have to be happy with a personal record."
Ceres High's boys team suffered a narrow 28-31 loss while battling the Tigers on Wednesday at Ceres River Bluff Regional Park.
The Bulldogs didn't compete at full strength.
Kendrick Perata was slowed by injury.
"We lost by three points," Timmermans said. "We were able to do this without our third runner. He is having some Achilles issues. Once we get him back in the game, we'll do some damage."
Ceres High's Aaron Alarcon finished first with a time of 18 minutes, 52 seconds on the 3-mile course.
Alarcon bested 25 other runners.
Joseph Gutierrez (second, 19:00), Dominick Nicastro (fifth, 19:52), Fernando Cardoza (11th, 21:06) and Kendrick Perata (12th, 21:33) rounded out the Bulldogs' team scoring.
Colton Johnson (13th, 22:06), Clemente Zavala (14th, 22:38), Rafael Ortiz (16th, 23:23), Jose Arroyo (19th, 25:17), Kolton Vaughn (21st, 27:34), Carlos Fee (23rd, 28:36) and Mark Razo (24th, 38:39) participated as well.
Ceres High's girls team lost 18-39 to Los Banos.
Destiny Suarez was the Bulldogs' top finisher.
She placed fourth with a time of 24 minutes, 41 seconds on the 3-mile course.
Cynthia Renteria (sixth, 25:34), Jacqueline Rodriguez (eighth, 26:05), Deborah Vasquez (10th, 27:20) and Joanna Torrez (11th, 27:52) rounded out Ceres High's team scoring.
Bulldog teammates Maria Diaz (12th, 28:22), Annabelle Verduzco (13th, 28:22) and Alondra Carranza (14th, 28:49) also competed.
