Ceres High’s youth-laden varsity girls cross country team tasted defeat for the first time against Western Athletic Conference competition this past week.
The Los Banos Tigers took over sole possession of first place in the WAC dual-meet standings with an 18-41 win over the Bulldogs on Wednesday at Ceres River Bluff Regional Park.
I wanted the girls to walk away from the meet feeling accomplished and I think they did. Most of them set personal records.”Coach Katie Thiele
“I’m still very proud of them,” Ceres High head coach Katie Thiele said. “I wanted the girls to walk away from the meet feeling accomplished and I think they did. Most of them set personal records.”
The Bulldogs dropped to 4-1.
The Tigers improved to 5-0.
“Now, they know what they’re up against instead of questioning where they stand,” Thiele said. “They can use is (the loss) as motivation.”
Destiny Suarez was Ceres High’s top finisher.
She placed fifth with a time of 23 minutes, 44 seconds on the 3-mile course.
Bulldog teammates Karina Baez (24:27), Carmen Ramirez (24:28), Jacqueline Rodriguez (25:53) and Andrea Contreras (25:57) took sixth, seventh, 11th and 12th, respectively.
Los Banos’ Aryanna Sandoval (20:45), Leslie Hernandez (21:06), Jasmine Hernandez (22:31), Ashley Ith (23:30) and Karina Rodriguez (24:44) placed first, second, third, fourth and eighth, respectively
“My girls were definitely nervous since Los Banos was the only undefeated team besides them,” Thiele said. “They have quite a few underclassmen like us. They were just faster.”
Ceres High will compete at Mountain House (2-2) today.
