Runners from Ceres High's, Central Valley's, Livingston's, Patterson's, Los Banos' and Pacheco's cross country teams competed at the Western Athletic Conference Preseason Meet on Wednesday at Ceres River Bluff Regional Park.
The competition was staged in 87-degree weather.
"It's early in the season," said Veronica Moreno, Central Valley's new head coach. "It gives us a good idea where we stand and need to improve. We have our work cut out for us."
Lisette Carretero led Ceres High's varsity girls program.
She placed third with a time of 24 minutes, 48 seconds on the 3-mile course.
Bulldog teammates Lacy Oliveira (26:49), Jennifer Cisneros (27:10), Karina Torrez (28:22), Cristina Arreola (28:31), Haleigh Leazer (30:13), Mariana Piceno (30:19), Donna Varga (35:00), Jennifer Cruz (38:20), Cristina Villalobos (40:44), Madison Sikiriz (41:11), Miranda Vazquez (46:43), Jocelyn Garcia (46:56) and Hilsa Alvarado (48:56) finished eighth, 10th, 14th, 16th, 22nd, 23rd, 36th, 39th, 41st, 42nd, 44th, 46th and 47th, respectively.
Central Valley's top finisher was Jessica Alvarez. She placed 18th (29:00).
Jocelyn Barrera (30:12), Jasmine Diaz (31:39), Amy Gonzalez (32:18), Daisy Ochoa (32:27), Vanessa Lopez Corona (35:00) and Adriana Cubillo (36:37) took 21st, 25th, 26th, 27th, 35th and 37th, respectively.
Christian Linarez finished ninth overall (20:50) while pacing Ceres High's boys team.
Bulldog teammates Manuel Baez (22:35), Angel Macias (22:37), Efren Ramirez (22:58), Nick Burt (23:02), Nathan Stone (24:18), Josh Moita (24:28), Adleberto Rodriguez (24:51), Josh Sandhu (24:52), Francisco Cory (27:05), Nuno Prime (27:44), Julian Rodriguez (27:58), Anthony Chen (28:03), David Medina (29:01), Isai Soto (30:06) and Demetrie Aburto (31:39) finished 21st, 22nd, 25th, 27th, 36th, 38th, 39th, 40th, 46th, 48th, 52nd, 53rd, 57th, 58th and 65th, respectively.
Anthony Carrillo (32nd place, 23:49), Inayat Sahota (41st, 25:24), Diego Andrade (43rd, 25:53), Alejandro Espinoza (47th, 27:11), Josiah Lopez (49th, 27:45), Julian Gallardo (45th, 26:40), Eric Romo (51st, 27:58), Eduardo Baca (54th, 28:13), David Fajardo (61st, 30:51), Arnulfo Serrano (66th, 32:06), Marcos Aguilar (68th, 33:08), Jesse Loya (69th, 33:13), Gurpal Samra (72nd, 34:08) and Mauricio Miranda (73rd, 34:50) represented Central Valley's boys squad.
Hawk standout Ben Saldana did not compete due to knee and foot injuries.
"It was better he stayed off his feet," Moreno said. "He'll be fine. He'll pull through."
Ceres High will host Los Banos at River Bluff on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.
Central Valley will face host Pacheco today.
"To be competitive, we need to cut our times down," Moreno said.
