Underclassmen Diego Gutierrez, Carlos Castaneda, Jayden Pires and Armando Gutierrez gained valuable experiencing while representing Central Valley’s boys cross country program at the Sac-Joaquin Section Division-I Championships on Nov. 15 at Willow Hills Reservoir Regional Park.
“They did an awesome job,” Hawks’ head coach Horacio Garcia said. “The course is a bit more challenging than Frogtown. There are more hills. They’re steeper.”
Pires, Castaneda and Diego Gutierrez competed in the sophomore boys division.
The race featured a total of 50 runners.
Diego, Carlos and Jayden dropped out of the top 15 during the second half of the 2-mile race.
“They performed as well as they could,” Garcia said. “They got off to a good start. The hills took a toll on them. I know they’ll continue to improve. They’re only going to get better.”
Diego Gutierrez, a sophomore, was Central Valley’s top finisher.
He took 21st with a time of 12 minutes, 32 seconds.
“Overall, he did amazing,” Garcia said. “He improved greatly. He has high potential. He just needs to work on his stamina. The only way to do that is putting in miles at practice.”
Castaneda placed 27th (12:42).
“He ran a good race,” Garcia said. “He did awesome just like all year long. He worked really hard at practice. He was consistent.”
Pires, a sophomore, finished 31st (12:50).
“He performed well,” Garcia said. “Being a great athlete helps him out a lot.”
Armando Gutierrez took 13th in a field of 44 during the freshman boys race.
He posted a time of 13 minutes, 1 second on the 2-mile course.
“We’re satisfied with how he ran,” Garcia said. “This was his first year running. We knew he would be a big contributor to the team after watching him practice. If he continues to work hard and does track in the offseason, he’ll come back a lot stronger.”
Central Valley’s cross country program has a bright future according to Garcia.
“It was a learning year for the athletes and coaches,” he said. “We’re trying to build consistency throughout the season. They know what they need to work on.”
“If we keep this group together, they’ll do great things for CV,” Garcia added. “They’re hungry. They’ll battle for league titles in the upcoming years.”
