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Mixed results for Central Valley, Ceres High cross country
•Bulldog, Hawk runners begin conference season, compete at Frogtown Invitational
LaDre Sengsoury
LaDre Sengsoury and members of Central Valley’s cross country program competed at the Frogtown Invitational on Sept. 17. - photo by Photo courtesy of StanCo Distance

Ceres High School’s cross country program opened the 2022 Western Athletic Conference season on Sept. 14 at Ceres River Bluff Regional Park.

Ceres High’s varsity girls totaled 66 points while taking fourth in the team standings behind Mountain House (29), Los Banos (59) and Lathrop (60) during the WAC’s first cluster meet.

“The team scores were really close,” Bulldogs’ head coach Owen Brown said. “That was nice to see.”

Freshman Brianna Luna paced Ceres High with an eighth-place finish.

She completed the 3-mile race in 24 minutes, 35 seconds.

Jaden Stahl (25:17), Evelyn Alavarez (25:43), Erica Vierra (27:26), Jelaine Esguerra (32:38), Jayda Bryant (35:30) and Daneli Oropeza Mendoza (35:54) finished 10th, 12th, 20th, 27th, 31st and 32nd, respectively.

Ceres High’s varsity boys amassed 172 points while tying for seventh place with Los Banos.

The Bulldogs were topped by Mountain House (34), Beyer (36), Lathrop (87), Johansen (143), Grace Davis (148) and Pacheco (163).

“We’ll have an opportunity to beat a couple teams next time,” Brown said.

Erick Valladares paced Ceres High with a 25th-place finish.

He completed the 3-mile race in 19 minutes, 48 seconds.

Reymundo Soto (20:23), Cesar Bolanos Aleman (21:17), Yahir Ruiz (21:40), Simon Pezzoni (21:58), Gabriel Sandoval (22:02), Diego Ayala (22:19), Eduardo Garcia (22:48), Paul Ruiz (23:45), Martin Bolanos Aleman (25:46), Javier Torrez (28:30) and Alejandro Plantillas (29:20) took 31st, 40th, 44th, 46th, 47th, 50th, 56th, 61st, 67th, 74th and 76th, respectively.

Ceres High’s junior-varsity boys finished second with a team score of 46. 

Mountain House (17) was first.

Salvador Erenas paced the Bulldogs with a fifth-place finish.

He completed the 2-mile race in 13 minutes, 42 seconds.

Aaron Lopez (14:49), Erik Bonilla (15:09), Israel Jaurez (15:41) and Atul Julka (17:13) took 12th, 14th, 16th and 18th, respectively.

Priscilla Ibarra took third with a time of 18 minutes, 56 seconds on the 2-mile course during the junior-varsity girls meet.

Ceres High’s frosh-soph boys team finished seventh with a team score of 215.

The Bulldogs bested Johansen (216) by one point.

Mountain House (26), Beyer (49), Los Banos (75), Lathrop (89), Pacheco (118) and Grace Davis (171) placed first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively.

Ivan Rodriguez paced Ceres High with a 45th-place finish.

He completed the 2-mile race in 15 minutes, 16 seconds.

Jose Carranza (15:17), Angel Jacuez (16:20), Zachary Chastain (17:02), Edwin Martinez (18:04) and Alexander Vas Dinis (21:00) took 46th, 54th, 59th, 62nd and 66th, respectively.

The Bulldogs had just three runners compete at the frosh-soph girls meet.

Stephanie Espinoza paced Ceres High with a 19th-place finish.

She completed the 2-mile race in 18 minutes, 14 seconds.

Bulldog teammates Alexa Romo (19:28) and Miranda Zepeda (22:47) took 30th and 44th, respectively.


CCC RESULTS

Central Valley High School’s cross country program competed at the Central California Conference’s first cluster meet on Sept. 14 at TW Patterson Sports Complex.

“We had really, good performances,” head coach Michael Mrgudic said. 

Central Valley’s junior-varsity boys defeated Golden Valley and Atwater en route to a first-place finish in the team standings.

The Hawks, Cougars and Falcons totaled 30, 45 and 47 points, respectively.

Armando Guajardo took first with a time of 12 minutes, 52 seconds on the 2-mile course.

Justin Alvarez (13:14), Xavier Ramirez (13:29), LaDre Sengsoury (13:54) and Cesar Hernandez (14:07) placed fourth, ninth, 12th and 15th, respectively.

Victoria Guajardo finished 13th with a time of 19 minutes, 10 seconds during the JV girls race.

Ashby Anaya (20:12) was 16th.

Central Valley’s frosh-soph boys finished fourth.

The Hawks (111) beat Buhach Colony (115) and Golden Valley (120).

Atwater (33), Merced (48) and Patterson (91) finished 1-2-3 in team scoring.

Central Valley was led by Alexis Landa.

He placed second with a time of 12 minutes, 05 seconds on the 2-mile course.

Hawk teammates Jackson Stokes (14:02), Emanuel Barajas (15:03), Frankie Klino (15:32), Joshuah Michelena (15:45), Ricardo Sanchez (19:26) and Michael McCoy (20:05) took 16th, 28th, 31st, 35th, 47th and 48th, respectively.

Central Valley’s frosh-soph girls also took fourth.

The Hawks (75) finished behind Atwater (46), Patterson (52) and Golden Valley (57).

Central Valley was led by Mariana Campos.

She placed third with a time of 14 minutes, 25 seconds on the 2-mile course.

Althea Mumford (15:43), Milianna Rios (19:59), Samaria Hernandez (20:01) and Alicia Espinoza (20:54) took sixth, 25th, 26th and 28th, respectively.

Central Valley didn’t have enough runners to post team scores in the varsity division.


FROGTOWN MEET

The members of Ceres High’s and Central Valley’s boys and girls cross country programs raced at the Frogtown Invitational on Sept. 17 in Angels Camp.

“The kids got to compete against kids from all over the section,” Hawks’ leader Michael Mrgudic said. “They did great.”

“They’ll get better,” Bulldogs’ head coach Owen Brown said.

The Bulldogs placed 12th with a team score of 310 in the varsity boys small school division.

Ripon (37), The King’s Academy (87) and Hilmar (115) took first, second and third, respectively.

Erick Vallardes was Ceres High’s top placer.

He took 46th with a time of 20 minutes, 22 seconds on the 3-mile course at the Calaveras County Fairgrounds.

Bulldog teammates Cesar Bolanos (21:28), Eduardo Garcia (22:42), Paul Ruiz (23:23), Salvador Erenas (23:28), Diego Ayala (23:31), Gabriel Sandoval (25:15), Alejandro Plantillas (27:11), Samuel Mariscal (27:19) and Javier Torrez (29:57) placed 73rd, 101st, 113th, 114th, 116th, 130th, 143rd, 144th and 152nd, respectively.

The Bulldogs had two individual competitors in the varsity girls small school division.

Evelyn Alavarez was Ceres High’s top placer.

She took 57th with a time of 25 minutes, 31 seconds on the 2-mile course.

Erica Vierra (28:58) finished 89th.

Central Valley’s Armando Guajardo took first in the junior-varsity boys large school division.

He completed the 2-mile race in 13 minutes, 25 seconds.

Guajardo topped 48 other runners.

Hawk teammates LaDre Sengsoury (13:57), Xavier Ramirez (14:04) and Cesar Hernandez (14:41) placed seventh, ninth and 20th, respectively.

The Hawks posted a team score of 237 on their way to finishing ninth in the frosh-soph girls large school division.

Mariana Campos led Central Valley with a fifth-place showing.

She completed the 2-mile race in 15 minutes, 07 seconds.

Althea Mumford (15th, 15:51), Alicia Espinoza (97th, 21:12), Samaria Hernandez (99th, 21:16) and Milianna Rios (101st, 21:18) rounded out the Hawks’ lineup.

Jaden Stahl placed 14th with a time of 16 minutes, 13 seconds in the frosh-soph girls small school division.

Brianna Luna (17th, 16:31), Stephanie Espinoza (42nd, 18:24) and Miranda Zepeda (66th, 22:36) also represented the Bulldogs.

“They (Jaden and Brianna) did fantastic,” Brown said.

Jaden Stahl
Ceres High’s Jaden Stahl placed 14th at the Frogtown Invitational this past weekend. - photo by Photo courtesy of StanCo Distance