There was plenty of action on the courts, greens and hills this past week for Mustang athletes. Cross country, golf, tennis and volleyball all earned some wins. Here is a look at the recent contests.
VOLLEYBALL
Oakdale was pushed to the limit on Thursday, Sept. 21 when they hosted East Union in Valley Oak League play. The varsity Lady Mustangs came away with an emotional five set win over the visitors. It was an opening set 19-25 loss for Oakdale but they came back to take the next two sets by the exact same scores, 25-19, 25-19 over the Lancers. East Union was a 26-24 winner in a marathon fourth set but Oakdale closed it out in the fifth, winning 15-9. The Mustangs will next host Central Catholic in VOL action. That match is scheduled on Thursday, Sept. 28 at 6:15 p.m.
CROSS COUNTRY
The Golden Eagle Invitational in Clovis this past Friday, Sept. 22, saw Oakdale High School take first place in both varsity boys and girls. Out of the 14 teams competing in the small school division, the Oakdale varsity boys scored 25 team points to take first and the girls left as champions with 75 total team points.
In the boys 5000-meter race, over 100 runners took the starting line. It was Jackson Oliveira who took first place overall at 15:42.94. Third place went to Omar Alsaidi in 15:54.97 and Mason Oliveira finished fourth overall at 15:56.25. Jacob Cavanaugh placed ninth overall at 16:37.03.
The Oakdale girls team featured a trio of top 15 runners with over 100 participants in the 5000-meter race. Bradie Evans placed sixth overall at 21:21.72. Audry Scott placed seventh overall at 21:33.0 and Brady Wylie finished in 11th place overall at 21:46.47.
Oakdale returns to action on Wednesday, Oct. 4 for the Valley Oak League #2 event held in Ripon at Mistlin Park. The league race is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
GOLF
It was a busy couple of days for the Lady Mustang girl golfers as they played a pair of nine-hole matches. On Sept. 18 the girls took on Hughson in non-league action. The contest took place at River Oak Golf Course where the Mustangs emerged victorious 226-243. Jenna O’Neal shot a 39 for Oakdale. Second year team member Sam Oliviera shot 42 and Jillian Rose shot 47. Rounding out the day for Oakdale were Madison Bohannon (48), Paige Wilson (50) and Bryanna Perez-Ramirez (55). The next day Oakdale took on Central Catholic in Valley Oak League action. The Mustangs improved to 2-0 in league play as they defeated the Raiders 230-335. Hannah Herschbach shot 40 on the day to lead all golfers. Regan Shatswell (43), Xcaret Duque (45), Aubrey Thompson (46), Madison Bohannon (56), and Analise Velazquez (56) completed the field for Oakdale. The girls were scheduled to travel to Tracy to face Kimball in league play on Monday, Sept. 25 following The Leader’s press time.
TENNIS
Tuesday, Sept. 19 the tennis girls traveled to Modesto to face Central Catholic. Oakdale improved to 3-0 in Valley Oak League play as they defeated the Raiders 6-3. It started off rough for Oakdale as their top two singles players fell short. Number one Payton Avila lost 3-6, 6-7 (5-7). Number two Riley Coviello-Miller also lost in straight sets 0-6, 1-6. The Mustangs regained momentum as Kaylee Schauer won in three sets 6-1, 4-6, 7-5. Riley Avila won in straight sets 6-3, 6-1. Maddie McTague also won in straight sets 6-1, 6-0. Audrey Hely lost in a battle 2-6, 7-6 (7-9), 1-6.
In doubles Oakdale won all three contests to secure the VOL victory. Sydney Birkes and Kylee Joseph won 6-1, 6-4. Jacy Door and Emily Correia did not surrender a point in their 6-0, 6-0 victory. Jill McAndrews and Reece Riley came away with a 6-1, 6-0 victory. Oakdale next turns their attention to Sierra on Thursday, Sept. 28. The league showdown will be held in Manteca.