Far from home, members of the Oakdale cross country varsity boys team made their presence felt at Woodward Park in Fresno. The team placed fifth in Division 3 at the state competition.

A total of 214 runners took part in a five kilometer race for the state title. Placing 17th overall was junior Parker Whitemyer with a time of 15:35. Whitemyer was named to the Third Team All-State. Senior Ismael Dominguez finished 20th overall with a time of 15:39 and was also named to Third Team All-State. Finishing in 25th place was senior Jacob Cavanaugh at 15:44, who received honorable mention for All-State. Rounding out the day for Oakdale were Weston McGhee (109th, 16:26); Quinn Baca (116th, 16:30); Dirk Scott (140th, 16:45) and Sean Muturi (164th, 17:06).

“Our boys came out to run, six out of the seven ran their best time of the season. These boys are incredible. For the fourth time in four years, we have finished in the top five at state,” said head coach Guy Fowler. “The best part was that we beat the team that edged us out at the Section championships by 123 points.”

It was also the third best performance ever by a Stanislaus County school, trailing only the 2022 and 2023 Oakdale teams.

Oakdale did not have the girls team there; however, freshman Addison Wylie made the trip as an individual. She went against 213 other state hopefuls. In the five kilometer race, Wylie finished in 48th place with a time of 18:56. This was the second fastest girls time in school history, according to Fowler.

“We never thought Addison would end up where she did at the beginning of the season. We knew that she was going to be a great addition to a very talented team but by the second meet she was our number one runner and never looked back,” noted Fowler. “To run the second fastest girls time in school history and only be a freshman … wow.”

The coach pointed out that both the boys and girls teams had an unbelievable season overall.

“They started preparing for the season in June and all that hard work paid off,” Fowler said. “Time for a short break and then start preparing for track season.”