Oakdale High volleyball, cross country and girls golf teams enjoyed some collective success during recent preseason and Valley Oak League action in the Sac-Joaquin Section.

Volleyball
Two days after a season-opening loss to Division I Pitman, Oakdale landed middle of the pack, around 18th among 36 teams in the highly touted High Sierra Invitational in Reno on Sept. 2 and 3.
Oakdale finished 4-3 in three different pools after wins over Monte Vista, Pleasant Valley, Leland and Shasta. They fell to Del Oro, Vista Del Lago and Franklin of Elk Grove.
“We saw some great competition,” Oakdale coach Shelli Ponce said. “We earned some valuable court experience and played around a little with our lineup.”
Ponce said senior middle blockers Domi Powell and McKenzie Willet fought off illnesses throughout the tournament, but shined with big performances against top-level prep hitters.

Cross Country
Oakdale’s varsity boys saw first and second place overall finishes from Erick Padilla and Mario Jimenez lead the team to wins over both Ceres and Central Valley in a three-team showdown in Ceres on Sept. 1.
The varsity fell to both Ceres and Central Valley, but Oakdale’s frosh-soph boys and girls went undefeated on the course.
“Erick and Mario surprised me a little with their times,” Oakdale coach Guy Fowler said. “I was not expecting them to run those times yet, but I will take it. They are off to a great start.”
Andrew Markel, Luke Neubaum and Josue Baez also ran sharp times to finish in Oakdale’s top five during varsity action.
Oakdale’s girls were paced by third place finisher Liz Erwin, while Mike Chapin and Denise Thompson were overall winners of the frosh/soph race.
“I am very pleased with our performance and where we are so far,” coach Fowler said. “We have a lot of room for improvement.”

Golf
Two days after landing a dazzling 35-stroke performance to lead Oakdale over Kimball, freshman Mabel Wong shot 39 at the par-36 front nine of the Oakdale Golf and Country Club to lead Oakdale to a 263-326 win over Weston Ranch on Sept. 1.
Michelle Desrochers ended with a 51 while Nicole Stastny shot 54. Valerie Zemlyanskaya carded a 59 while Dylanie Donahue ended in 60 and Rebecca Cone 64.