The Oakdale High cross country program met up with some of the best runners in the area when they participated in the 7th Annual Sierra Invitational Cross Country Meet at Legion Park in Modesto on Sept. 12.
Oakdale got a solid outing from its defending Valley Oak League champion varsity girls squad, which closed out the seventh invitational with a respectable 7th place finish overall.
The girls closed out the meet in 4th place against the small schools, giving a quality glimpse as to what to expect from the Lady Mustang group again this season.
Kristen Brunk paced the Oakdale girls squad, finishing the 5K race in 22:50, good for 22nd place overall. Teammate Sara Aguayo managed a top 40 finish, closing out the run in 23:18, while teammate Liz Erwin finished in 38th place overall with a time of 23:36.
The varsity boys team battled against over 250 runners, grabbing a 17th overall finish amongst all the competitors and a ninth place finish in the small schools division.
Gavin Smith was Oakdale’s first finisher on the boys side, completing the course in 18:46, good for 69th place overall. Teammates Bryan Berst (18:49) and Joshua Salas (19:27) both were able to complete the race in the top-100 finishers, helping the Mustangs to their top-20 team finish.
The JV team found some success on the boys side, taking home a sixth place finish in the small schools division, being paced by Louie Brichetto, who finished the 2-mile course in12:32 for a 46th place.
The girls did not field an entire team, yet still saw a strong showing from Dulce Rodriguez (15:19) who turned in a quality meet.
The squad will look to put together another strong showing when they compete in the Hughson Supercross on Sept. 16 in Hughson.
