Oakdale’s cross country teams headed to Eagle Lakes of Tracy for the Valley Oak League (VOL) Cluster #1 on Wednesday, Sept. 14. The eight teams from the league competed on the grueling course. Oakdale’s varsity girls competed in the five kilometer race as three members of the team finished in the top ten. Freshman Karina Prado placed third overall in the race with a 21:04 time. One second separated senior Kristin Aguilar and freshman Kayden Legan as the senior finished seventh (22:14) with Legan just a step behind (22:15).
The varsity boys ran well on Wednesday as well, as three of their runners placed in the top 15. Senior Justin Crescenti earned a top ten spot, finishing seventh with an 18:05 finish. Juniors Ben Miller and Russell Pabalan were separated by seven seconds as Miller finished 12th in the race with a time of 18:32 and Pabalan placed 14th overall with a time of 18:39.
Shining bright for the junior varsity girls was senior Piper Collins. She took first place in overall in 26:41, earning top honors. Teammates Brooke Basore and Kaitlyn Dickson also had an impressive afternoon. Both juniors placed in the top ten as Basore placed seventh (28:01) and not far behind was ninth place finisher Dickson (28:26).
A rough outing for the junior varsity boys as a unit, however senior Diego Gonzales placed in the top 20 with an 18th place finish. Gonzales finished the course in 23:16. Teammates Arturo Verduzco and Ivan Ruiz placed in the top 30. Junior Verduzco placed 23rd (23:47) and senior Ruiz placed 28th (24:32).
Oakdale’s freshman/sophomore girls competed in the 2.1 mile course at Eagle Lakes. Making a big statement was a trio of girls who finished in the top ten. Second place went to freshman Daniela De la Riva at 16:49. Sophomore Taylor Alosio came in third place (1703). Earning a ninth place finish was freshman Alisia Martinho (18:05).
Capping off the successful meet was the Oakdale freshman/sophomore boys team. Two runners placed in the top ten and freshman Hayden Hill placed 11th with a 15:12 finish in the 2.1 mile course. Freshman Antonio Pantoja placed third in the meet at 14:18 and teammate and fellow freshman Brandon Martinez earned a seventh place finish at 14:42.
“Overall we had a great day, but if you were to ask the teams, they would tell you they did not perform well. This tells us, as coaches, they really want to get better,” said coach Guy Fowler. “Our depth in the program really showed up today.”
Oakdale heads to University of the Pacific this Saturday for the UOP Tiger Invitational.
