It was a successful day for the Oakdale High School cross country teams at Eagal Lakes in Tracy. On Wednesday, Sept. 12 the Mustangs competed in the first Valley Oak League cross country meet. Oakdale sent out teams for the varsity girls, varsity boys, junior varsity girls, freshman and sophomore girls, junior varsity boys, and freshman and sophomore boys.

Highlighting the day for the Mustangs was Haleigh Humble for the varsity girls. As a team, Oakdale placed first overall and Humble set the tone with a first place finish in the five-kilometer run. The freshman finished the race in 20:55. Placing second in the race was Kayden Legan with a time of 21:19. Kendra Branch, who also plays tennis during the fall, placed ninth in the race at 23:17. Hannah Beth Norman placed 10th overall at 23:20.

“I am very happy for our varsity girls, they have been working extremely hard and wanted to perform well, and they did,” said head coach Guy Fowler.

The varsity boys placed third overall in the meet. Dustin Chavez earned a fifth place finish in the five-kilometer run, completing the course in 18:22. Earning a top 10 finish was Tanner Cusano, placing ninth overall at 18:53.

The junior varsity girls did not send an entire team but as individuals, Mariyn Waterman placed third overall at 26:40 and earning fourth place was Alyssa Beltran at 28:43. For the freshman and sophomore girls, also running as individuals as opposed to having a full team, Lauren Schickert earned a fourth place finish in the 2.1 mile run with a time of 17:49. Jennifer Blanco took ninth at 20:42.

For the freshman and sophomore boys it was Daniel Creekmore who helped the team battle to a third place finish, taking top honors as an individual with a time of 13:22 in the 2.1-mile race. Ernesto Gonzalez placed third overall at 13:37 and Dominic Robles placed sixth at 14:07.

Oakdale’s junior varsity boys finished the day in second place. The team was anchored by Justin Carlos, who ran a 21:01 in the 5k, good for a second place finish. Brendan Thompson placed third overall, finishing 12 seconds behind Carlos. Morgan Bairos placed seventh overall at 21:55 and Anthony Rupe finished the day in eighth place at 22 minutes even.

“Overall, we performed well and competed hard. We still have a lot of work to do but we are getting better every day,” Fowler said.

Oakdale returns to action on Oct. 3 when they travel to Legion Park in Modesto for VOL Meet #2.