With the lingering effects of heavy rain bogging down the course at the Colusa-Sacramento River State Recreation Area, cross country runners from the local county teams ran an alternative route last Wednesday afternoon in the Mid-Valley League preview race, but didn’t let it slow them down.
For the second week in a row, Colusa’s Kevin Sarabia finished in the top spot in the varsity boys’ division, setting a personal record on the three-mile course, with a time of 17:20.
Four other RedHawks cracked the top 10 including Cesar Cruz (18:20) in third, Jesse Medina (18:44) in fifth, Benji Granados (19:05) in seventh, and Jared Sager (19:56) in ninth.
Colusa and Pierce comprised the majority of runners in the girls’ varsity race and placed seven runners in the top 10.
Leading the way was the RedHawks’ Elle Faris (24:23), who set a personal best, as she crossed the line in third place, ahead of Pierce’s Diana Huerta (25:05) in fifth.
Positions six through nine went to Colusa’s Lupita Perez, (25:07), Lissandra Fuerte (25:38), Monserrat Orozco (25:42) and Naomi Silva (26:14), while the Bears’ Celeste Grajeda (27:08) was tenth.
Maxwell’s Walter Avery (12:04) recorded a second place finish among the JV boys, beating out a pair of Williams’ harriers in Ernesto Lemus (12:40) who was third, and Luis Martinez (13:15) in fourth.
In the JV girls’ competition, the Yellowjackets’ Isabella Santillan (14:49) had another impressive performance to capture her second win in a row, while Pierce’s Karina Grajedra (16:43) and Isabel Alvarado (16:57) were second and third, respectively.
Runners reconvened at the State Park on Nov. 3 to compete in the MVL Championships and then will begin preparations for the CIF Northern Section Finals, which are to be held Nov. 10 at West Valley High School in Cottonwood. ■