Conditions were perfect last Wednesday for the 11 cross country teams that participated in the Mid-Valley League Championships at the Colusa-Sacramento State Recreation Area.
And while there were some outstanding individual performances among the 95 athletes in attendance, the day belonged to the host Colusa RedHawks, who swept the varsity team competitions and turned in an effort that Colusa coach Matt Giffin was excited to see from his squad.
“Coach Darren Townzen and I are extremely proud of our young team,” said the longtime coach. “Many of our athletes are first-year runners; 13, in fact, have never run cross country. All of our student athletes have worked extremely hard to rise to become the top varsity teams in the MVL.”
After having four runners finish in the top seven places, and earn All-League honors, Colusa’s varsity boys beat out second place Live Oak 26-48 to claim their fourth straight MVL title.
Leading the RedHawks was junior Kevin Sarabia (17:21), who captured second place overall, while freshman Cesar Cruz (18:31), sophomore Jesse Medina (18:38), and freshman Benji Granados (18:47) were third, fourth and seventh, respectively.
Rounding out the Colusa team was junior Jared Sager (19:27) in 11th place with a personal record on the course.
Among the varsity girls, Williams’ sophomore Isabella Santillan (22:21) received All-League recognition, crossing the line in fifth, as did RedHawk sophomore Elle Faris (24:26), who was tenth.
Finishing mid-pack in the field of 27, and just behind Faris were teammates Lupita Perez (24:30), Monserrat Orozco (25:06), Naomi Silva (25:14) and Lissandra Fuerte (25:18), who comprised the rest of the league champion squad that defeated runner-up Live Oak 28-42
In the JV boys’ race, Maxwell made another strong showing with Walter Avery (12:20) taking second, and Massey Baker (13:05) coming in third.
Pierce garnered three of the top five places in the JV girls’ competition, with Karina Grajedra (15:45) in first place, Isabel Alvarado (16:09) in second, and Carla Moreno (17:36) in fifth.
Teams reconvened on November 10 at West Valley High School in Cottonwood for the Northern Section CIF Championships, with the hope of qualifying for the State Cross Country Championships to be held on Nov. 27 in Fresno. ■