San Marcos girls cross country captured first place and Dos Pueblos earned a second-place finish in both races at the Channel League prelims on Saturday in Ojai.
The Royals’ girls ended the day with a team score of 34 to finish just ahead of the Chargers at 40. In the boys race, Dos Pueblos picked up 57 points and San Marcos came in fifth with 112.
Finally, the Dons placed sixth on both the boys and girls side with 156 and 149 total points, respectively.
While the prelims account for half of the Channel League scoring, the second half will be decided at the Channel League Finals at Dos Pueblos on Wednesday, Nov. 5.
San Marcos
The first-place girls squad was powered by a stellar all-around performance, with all five scoring runners coming in the top 10.
Sofi Hernandez crossed the finish line in second place with her time of 19:16, while Autumn Richardson came up behind her in fifth place at 19:19.
Meanwhile, Layla Llewllyn (19:19, 9th), Elsie Tuttle (19:43, 9th) and Samara Shalhoub (19:47, 10th) rounded out the San Marcos racers.
“Having all five of our scorers in the top 10 was amazing,” San Marcos head coach Marilyn Hantgin said. “The girls ran together most of the time. The spread between our first and fifth runner is only about 30 seconds, which is exactly what we have been working on and talking about throughout the season.
“Most people don’t realize that cross country is a team sport. It takes all members to work together to win a meet. These girls believe in each other and if one might have a bad day, the others are there to pick them up.”
In the boys race, Wyatt Degner was the lone Royal in the top 10 with an eighth-place time of 16:14.
“Wyatt is a senior but a first-time cross country runner. He has so much natural talent and is still learning so much about the sport,” Hantgin said.
The next four San Marcos runners were Audric Hallberg (17:04), Everett Young (17:24), Cesar Gutierrez (17:43) and Walker Gregorio (17:51).
“Our boys team is super young. We have one senior, three sophomores and one freshman,” Hantgin said. “They continue to improve and the learning and growing they are experiencing is so valuable as we move on throughout the season.”
The Royals will compete in the Clovis Invitational next weekend.
Dos Pueblos
Cate Bishop set the tone for the Charger girls, racing her way to a third-place finish with an impressive time of 19:16. Vienza Machuca (19:21) and Iyla Herrick (19:23) weren’t far behind in sixth and seventh place, respectively.
That trio was closely followed by Emilie Joulie Mares (20:09, 11th), Selah Blackwell (20:12, 13th), Madelyn Myers (20:36, 18th) and Gwen Shea (20:41, 20th).
“With Cate (Bishop) leading up front and depth through seven, this group is built to peak when it matters most, and November is when it matters most,” Dos Pueblos head coach David Jackson said.
The Charger boys, who were missing some players due to the SAT, also had a strong day, led by top-10 finishes from Oliver Saleh (16:11.59, 7th) and Linus Martin (16:15, 9th).
Dos Pueblos also got solid showings from Phillip Contakes (16:25, 12th), Ian McMurtry (16:28, 14th), Quintin Holland (16:33, 15th), Dane Kosek (17:01, 18th) and Tristan Marston (17:28, 26th).
“We’ll get our test-takers back in the mix soon, but today showed the boys have the depth to run with anyone,” Jackson said.
Santa Barbara High
The boys were led by back-to-back finishes by Ethan Walp and Kik Van Engelen in 20th and 21st place, respectively. Walp finished in 17:10 while Van Engelen crossed the finish line in 17:16.
They were joined by Oscar Green (18:16, 35th), Lucca Lowry (18:29, 37th) and Noah Davis (19:29, 43rd).
“I can’t say enough about the fight Oscar, Lucca and Noah put up for their teammates today,” Santa Barbara High head coach Olivia Perdices said. “Those guys are moving up every time they race and it’s fun to watch.”
As for the girls, Itzel Rayos Jimenez led the pack with a 15th-place finish and a time of 20:14, while Sydney Burgoyne came in 16th place at 20:26.
The rest of the Santa Barbara High racers were Meg Covington (24:37, 40th), Ariadna Aguilera (24:53, 41st) and Samantha Morello (26:34, 43rd).
“Gutsy racing from the two freshmen. Meg and Sam really stepped up and ran big PRs in a pressure situation,” Perdices said.
“The Channel League is deep. I’m proud of how our kids showed up and put all of themselves out there for each other today. We’re walking away with course bests for all 10 scorers and personal bests for nine of them.”