Prep cross country dynasties set for section finals
The Central Section Cross Country Championships on Thursday at Woodward Park will be about dynasties, marvelous McFarland and Fresno High School’s Evert Silva.
Dynasties? Consider these:
▪ Madera South’s boys, led by Miguel Villar and returning most of the runners who nearly delivered a perfect score in Division I a year ago, will be favored to win a ninth consecutive section title. The eight have come in three divisions, the past four in D-I. Behind Fresno Bee 2015 Runner of the Year Eduardo Herrera, who has moved on to the University of Colorado, they placed 1-2-3-4-10 while scoring 20 points last year.
▪ Buchanan’s girls, led by Tri-River Athletic Conference Runner of the Year Meagen Lowe as only a sophomore, are expected to recapture their D-I supremacy after Clovis North took over the past two years. The Bears had won 14 straight D-I crowns before that.
▪ And how about McFarland?
The Cougars boys, drawing from an enrollment of 860, could give Madera South a push while competing in D-I for the third straight year as a result of the section’s competitive equity model, which shapes postseason divisions by recent performance as opposed to enrollment.
Madera South has nearly 3,000 students.
Further, McFarland is expected to beat all five Clovis Unified schools, each with more than 2,000 students.
The Cougars won 25 section titles in smaller divisions and nine state championships from 1987 to 2013, according to section historian Bob Barnett.
Walt Disney Pictures found their story so compelling they produced a movie, “McFarland, USA” in February 2015.
The boys D-I race is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
Fresno senior Silva, competing in D-III, could produce the best boys time of all five divisions on the 3.1-mile course. He’s ranked sixth in the state overall by dyestatcal.com and third in D-III by prepcaltrack.com.
The boys D-III race is scheduled to start at 2 p.m.
The meet will begin with boys D-IV at 11 a.m. and close with girls D-III at 3:30 p.m. It will qualify a combination of teams and individuals in each division for the CIF State Championships at the same venue Nov. 26.
SoCal girls golf – Clovis West, led by 6-over par 78s from Aya Enkoji and Kayla Terrey, placed seventh and Clovis North eighth in the Southern California Regional girls tournament last week at Arrowhead Country Club in San Bernardino.
Clovis West, coming off a fourth straight section D-I title, shot a 408 while also receiving an 82 from Madison Nii and 85s from Taylor Dufresne and Allyson Musser. Claire Shubin had a non-scoring 87.
Stockdale’s Lexi Keene led section representatives with a 74, tying for 24th. Clovis North’s Tammy Lim tied for 30th with a 75.
No individuals or teams from the Central Section qualified for Tuesday’s state championship at Red Hill Country Club in Rancho Cucamonga.
Andy Boogaard: 559-441-6400, @beepreps
Central Section Cross Country Championships
THURSDAY
(Woodward Park, 3.1 miles)
BOYS
11 a.m., Division IV; 11:30 a.m., D-V; 1 p.m., D-I; 2 p.m., D-III; 3 p.m., D-II.
GIRLS
Noon, D-IV; 12:30 p.m., D-V; 1:30 p.m., D-II; 2:30 p.m., D-I; 3:30 p.m., D-III.
League meet results
TRI-RIVER ATHLETIC CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
(Nov. 10, Woodward Park, 3.1 miles)
BOYS
Team scores: 1. Clovis 44, 2. Buchanan 60, 3. Clovis North 65, 4. Clovis East 70, 5. Clovis West 121, 6. Central 158.
Individuals: 1. Hayden Hansen, Buchanan, 16:07.66; 2. Jared Falcone, Clovis East, 16:13.85; 3. Stewart Fernandez, Buchanan, 16:15.68; 4. Roberto Lopez, Clovis East, 16:29.21; 5. Spencer Hauxhurst, Clovis North, 16:30.05; 6. Izaiah Flores, Clovis, 16:33.12; 7. Isaiah Galindo, Clovis North, 16:37.86; 8. Nathan Nickeson, Clovis, 16:40.74; 9. Jackee Moua, Clovis, 16:44.50; 10. Pardeep Kandola, Clovis, 16:49.61.
GIRLS
Team scores: 1. Buchanan 20, 2. Clovis 55, 3. Clovis North 67, 4. Clovis East 95, 5. Clovis West 134, 6. Central 187.
Individuals: 1. Meagen Lowe, Buchanan, 18:10.36; 2. Corie Smith, Buchanan, 18:10.86; 3. Blayney Dolan, Clovis North, 18:25.65; 4. Katie Nili, Buchanan, 18:49.09; 5. Olivia Herrera, Clovis, 18:51.17; 6. Mackenzie Mora, Buchanan, 19:04.78; 7. Clare Hernandez, Buchanan, 19:14.78; 8. Vannessa Chavira, Clovis, 19:35.56; 9. Genevieve Serna, Clovis, 19:36.53; 10. MacKenzie Madron, Clovis East, 19:38.28.
ALL-TRI-RIVER ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
BOYS
Runner of the Year: Hayden Hansen, Buchanan
Coach of the Year: Rob Brenner, Clovis
First team: Stewart Fernandez, Buchanan; Jared Falcone, Roberto Lopez, Clovis East; Izaiah Flores, Nathan Nickeson, Jackee Moua, Pardeep Kandola, Clovis; Spencer Hauxhurst, Isaiah Galindo, Clovis North.
GIRLS
Runner of the Year: Meagen Lowe, Buchanan
Coach of the Year: Brian Weaver, Buchanan
First team: Corie Smith, Katie Nili, Clare Hernandez, Mackenzie Mora, Buchanan; Blayney Dolan, Clovis North; Olivia Herrera, Vannessa Chavira, Genevieve Serna, Clovis; MacKenzie Madron, Clovis East.
COUNTY/METRO ATHLETIC CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
(Nov. 9, Woodward Park, 3.1 miles)
BOYS
Team scores: 1. Madera South 18, 2. Madera 61, 3. Sanger 79, 4. Bullard 103, 5. Edison 121, 6. Memorial 137.
Individuals: 1. Miguel Villar, Madera South, 16:07.5., 2. Nicholas Hernandez, Madera South, 16:16.3; 3. Tim Fitch, Madera, 16:27.8. 4. Adrian Alvarez, Madera South, 16:42.0; 5. Victor Ochoa, Madera South, 16:51.6; 6. Seth Garcia, Madera South, 16:52.9; 7. Lorenzo Cabellos, Sanger, 16:55.7; 8. Bryan Banuelos, Edison, 17:00.5; 9. Brandon Ebersole, Madera, 17:00.9; 10. Christian Nevarez, Madera South, 17:06.1.
GIRLS
Team scores: 1. Madera South 31, 2. Madera 44, 3. Edison 82, 4. Sanger 99, 5. Bullard 103.
Individuals: 1. Unique Ford, Madera, 19:15.6; 2. Olivia Zambrano, Madera, 19:56.3., 3. Veronica Ortega, Madera South, 20:04.9; 4. Diana Iniguez, Madera South, 20:27.8; 5. Sasha Solano-McDaniel, Edison, 20:30.0; 6. Marlen Martinez-Lopez, Madera South, 20.33.0; 7 Marianne Gleason, Memorial, 20:42.1; 8. Araceli Mancilla, Bullard, 20:43.8; 9. Triny Leon, Madera South, 20:51.6; 10. Cierra Camarillo, Edison, 20:56.0.
NORTH YOSEMITE LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS
(Nov. 9, Woodward Park, 3.1 miles)
BOYS
Team scores: 1. Reedley 32, 2. Roosevelt 49, 3. Fresno 70, 4. McLane 93, 5. Hoover 146, 6. Sunnyside 152.
Individuals: 1. Evert Silva, Fresno, 15:44.9; 2. Martin Garcia, Roosevelt, 16:25.6; 3. Ruben Reyes, Reedley, 16:43.8; 4. Isaiah Montion, Roosevelt, 16:47.5; 5. Alex Garcia, Reedley, 16:56.3; 6. Mauro Sanchez, Reedley, 16:56.9; 7. Christian Gomez, Reedley, 17:00.6; 8. Michael Zungia, Roosevelt, 17:21.2; 9. Eliel Payan, McLane, 17:27.8; 10. Josue Estevez, McLane, 17:30.4.
GIRLS
Team scores: 1. Sunnyside 55, 2. Reedley 58, 3. Fresno 69, 4. Roosevelt 107, 5. Hoover 109, 6. McLane 120.
Individuals: 1. Gabriela Jimenez, Fresno, 20:17.3; 2. Jessica Valles, Sunnyside, 21:04.3; 3. Yorkabel Gebrehiwot, Hoover, 21:10.8; 4. Gina Chavez, Roosevelt, 21:38.8; 5. Ximena Ramos, Reedley, 21:45.6; 6. Carissa Hernandez, Sunnyside, 21:57.4; 7. Keila Robles, Reedley, 22:16.3; 8. Giselle Corona, Hoover, 22:21.4; 9. Leslie Rojas, McLane, 22:22.9; 10. Giselle Sanchez, Roosevelt, 22.29.0
This story was originally published November 15, 2016 at 6:38 PM with the headline "Prep cross country dynasties set for section finals."