LIBERTY RANCH RUNNERS ADVANCE TO STATE
FOLSOM — More than a dozen area high school runners competed at the Sac-Joaquin Section Cross-Country Championships at Willow Hills on the Folsom High campus on Saturday.
Out of that group, two Liberty Ranch High runners placed high to earn a trip to the California Interscholastic Federation State Cross-Country Championships. That elite event will take place at Woodward Park in Fresno on Saturday, Nov. 30.
Cristian Martinez, a senior, was the first Liberty Ranch runner to cross the finish line in the Division IV boys’ race. He took third place with a time of 16 minutes, 25 seconds.
Hawk teammate Braden Birkes, also a senior, punched his ticket to the state meet with a ninth place finish at 17:05. The top 10 individuals who are not on the top three teams advance to the state meet.
As a team, Liberty Ranch took eighth place with 151 points.
Other Liberty Ranch runners who placed were Raghav Vaudevan, 41st at 18:38.4; Daniel Gonzalez, 44th at 18:43.8; Cole Parker, 54th at 19:38.5; Cyrus Walker, 55th at 19:38.6 and Sean Nietschke, 65th at 20:28.8.
In the D-IV girls’ race, Galt’s Cheyenne Ullrich, only a freshman, was 24th at 23:17.2. Sofia Arana was 36th at 24:29.2, followed by Warrior teammates Julie Sporleder 40th at 24:45.7. Arana and Sporleder are also freshmen.
Other Galt runners who placed were Sasha Martinez, 46th at 25:22.9; Madison Petersen, 47th at 25:26.1; Emma Sporleder, 55th at 27:02.6 and Zada Arias, 57th at 28:15.9.
As a team, Galt took ninth place with 193 points.
In the Division II girls’ race, Tokay’s Kali Anema, a junior, took 25th place at 20:43. Kari Anema, Kali’s twin sister, was 48th at 21:33.6.
According to Tokay coach Karey Harty, Kari Anema started strong but the last 200 meters proved to be the difference. After staying in the top 15 of the first 2 miles of the race, Kari, who like Kali is a junior, collapsed the last 200 meters of the race. Kari got up and dragged herself to the finish and collapsed for a second time.
In the same division, Lodi took ninth place as a team with 223 points. Carlee McCabe led the way for the Flames with a time of 20:45.8, followed by Yasmin Melendrez, 41st at 21:31.1. Pamela Decko followed at 46th place at 21:43.4; Audrey Garcia, 52nd at 22:14.6; Paris Heiser, 60th at 22:59; Frida Rodriguez 63rd at 23:18.2 and Diana Vargas 66th at 23:46.2.
Luke Petersen was the only Lodi boy who competed in the D-II boys’ race. Petersen took 51st at 18:02.4.