MHS cross country place 17th, 18th at state meet
Best finishes for the teams in school history
The Monache High School girls cross country team ended the season with a 17th place finish at the CIF State Cross Country Champions on Saturday, Nov. 25 at Woodward Park in Fresno. The 17th place finish, along with the Marauders’ boys team 18th place finish, were the highest finishes in school history.
“It is the crowning achievement of the season to qualify for the State Cross Country Championships,” MHS head coach Seth Ishida said.
Competing in the 5K race with 23 other teams, the Marauders girls team finished with a score of 440 points. Monache was able to beat powerhouses like Del Norte of San Diego (457), St. Francis (480), Rocklin (495), Willow Glen of San Jose (520 ), Redwood (631) and Canoga Park from the Los Angeles area (701). Claremont of Los Angeles won the race with 69 points. It was the highest finish in the history of the school.
“We went out with the eventual top 10 teams, with very fast first mile times,” Ishida said. “We had a lot of difficulty in the hills keeping ourselves in position and burning out a little early. The girls had to dig down deep to keep their focus for the entire race and not give up after the leaders broke away. I was proud that the girls did not give up against these elite teams.”
The team was led by Marilou Ruiz who finished 86th with a time of 19 minutes and 40 seconds, followed by Imelda Suarez (19:44) in 88th place. Alyssa Quinones ran a personal record time of 19:47 for 94th place and garnered recruiting attentions from Long Beach, East Bay and California State University, Los Angeles. With a time of 20:31 Aislin Taylor placed 128th, Chanel Bradley (21:55) placed 180th, Charlotte Kouyoumtjian (24:21) placed 193rd and Mikayli Moore (24:21) finished 194th.
“The boys really went out hard in the first mile and paid for it later in the race,” Ishida said. “They were a little excited and did not run their race. Jaden Uphoff was announced as the race leader through the first mile. It surprised him to be leading so long. He actually pushed the pace to a 4:40 first mile.”
Ishida added that the guys were aggressive and after giving everything
they had to win their first section title, they really had to hang on for the state championship race. He said, “I know that Jaden and Ivan have the talent to medal in this race. Their times earlier in the season would have put them in the top 10 finishers.”
Ivan Mendez (16:23.9) finished in 58th place, Jaden Uphoff (16:27.7) finished in 63rd, Joel Garcia (17:21.6) 147th, Aaron Aparicio (17:28.5) 155th, Isaiah Sotelo (17:29.6) 157th, Giovanni Sanchez (17:35.5) 165th and Joachim Del
Rosario (18:00.4) 181st.
Uphoff has been recruited by UC San Diego, CSU East Bay, and Long Beach, but is looking at staying close to home at Fresno State. He would be an excellent asset for the Bulldogs, said Ishida. Former Marauder Marlene Alcantar from the girls team runs for Fresno State and it should help to have a familiar upper classman on the team.
The boys finished with 457 points in front of Scripps Ranch of San Diego (482), Grossmont of San Diego (484),
Archbishop Mitty of San Jose (504), Reedley (545), and Bravo Medical Magnet of Los Angeles (555). St. Francis of Mountain View dominated the race with 57 points.
“It has been an honor to coach such outstanding people of character,” Ishida said. “It is their work ethic, sacrifice, and discipline that made them Valley champions. I will especially miss this outstanding group of male and female seniors as they continue on at college. I am their biggest fan.”