SALINAS VALLEY — High school distance aces Giovanni Ochoa of Gonzales and Fabian Serrano of Greenfield placed fourth and ninth, respectively, at the Central Coast Section (CCS) cross country championships to qualify for the State Meet.
Ochoa ran in the Division IV boys race and finished in a personal record of 15:53 on the Crystal Springs Course in Belmont. He received an All-CCS medal for placing in the top seven and earned his third trip to State.
Serrano competed in Division III and ran a time of 16:03, clinching his second State championships berth.
Gonzales head cross country coach Margie Daniels was proud of the performance of Ochoa after a good week of practice.
“Gio looked strong and he attacked those hills just like we practiced,” Daniels said. “He maintained control and boy, he surely ran his race. No doubt early in the race he would be in the top five. Outstanding performance by Gio and we are excited for his third appearance at State.”
Greenfield head coach Angel Villagomez was pleased with the efforts of Serrano and looks forward to the seeing him run his best race.
“Overall, it was a solid race and we still think he has a ‘breakout’ race in him,” Villagomez said. “We coaches look at time comparisons quite a bit, but it wasn’t as easy with Fabian this year since he didn’t run the invitational at Crystal Springs earlier this year due to an injury. Great progression from last year, however. In any case, the kid works hard and we were all delighted to see him run healthy and qualify for the State Meet.”
King City Mustangs placed sixth as a team, competing in the Division IV race. Running for the Mustangs were: Alvaro Garcia (34th, 17:07); Edzon Juarez (36th, 17:08); Fernando Merino (41st, 17:15); Ivan Diaz (46th, 17:21); Joaquin Arriaga (51st, 17:26); Rafael Vasquez (70th, 17:57); and Joandy Fagoaga (87th, 18:40).
Ochoa ran as an individual in the Division IV race and was joined by Spartans teammate Christian Maldonado, who placed 89th in a time of 18:47.
Yahaira Torres ran as an individual in the Division IV girls race and placed 39th overall in a time of 21:37.
Greenfield ran a complete boys team in Division III and finished in sixth place as a team. Greenfield boys were: Fabian Serrano (ninth, 16:03); Yael Hernandez (29th, 17:05); Prisciliano Garcia (53rd, 17:55); Adrian Picazo (58th, 18:08); Ulises Aguilar (61st, 18:13); David Arias (73rd, 18:59); and Alexander Avila (76th, 19:09).
Soledad’s Giovanni Bravo ran as an individual in the Division III boys race and placed 64th with a time of 18:21. Greenfield’s Izoida Ramirez competed in the Division III girls race and placed 34th in a time of 21:09, and Soledad’s Evelyn Lopez placed 57th and finished in a time of 22:09.
The CIF State Cross Country Championships will take place Saturday, Nov. 30, at Woodward Park in Fresno.
