KING CITY — Chalone Peaks Middle School’s new cross country team made a strong debut at the Morro Bay Invitational on Sept. 13, showcasing a promising start to their season.
The young athletes from King City competed in their first race of the year, with both the boys’ and girls’ teams delivering impressive performances.
The girls’ team demonstrated exceptional depth, finishing in third place overall out of six teams. Several runners achieved personal bests in the 1.64-mile race.
Standout performances included Vanessa Ayala-Gaxiola, who led the team with a time of 12:02 and finished 13th overall. She was closely followed by Janelle Marlene Garcia and Ana Isabel Vasquez-De Jesus, who finished with times of 12:05 (15th place) and 12:22 (22nd place), respectively.
Other top finishers who contributed to the team’s score were Emily Lizbeth Silva-Cabrera in 29th place (12:50), Jenesis Hernandez-Suastes in 33rd place (13:13) and Joanna Avendano-Lopez in 46th place (14:28).
The boys’ team also had a noteworthy day. The team was led by Hector Mandujano, who posted a time of 11:10 and came in 26th place overall. He was followed by Jael Reyes Hernand, who finished in 35th place with a time of 11:32.
Other runners who contributed to the team’s effort included Noah Spece (16:42), Aaron Bucio (17:30) and Estiven Flores (18:52).
Coach Miguel Zendejas said he was proud of the team’s effort and sportsmanship.
“This was a fantastic first race for our team,” Zendejas said. “This is history in the making as it’s the first meet for Chalone Peaks Middle School. It was great to see the athletes’ hard work from practice pay off on the course.”
With this successful first outing, the Chalone Peaks team is looking forward to continued improvement as they prepare for their upcoming competitions on Sept. 27, when they travel to Atwater to compete in the Thunder XC Classic.
