SALINAS VALLEY — Pacific Coast Athletic League hosted back-to-back divisional cross country meets earlier this month at the Rancho Corona course in Carmel Valley.
Gonzales High School ran Sept. 13 at the Cypress and Santa Lucia meet, and King City competed Sept. 14 in the Gabilan meet, while Greenfield and Soledad ran in the Mission divisional meet.
The Gonzales varsity boys placed second behind Marina at 30-40 and were led by Giovanni Ochoa, who won the race in a time of 18:14. Matthew Arreola of Gonzales placed third overall in 19:22.
Gonzales placed seventh in the varsity girls race and were paced by Katherine Toledo (15th place, 26:53) and Maria Rivera (18th place, 27:08).
The Gonzales JV boys placed second behind Monterey (38-41) and were led by Brandy Ochoa’s third-place finish in 22:09 and Alvaro Encarnacion’s sixth-place finish in 22:50.
The following day at Rancho Corona, the King City varsity boys finished in third place behind Alisal and North Monterey County in the Gabilan Division. Andrew Quiahua placed seventh overall in 18:18 and Adrian Hernandez placed 10th in 18:45.
The King City JV boys took second behind Alisal and were led by Joaquin Arriaga’s third-place finish in a time of 19:07, and Rafael Vasquez placed fourth in 19:15.
Greenfield placed second in the varsity boys race of the Mission Division, with Fabian Serrano placing first in 17:42 and Ivan Martinez placing 15th in 19:09 for the Bruins.
The Soledad varsity boys placed seventh in the Mission Division. Giovanni Bravo placed eighth overall in 18:41 and teammate Kevin Ramirez placed 14th in 19:07.
Soledad won the JV boys division and were led by Jacob Valladarez, who placed second in 20:33, and Diego Guillen’s fourth-place finish in a time of 20:55. Greenfield’s Jonathan Dominguez placed 12th in 21:30 and Jesse Ramirez placed 13th in 21:37.
The King City Lady Mustangs competed in the Mission Division and placed first as a team. Rose Ruelas took second in 21:21 and Alexa Flores placed fourth in a time of 21:35. Soledad placed seventh in the division and were led by Briseyda Hernandez, who placed 23rd in 25:21, and Elizabeth Lopez with a 31st placing and time of 26:38.
Greenfield took fifth in the Mission Division and were led by Yareli Meza’s 14th-place finish in 23:51 and Mikaila Martens’ 24th-place finish in 25:40.
King City won the JV girls race in the Mission Division and were led by Natalie Rodriguez with a second-place finish in a time of 26:05 and Arelie Delfino’s fifth-place finish in 26:31. Yolanda Martinez placed 12th in 28:44, and Alondra Lopez placed 24th in 32:38.
Soledad’s Julissa Sanchez placed 26th in 33:50, and Belgica Jimenez placed 30th in 38:43.
Last Saturday at the Monterey Bay Invitational at Toro Park, King City, Greenfield and Gonzales competed in the event that featured 70 teams.
King City placed eighth in the boys division, third in the JV boys division and won the frosh-soph boys division. The Lady Mustangs placed fifth in the varsity girls division and fourth in the JV girls division.
Fabian Serrano of Greenfield won a T-shirt for placing in the varsity boys race, and Cesar Celedon of King City placed seventh in the JV boys division to earn a medal. In the frosh-soph division, King City’s Rodrigo Santiago placed fourth and Alfonso Garcia placed eighth to earn medals.
All four South Monterey County teams were off last week until the second PCAL divisional races on Wednesday, Sept. 27, and Thursday, Sept. 28. The races will take place at Toro Park in Salinas.
