SALINAS VALLEY — Gonzales High junior Giovanni Ochoa and Greenfield High sophomore Fabian Serrano ran well at last Saturday’s Central Coast Section (CCS) Championships and qualified for the California Interscholastic Federation State Cross Country Championships.
Ochoa earned an All-CCS medal for his seventh-place finish in the Division IV boys race and earned his second straight state meet berth. Serrano placed 13th as an individual runner and will be competing in his first state meet in Division III.
“Gio is the second boy runner from Gonzales to earn a CCS medal in cross country,” said Gonzales head coach Margie Daniels. “He is also the first boy runner to go to State back-to-back. He has worked very hard this season to improve as a runner.”
Ochoa ran the 2.9-mile distance at CCS on the Crystal Springs course in 16:18 and Serrano finished in 16:38.
Only the top three teams and top five individuals in the five CCS Divisions for boys and girls qualified for the state meet that will take place Saturday, Nov. 25, at Woodward Park in Fresno.
Spartan runners Matthew Arreola and Christian Maldonado competed as individuals in Division IV and placed 49th (17:54) and 80th (18:54), respectively.
The Greenfield boys placed ninth as a team in Division III. Running for Greenfield were: Ivan Martinez (44th place, 17:43); Irvin Hernandez (58th place, 18:05); Adrian Picazo (61st place, 18:17); Carlos Martinez (66th place, 18:25); Priscillian Garcia (71st place, 18:31) and Rodrigo Velasquez (78th place, 19:08).
“(Serrano) is a strong student and also works hard at practice,” said Bruins head coach Angel Villagomez. “That is the type of athlete that you love to have leading your team. He didn’t run the time he wanted to finish with at CCS, but we have a few weeks to be better prepared at State.”
Representing Greenfield as individuals in Division III girls were Yareli Meza (44th place, 22:07) and Izoida Ramirez (57th place, 22:47).
Soledad’s Kevin Ramirez placed 47th in 17:48 in the Division III boys race and teammate Giovanni Bravo placed 85th in 19:51.
Briseyda Heredia ran as an individual for the Soledad girls in Division III and finished 72nd place in a time of 23:56.
“I felt our boys did pretty well in their races,” said Soledad head coach Eliazar Rubio. “Briseyda only found out she was going to be able to run at the start of the week and finished strong.”
The King City boys and girls finished in sixth place in Division IV. Running for the Mustang boys team were: Jason Garcia (30th place, 17:28); Adrian Hernandez (33rd place, 17:30); Joaquin Arriaga (34th place, 17:31); Gabriel Clemente (43rd place, 17:47); Alvaro Garcia (44th place, 17:47); Rodrigo Santiago (45th place, 17:48) and Andrew Quiahua (50th place, 17:55).
King City Lady Mustang runners included: Rose Ruelas (21st place, 21:02); Yahaira Torres (22nd place, 21:05); Alexa Flores (25th place, 21:21); Maripaz Reyes (63rd place, 24:00); Arli Delfino (68th place, 24:30) and Natalie Rodriguez (69th place, 24:42).
“It was a good season and we found out today what we have to do to get to the next level at CCS,” said King City head coach Miguel Zamudio. “Overall, we have good kids that are always out to compete.”
Alum places at Division I West Regional
Gonzales High and Hartnell College graduate Ashley Ochoa represented her community by competing at last Friday’s National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I West Regional Cross Country Meet at Sacramento.
Ochoa ran as a member of the Fresno State University women’s team and placed 195th in a time of 22:34 on the 3.8-mile Arcade Creek Cross Country Course.
Placing in the top three in the women’s race were Stanford, Oregon and Washington. Fresno State placed 34th as a team.
Ochoa finished her first season at Fresno State as the third top runner on her team.
