M’town girls win race, boys third

North Central League I cross country teams compete at Six Sigma

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LOWER LAKE >> Even with their best runner unable to go, and even with their top finisher placing sixth, the Middletown High School girls cross country team scored its second win in as many North Central League I meets Wednesday during action at the 2.6-mile Six Sigma Ranch and Winery course in Lower Lake.

Malia McGrath of Cloverdale topped the field in the girls race with a time of 18 minutes, 37 seconds, nearly two minutes ahead of Kelseyville’s Aylin Aguilar (20:24) and Cloverdale’s Kylee Vlasak (20:31). Cloverdale’s Elizabeth Silva (20:39) and Fort Bragg’s Emily Olvera (21:26) rounded out the top five.

Three Middletown runners followed, led by Alivia Stark (21:41). Right behind her were Nala Montgomery (22:07) and Lupita Cabrera (22:08). Also scoring for the Mustangs were Nick Lopez (27:32) and Maddison Lighter (27:34).

Lower Lake’s Cristal Castro-Luna finished 13^th in the 32-runner field in 24:32.

St. Helena and Kelseyville had the only other complete teams (minimum five runners) in the field and finished second and third, respectively, behind Middletown.

Varsity boys

Six schools had complete teams in the varsity boys field and Fort Bragg came out on top with 52 points to Middletown’s 59 and St. Helena’s 62. Cloverdale (84), Willits (89) and Lower Lake (170) were next in line.

Joann Garcia Blanco of Fort Bragg won the boys race in 14:52, the only runner to crack the 15-minute barrier. Gael Lopez of Cloverdale was next at 15:28, winning a tight battle for third place against Middletown runners Ren Ueno (15:30) and Landon Pisaro (15:35). Charlie Watson of St. Helena finished fifth in 16:00.

Rounding out the top 10 were Walter Aycock of Fort Bragg, sixth in 16:01; Olympus Dodd of St. Helena, seventh in 16:19; Isael Haro of Middletown, eighth in 16:27; Kassi Lopez of Willits, ninth in 16:35; and David Hinojosa of Fort Bragg, 10^th in 17:18.

Gerardo Rodriguez of Middletown placed 13^th in 17:33 and Maverick Watson of Kelseyville was 16^th in 17:46.

Damien Rudy of Middletown was 33^rd overall in the 48-runner field with a time of 20:49, finishing behind Lower Lake’s Emiliano Rivera (20:14) in 31^st place and Daniel Pardo (20:47) in 32^nd place.

Schedule

The league’s teams take next week off before returning to action Oct. 1 in Lower Lake.