Eagles qualify both varsity teams for state meet

Vista del Lago did exactly what they needed to do to qualify for the CIF State Cross Country Championships. At the Sac-Joaquin Section Championships on Saturday at Willow Hills, the top-four teams in the Division II race qualified for the state meet and the Eagles took the fourth and final qualifying spot in both races. The varsity girls finished eight points in front of Golden Valley, while the boys finished only four points in front of Atwater. Vista del Lago senior Brenna Mannion capped off her career at running at Willow Hills and in the section championship meet by winning the Division II race with a time of 17 minutes, 52.5 seconds. She pulled away from the field and won easily by 33 seconds. Stella Xiao placed 17th overall in 19:22.2, and she was followed by Daniela Liang (36th, 29:39.1), Addison Luong (46th, 21:07.6) and Aubree Benoit (47th, 21:11.1). Leading the varsity boys' team was Rocco Jerwers, who had a great race to place 14th in 16:15.7. Theodore Beavers finished close behind in 16th in 16:20.4. Jack Armstrong placed 20th in 16:35.9 and was followed by Reid Blake (44th, 17:20.3) and Minho Kim (53rd, 17:39.7). Vista's younger runners also turned in strong performances. The freshman boys' team won their second straight freshman section championship, scoring 43 points to finish well in front of runner-up Vacaville, who scored 65 points. Samik Banka placed second to lead the team, as he ran a time of 11:47.6. Anish Sikka and Matthis Lecina also had top-eight finishes, as Sikka took sixth in 12:15 and Lecina was eighth in 12:28.0. Other scoring runners were Israel Mercado (13th, 12:45.0) and Kaeden Richards (20th, 12:53.7). Vista's sophomore boys' team placed third behind Vacaville and Golden Valley. Leading the way was Phineas Mowrer, who placed fifth overall in 11:57.3. Landon Simpson placed right behind him in sixth place in 11:59.5. Rounding out the scorers were Asher Chang (12:17.9), James Ryan (12:38.1) and Carson Martin (13:51.1). Also competing in the junior varsity boys' race, RJ Dixon placed 24th in 18:08.8 and Aidan Harrington ran 38th in 18:50.1.