South Placer cross-country roundup: Whitney boys, Granite Bay girls off to solid start

The 2022 high school cross-country season is underway and many teams in the South Placer area have already competed in two invitationals. Here is a look at how the teams and individuals have performed to start the season. Whitney High The Wildcats ran in the Oakmont Invitational at Maidu Park on Aug. 27 and were competitive in multiple divisions with the frosh/soph girls and the varsity boys placing first. The freshman and junior varsity boys' teams both came in second. The varsity boys were led by seniors Mateo Delgadillo and Nick Hermann, who were fourth and fifth, respectively. "I was very happy with my performance and I thought that my teammates and I paced ourselves very well by going out conservative and slowly working our way up," Delgadillo said. "It would mean a lot to finish Top 10 at state this season and it would be a great way for me and other seniors to end our high school careers." Ava Kopec led the varsity girls with a ninth-place performance out of 153 runners at 14:48. Freshman Jane London won the frosh/soph girls' race. Whitney High will compete in the Monterey Bay Invitational at Toro Park in Salinas on Saturday. Granite Bay High The Lady Grizzlies dominated the Oakmont Invitational as the frosh/soph team placed second while the varsity team finished third at only 15 points behind the winning team, St. Francis. Three varsity runners placed in the Top 10, including senior Carly Foster who was fourth at 14:38. The varsity girls' team is currently ranked fifth in California, according to dyestat.com. "Oakmont was a good rust buster. However, there is a lot more work to be done and I'm excited to hit more of the pace workouts now that the season is beginning," Foster said. "It's really exciting to be ranked a Top 5 team. There's certainly some pressure but our team has a really positive and hard working culture right now that everyone is using to their advantage." Sophomore Grace Baxter was sixth at the Oakmont Invitational while junior Emily Allison was 10th. For the boys, sophomore Robert Ward cracked the Top 25 with a time of 13:04. The Grizzlies will travel to San Francisco for the Lowell Invitational at Golden Gate Park on Saturday. Rocklin High The Thunder have competed in three events so far this season with their most recent competition on Saturday in the Seawolf High School Invitational at Woodward Park in Fresno, the same location the state championships are held. The varsity boys won the event with senior Devin Pereira placing first in the 5k event at 16:07. Pereira also won his race at the Sierra Invitational and the Oakmont Invitational earlier this season. Justin Rawe came in fourth at 17:23 while Leo Lomugdang was fifth at 17:24. Lomugdang placed second at the Sierra Invitational in the junior race on Aug. 20. "I'm learning and working on knowing when to make moves at certain points in races," Lomugdang said. "My biggest short-term goal is to run under 17 minutes in the 5k and my long-term goal is to qualify to state as a team." For the girls, freshman Allie Harmon placed fourth in the varsity race at Woodward Park at 19:51. Rocklin High will race in the Josh Ruff Memorial Invitational at Willow Hills Reservoir in Folsom on Saturday. Del Oro High The Golden Eagles were also at the Oakmont Invitational where the varsity boys finished 13th and were led by junior Jack Sindt, who was 20th at 13:03. Senior Sebastian Lichti was right behind Sindt in 30th at 13:15. Sindt also performed well in the Nevada Twilight Cross Country Classic at Rancho San Rafael Regional Park in Reno where he came in 14th out of 82 runners. On the girls' side, freshman Lyla Andrew was 16th out of 176 runners in the 4k frosh/soph race at the Oakmont Invitational. Junior Angeline Gutierrez was the sole Lady Eagle in the varsity race, finishing 17th at 15:16. She was also 13th in the varsity 4,100-meter race in Reno. "The high elevation in Reno definitely made the race more difficult, alongside recovering from my cold, so focusing on my breathing was very important," Gutierrez said. "My biggest long-term goal this season is to make it to state with the intention of placing in the Top 10." Gutierrez is following the footsteps of Riley Chamberlain, who graduated earlier this year and was a state champion. Del Oro High will compete at the Nevada Union Cross Country Invitational on Saturday. Roseville High The Tigers competed over the Labor Day weekend in the Lagoon Valley Classic in Vacaville where senior Alexander Vigil was eighth out of 122 runners at 16:51 in the three-mile race. Junior Eragon Tijerina was 49 seconds behind Vigil in 17th-place. The varsity girls' team was ninth and led by sophomore Grace Williams, coming in 33rd at 22:20. Roseville High also competed in the Sierra Invitational and the Tigers junior boys placed fourth out of nine teams. Boston Tarble led the junior team in 12th-place at 11:45. Vigil came in ninth in the senior race for the Tigers. The Lady Tigers freshman team was led by Mia Alexander in ninth-place at 14:22 while Williams led the sophomore team, finishing ninth out of 110 runners. The Tigers will race in the Josh Ruff Memorial Invitational on Saturday. Oakmont High At the Oakmont Invitational, freshman Micheal Sevilla came 17th in the 4k race at 15:34. The sophomore boys finished sixth out of 11 teams and were led by Xavier Royer in fourth-place at 14 minutes while Dominic Siino was seventh at 14:20. Alia Nguyen led the frosh/soph girls' team with a solid time of 17:30, putting her in 27th- place out of 176 runners. Senior Unique Hartke led the varsity girls' team, finishing at 16:50 in 59th-place. The Vikings also competed in the Sierra Invitational where freshman Caleb Hernandez was 11th at 12:30 and Sevilla came right behind at 12:46 in the two-mile race. Oakmont High also finished third as a team in the sophomore boys' race. Unique Hartke was 15th in the senior race. Oakmont High will run in the Lowell Invitational on Saturday. Woodcreek High The Timberwolves will also be competing in the Lowell Invitational with the Vikings and have had a solid start to their season with the varsity girls placing fifth out of 18 teams at the Oakmont Invitational. Senior Elizabeth Richey led the way in 20th place at 15:27 while Angela Gladysh was 28th coming in at 15:47. Behind Gladysh was Alanna Laverty in 38th place. The junior varsity girls also raced well with freshman Lindsay Steinke finishing sixth out of 50 runners. On the boy's side, the varsity team placed 10th with sophomore Jacob Honey leading the way at 13:34. Freshman Anthony Cunha competed in the sophomore race and led the way for the Timberwolves in ninth place at 14:26. The junior varsity boys came in fifth out of 11 teams with Carlos Celio and Jackson Riley leading the team in 12th- and 13th-place, respectively. West Park High The Panthers raced at the Sierra Invitational and seniors Aydan Haydu and Jayden Wells both placed inside the Top 30 in the two-mile senior race out of 90 runners. In the sophomore race, Malakai Wygal finished 31st out of 122 runners. For the girls, junior Johanna O'Brien placed 17th out of 65 runners at 15:22. West Park High will compete at the Nevada Union Cross Country Invitational on Saturday. Western Sierra Collegiate Academy The Wolves also competed in the Oakmont Invitational and junior Graham Martin placed 70th in the varsity boys' race at 14:10 while Ryan Trieu was 79th at 14:15. On the girls' side, junior Tenaya Brusig finished the 4k race at 20:37 while sophomore Shriya Radhakrishnan came in at 22:27. Western Sierra Collegiate Academy will race at the Josh Ruff Memorial Invitational on Saturday.