South Placer cross-country roundup: Whitney boys and girls both win the Division II section title

A number of South Placer area cross-country varsity teams and individuals secured qualifying spots to the state meet and others won section titles at the Sac-Joaquin Section Championship meet Saturday at Willow Hills Reservoir in Folsom. Here is a look at how all area squads performed. Whitney High The Wildcats boys' and girls' varsity teams both won the Division II section title with the girls beating out Granite Bay and the boys outlasting Vacaville. The boys' team was led by Nick Herrmann, Noah Lopez and Mateo Delgadillo, who finished second, third and fourth, respectively. Senior Katie Kopec led the girls' squad by winning her second straight individual section title with the fastest female race of the day, clocking in at a time of 18:17 in the 5k race. "To not only qualify for state but also win the section title as a team is such an amazing thing," Kopec said. "It was really hard competition in Division II but I knew that we could do it and I'm just so proud that we got it done today. I love Willow Hills and every time I come out here, I feel like I can put my best foot forward. There's something about this course that gets me in the right mindset." Kopec was followed by her junior sister, Ava Kopec, who placed third at 18:54 before Grace Scott and Jane Landon, and also finished in the Top 10. Whitney High had a number of solid performances in other races as well with the freshmen boys' team placing second and Johann Gothold finishing third individually. Tyler Kabota placed second in the sophomore boys' race while the junior varsity boys, led by senior Dario Ruscica, hung on to defeat Davis High and won their race. Sophomore Alishia Elie and junior Sophie Bowen both placed in the Top 5 in the junior varsity girls' race. The Wildcats will now prepare for the State Championships, which will take place on Nov. 26 at Woodward Park in Fresno. Granite Bay High The Granite Bay girls' varsity team outlasted St. Francis to place second in the Division II race behind Whitney High and qualified for the State Championships. The Lady Grizzlies were led by senior Carly Foster who came in second with a time of 18:46 while junior Emily Allison placed fifth at 18:57. Sophomores Lizzy Hansen and Grace Baxter both placed inside the Top 20 at 17th and 18th, respectively. The frosh/soph girls also ran a good race and finished second behind Bella Vista. Freshman Kingsley Rosevold placed third out of 50 runners while sophomore Halle Wilson was eighth. On the boys' side, the sophomore team won their race with Charlie Beater winning the individual title at 11:41 in the 3,300-meter race. Robert Ward and Moses Cho also finished in the Top 5 for the Grizzlies. Rocklin High Rocklin High qualified two athletes to the state meet with senior Devin Pereira placing seventh in the varsity boys' race with a time of 16 minutes flat and freshman Allie Harman coming in ninth in the varsity girls' race at 19:39. Harman fell early in the 5k race but was still able to pick herself up and grab a qualifying spot. "I knew it was all mental, so I said 'there is still a long part of the race to go' and I got back up and pushed through it," Harman said. "I knew I had to have a strong final kick to qualify for state. I have really great teammates. The boys push me in practice and the girls are fun to be with. I really like this team." The freshmen boys came in fourth with Dan Doman and Anderson Wang placing in the Top 10 in their race. Del Oro High The Golden Eagles had three runners qualify for the State Championships in their respective races Saturday. In the varsity girls' race, junior Angeline Gutierrez placed fourth at 19:44 while sophomore Charlotte Wood came in 10th. The varsity girls' also placed fourth as a team in the Division III race. On the boys' side, junior Jack Sindt was 10th at 16:38, qualifying for state by one second. Senior Sebastian Lichti narrowly missed out, finishing 14th at 16:51. Woodcreek High The Timberwolves varsity boys' team finished fifth out of 10 teams at the section meet with senior Tyler Gee leading the way in 13th place at 16:42 and grabbed the final qualifying spot for the state championships. He is the first Woodcreek High runner to qualify for state since Lisa Irvine in 2019. "I'm totally speechless and in shock right now," Gee said. "I had two really bad seasons coming off of my sophomore year and this was it for me. If I didn't qualify today, this may have been the end of running for me. I just went and left it all out there." Sophomores David Winston and Jacob Honey followed behind Gee in 25th and 27th, respectively. The junior varsity boys finished seventh out of 12 teams with senior Tyler Henderson leading the way in 32nd place. The varsity girls also raced at sections with Angela Gladysh finishing 30th and Alanna Laverty coming in 31st. Western Sierra Collegiate Academy The Wolves varsity boys' team finished third, narrowly missing out on qualifying for state as a team as they were two points behind Vacaville Christian. Despite not making it as a team, juniors Graham Martin and Ryan Trieu finished third and fourth, respectively, to be the first Wolves to qualify for state since Sara Sabra in 2019. Isaac Kelly finished eighth overall at 18:12 while Brogan Navarro was 34th. Tenaya Brusig and Shriya Radhakrishnan placed 33rd and 34th in the varsity girls' race. John Adams Academy The Patriots had four athletes run in the Division V sophomore boys' race with Kole Hahn leading the way in third with a time of 13:36. On the girls' side, sophomore Mikele Jopson placed third in the varsity race to qualify for the state meet for the second straight season. Jopson placed sixth in 2021 and improved on her 5k time by 23 seconds. "This is so awesome and I've worked so hard this season trying to get faster," Jopson said. "It's awesome to have my coach Molly Grant here who helps me and she is just so supportive. I'm really excited to represent my school at state." Freshman Ava Ermolenko placed 12th out of 54 runners with a time of 21:51. Roseville High The Tigers had a number of runners across multiple races who competed at sections with Eragon Tijerina and Alexander Vigil placing 27th and 28th, respectively, in the Division III varsity race. In the varsity girls' race, sophomore Grace Williams finished 12th and was less than two seconds behind the final qualifying time for the state meet at 20:32. Freshman Melissa Peterson placed 17th out of 73 runners at 21:04. The frosh/soph girl's came in sixth in the Division III race with sophomore Claire Lozowski leading the way in 15th at 16:19. West Park High West Park's varsity boys placed eighth in the Division III race and were led by Jayden Wells in 30th out of 78 runners while junior Noah Forsyth was right behind in 32nd. Freshman Koa Sounthavin competed in the 3,300-meter freshman boys' race and finished 21st out of 30 runners. On the girls' side, the frosh/soph team placed fourth with Madison Brewer leading the way in 10th at 15:34 while Vi Nguyen was right behind in 12th. Oakmont High The Vikings' sophomore boys' team won the Division III race over Kimball and Ponderosa on Saturday and were led by Xavier Royer in fifth at 12:02. Caleb Hernandez and Jerrell Reyes also finished in the Top 10 for Oakmont High. The varsity girls' team placed ninth with senior Unique Hartke placing 21st out of 73 runners. Junior Lily Harline finished 39th at 22:33. Senior Jasleen Sekhon placed 55th in the junior varsity girls' race while junior Sebastian Martinez was 60th in the junior varsity boys' race.