NEWMAN - Three members of the Orestimba High School girls cross-country team finished in the top 20 of the Wildcat Forward Motion Invitational at Dougherty High School on Saturday.
Jade Carmona, a sophomore, took 3rd place in the 3-mile race with a time of 19 minutes, 5.40 seconds. That helped the Warriors finish fourth place as a team with 93 points out of seven schools.
Samantha De La Cruz, a senior, was 13th at 21:00.5. Kiera Patterson took the 20th spot, clocked at 21:29.5.
“The girls did really well,” said Orestimba head coach Scott Felber.
Other Warrior girls who competed were Madalynn Hernandez taking 29th at 22:25.6, Christine Rodriguez 47th at 24:50.4 and Janetly Vega 53rd at 26:07.9.
“Maddy, Christine and Janetly also ran their best races of their careers to help us finish fourth as a team,” Felber said.
Boys
The Orestimba boys took 11th place as a team with 268 points, out of 15 schools at the invitational.
Benjamin Cerna, a sophomore, had a 7th place finish with a time of 16:37.8.
“Ben is coming off of an injury, but he finished 7th against some tough competition,” Felber said.
Other Warrior boys who competed were Joseph Garcia, a senior who had a 41st finish at 17:58.8; Emmanuel Garabito, 51st at 18:29; Nijah Wakefield, 94th at 20:31.7; and Daniel Alvarado Cerna, 97th at 20:47.9.
Felber likes how the girls and boys teams have been recording lowered times at invitational and Trans-Valley League meets in recent weeks.
“This time of year is always exciting in cross country,” Felber said. “We get to see months of work start to pay off right when the weather starts to cool off at the same time. I’m excited to see how it all comes together in the last few meets of the season and on to sub-sections.
Upcoming meets
This Friday, Orestimba will compete at the Rough Rider Invitational at Woodward Park in Fresno. The meet has a 12:40 p.m. start time.
Then on Saturday, the Warriors compete locally at the 20th annual Hughson Supercross Invitational at Hughson High School. This invitational is scheduled to run at 8:30 a.m.
Contact Mike Bush at mikebushmedia@gmail.com. Follow him on X/Twitter @MikeBMultimedia and Instagram @mikebushmedia.
